Okee dokee folks… Back in 1982, I paid a scalper a whopping $90 for a ticket to see The Who at the Worcester Centrum. That was a lot of money back then. I had wanted to see The Who for quite a long time, and that was supposed to have been their last tour. I had tickets to the Providence Civic Center show in 1979, and that concert was canceled after the general admission rush to the stage killed eleven fans in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Who never really stopped performing, but for one reason or another I wasn’t able to get to a show again. I was fortunate to see a solo Pete Townshend concert back in the late ’80s and caught John Entwistle when he was part of Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band thirty years ago. Unfortunately, I was never able to witness the craziness of Keith Moon’s drumming before his untimely death.
Though I hadn’t seen The Who live since 1982, I have watched many concert videos of the band over the past 40 years. In recent weeks I’ve viewed new videos of Roger’s solo shows on YouTube. It seemed fresh, and Roger sounded better than ever. Tonight at the Chevalier in Medford, MA, 44 years after that Who show in Worcester, I attended the solo show from Who frontman Roger Daltrey.
At about 8:45, all the musicians, including Roger Daltrey, took the stage at The Chevalier. With no special introduction, Daltrey walked to the microphone and said, “We’re going to play songs for you tonight, but not all Who songs.” He described his backing band as, “Far better looking and, to be honest, a lot more fun (than The Who)!” They then went into his Who bandmate, Pete Townshend’s song, “Let My Love Open the Door,” from Pete’s Empty Glass album. Following that was “Freedom Ride,” and then an early in the set version of The Who’s “Who Are You?” Roger was very garrulous in between songs and told a lot of stories about his past, The Who, and the songs he was singing. One tale was about the 1982 tour (that I mentioned above) and how it was supposed to be the last Who tour. The crowd laughed at that. The band members didn’t talk for two years. Daltrey mentioned that in 1984 he received a package in the mail with a cassette of a song from Pete Townshend. The enclosed letter said that he wrote the song with Daltrey in mind and hoped he would cover it. Roger then sang that song, “After the Fire.” He related how pop singer Leo Sayer also wrote songs for Daltrey, an album’s worth, and he played one of those songs: “Giving It All Away.” One of the members of Roger’s band, Billy Nichols, who played mandola, wrote two of the songs in the evening’s set – ”Waiting for a Friend,” and the very moving, “Without Your Love.” Other songs covered during the show were Paul Simon’s “Boy In The Bubble,” Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now,” and John Fogarty’s ”Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” Of course, there were Who songs – “Substitute,” “Squeezebox,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Baba O’Riley,” and “Going Mobile.” Because of the predominantly acoustic instrumentation, the songs “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and “Baba O’Riley” were extra special. The synthesizer parts were played by violin, accordion, and harmonica. The bonus was the violin solo at the close of “Baba O’Riley,” which was played to perfection and beyond by Katie Jacoby. The performance of these two songs was simply amazing. Pete Townshend’s brother, Simon, who has performed with The Who for years and had a solo career in the mid-’80s, was a prominent part of the band and fronted “Going Mobile,” which Pete usually sings with The Who. Simon’s voice is very similar to his brother’s, which made this a great version as well. The night ended with one more cover – Neil Young’s “Keep On Rocking In the Free World.” The band lined up and took a few bows, and Daltrey grabbed the mic and said “the band” and gestured towards them. Percussionist Jodi Linscott had her arm around Roger and called out to the crowd, “and Roger Daltrey!”
Roger’s band was made up of Simon Townshend – guitar, Billy Nicholls – mandolin, Jody Linscott – percussion, Doug Boyle – guitar, John Hogg – Bass, Katie Jacoby – violin, Steve Weston – harmonica, Geraint Watkins – keyboards/accordion, and Scott Devours – Drums. They mostly played acoustic instruments, which made the concert all the more extraordinary. Simply put, this band sounded great! Daltrey’s voice was strong, and he handled the rigors of the set flawlessly. The mix of song selections was interesting, with many unexpected choices that were fun to hear Roger cover. The nearly two-hour show had folks on their feet for a good portion. Many folks may think the 82-year-old Roger is too old to rock & roll, but this show proved otherwise. Daltrey obviously has many more years of performing great music in him.
Opening the show was the duo of Amy Helm and Anthony daCosta. While they played an energetic and entertaining 30-minute set, it seemed a mismatch with Daltrey. Their performance seemed better suited to an intimate coffeehouse rather than opening for a rock legend. They were received well, especially for their closing number, a Levon Helm version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.”
That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcasts at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast. You can find my concert photographs (including of the Daltrey/Helm show) at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening.