The Who Announce ‘The Song Is Over’ Farewell Tour – We Look Back At Our Checkered Who Concert Experiences

Legendary, venerable rock band the Who held a press conference last week announcing they are retiring. I’m not sure if they’re just retiring from the road or retiring period. I get the feeling this is the end of the road for the Who. Of course, now they’re just Roger Daltrey (vocals) and Pete Townshend (guitar/vocals/songwriting).

We lost drummer Keith Moon in 1978, which seems like a lifetime ago (because it was). We lost bassist John Entwistle in 2002. And sadly, I don’t think Roger and Pete get along very well. But I did read late last year that Pete had reached out to Roger and wanted to do something with the Who this year… I was hoping it was going to be another album – I really enjoyed 2019’s WHO – but instead it’s a final lap around North America. I guess after releasing box sets of his solo live stuff and his solo studio stuff Pete is cleaning house and now it’s the Who’s turn.

The world is gonna feel like a whole different place with the Who gone. They’ve been around for over 60 years and were famously part of the British Invasion that included the Beatles, Stones and Kinks. They were one of the most ferocious bands out there. They had a seriously dangerous rhythm section with Entwistle and Moon. Neither Dalrey on vocals or Townshend on guitar get enough credit for their singing or playing, respectively.

I was always a big Who fan – Who’s Next is essential listening for any rock n roll fan – but it was one of my college roommates, Drew, who got me deeper into the Who. He was the Who fan, I was the Stones fan… we cross pollinated. Pete Townshend almost single handedly came up with the idea for the “concept album,” tying the music to a story or framework so that all the songs on an album were connected. Tommy was the first “rock opera,” although I’ll admit to you, I was always more of a Quadrophenia fan. Regardless, both of those rock operas landed on my “greatest old school double albums” list. Well, I know Quadrophenia did… and Tommy should have been if I left it off for some reason.

Like I said, the Who have always been there. They are simply put, one of the greatest rock bands of all time, despite the brutal attrition. While Who’s Next is probably my favorite Who album, the first one I purchased was Face Dances. It’s the album that was popular when I was in high school and when you’re just getting into music you’re typically attracted to what’s then current.

I put that album on my “Dirty Dozen” list of albums maybe only I like. It wasn’t until college that I began to expand my Who album collection beyond Faces Dances, Who’s Next and Meaty Big And Bouncy. That’s when I bought Quadrophenia and Who By Numbers and yes, Who Are You? What a great run these guys had despite an alcoholic on drums and a semi-junkie on guitar writing the songs. Even Entwistle OD’d in 2002 and he was 57.

Of course, we’ve been here before. They announced they were retiring in 1982 and did their first “Farewell Tour.” At the time I thought that I’d missed my chance to see those guys… I only had 40 years to make that up. I had tickets to see the Who 4 times in my life. And I actually saw the Who three times. These are my Who concert stories:

The Who, Kemper Arena, 1980 or 1981

This is one of the stupidest concert stories I can tell. I think it was 1981, but the only Who show I can find at Kemper Arena was in 1980, which was on the Who Are You? tour. I remember being a big fan of “You Better You Bet” but maybe that was later. I thought this happened on the Face Dances tour but I can’t find any setlists from 1981 for the Who in KC. Anyway, my friends and I spent all our money to get these Who tickets. We didn’t have any left to buy gas to get us to and from the concert. We came up with a scheme to siphon gas from cars around the neighborhood… we were miscreants and obviously we were idiots.

Long story short, we got caught. And thus ended my brief life of crime… and let’s remember kids, crime certainly does not pay. Three of the four of us who were going were grounded and missed the show. I gave my ticket to a “friend” Steve to sell which he probably did and then promptly pocketed the proceeds and told me nobody wanted the ticket. Talk about adding insult to injury. But then Steve and his family never liked me. It was tragic to miss the Who, with Kenny Jones formerly of the Faces filling in on drums. Huge regrets here.

The Who, Arrowhead Stadium, August 5, 1989

I was living in exile in Ft. Smith, Arkansas when the Who got back together and toured giant stadiums. I had thought I’d missed my chance with them after the gas theft and their 1982 farewell tour, but I got lucky and they reunited.

When they came out on stage – Kenny Jones had opted out – they had more people on stage than an old tent revival show. It looked like a Broadway production. They had a horn section, backup singers, multiple keyboard players. Townshend had succumbed to tinnitus and basically stood in a corner and played acoustic guitar while some hired gun played the leads. They opened with a mini-Tommy set and rocked a nice greatest hits set. While it was a drunken day out at Arrowhead, it was a good show. Although I have to admit, it felt more like the Who Revue instead of an actual Who show.

The Who, The Pepsi Center, Denver, CO, August 24, 2000

At last, after two tries I finally got to see a Who show as close to the original lineup as you can come. This time it was only Pete, Roger, John and Zak Starkey, Ringo’s son, on drums. Zak plays more like Keith Moon than his father, so he was the perfect drummer. The four guys got up and rocked like I actually didn’t think they still could. They opened with the usual “I Can’t Explain” and proceeded to rawk us!

I was stunned they played “Getting In Tune,” a wonderful deep track. They ended the set with “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” which is a key song on our April Fool’s Day playlist. For the encore, after a couple of inexplicable Johnny Cash covers, they played another rarity, “Naked Eye” (which features on our Playlist: Songs About Eyes). Then it was a personal favorite “Let’s See Action” and “My Generation.” It was a marvelous show and I’m glad I traveled to Denver to see the show with my buddy Stormin’. I had just met the Rock Chick but she was refusing to travel with me… I was too sketchy, which never really changed I suppose.

The Who, The Sprint Center, Kansas City, April 29, 2016

A guy I know bought these tickets and then another friend of his told him he had a suite… he quickly handed me the tickets for free. Who can say no to the Who for free? This was a gift so I’m not sure I was taking it seriously until the music started! The Who still had it. Although admittedly, the band was augmented with John “Rabbit” Bundrick on keyboards, Pino Palladino on bass, Simon Townshend (Pete’s brother) on second guitar and the aforementioned Zak Starkey on drums. With the additional musicians we got an ever fuller sound from these guys. I finally got to hear “You Better You Bet” live! They also did “Eminence Front,” which has always been a favorite. They might have been touring in support of a greatest his album but the Who showed up and proved once again, they are a potent force live.

And now… we’re faced with the end. At least there was no bizarre vocal injury that caused them to cancel their final shows like Aerosmith last year.  Since both Roger and Pete are octogenarians now, the farewell seems more real than in 1982 when they were younger than I am now. It’s a shame these guys didn’t get along better at the end of the career and put out a few more records. I guess, like the Stones, a new album every 15 to 20 years suits them. This is one of the truly great ones, everybody who is close ought to attempt to go see these guys when they come to your town, “one more time for all the old times”… I know I’ll be looking for an opportunity to see them… another great one gone, sigh.

If you have any Who concert tales to tell, please share them in the comments. I think it’s good for us to all celebrate this ending of the Who as a celebration of what a great band they are and were.

And yes, “Hope I die before I get old…” Cheers!