5 Oct 2017

A Who Fan’s Observations on seeing the band in South America

This is the first time that The Who play in Argentina and the rain was falling from the sky as if the heaven was crying of emotion. Suddenly Pete and Roger appear on the stage and the crowds were excited after waiting 50 years to see the band of their lives. Pete looked very excited as he shakes his hands in the sky saying: “The rain is gift from God” He knew it was The Who final date of the 2017 tour. He grab his guitar and started with the riff of ‘I Can´t Explain’. The crowd went crazy, too much emotion.

Roger was in great voice but a little low in the mix for the first three songs. ‘The Seeker’ kept the energy very high. By ‘Who Are You’ Roger vocals were louder in the mix. Pete amazed the crowds with his signature windmill and Roger with his mic swinging.

We have watched all The Who concerts on TV but now it was happening in real life in front of our eyes. Even the Guns N Roses fans were excited. The setlist was the short one with only 90 minutes but it was intense and full of energy.

‘The Kids Are Alright’ was very good, all the crowd was singing, Pete and Roger are in great form. If this is actually their last gig, they are going in big! If like the time didn’t pass for these 70s years old rockers! ‘I Can See For Miles’ sounded really great, a great highlight of the concert but ‘My Generation’ didn’t let the people rest and all were jumping, singing and reaching their hands up. I was not on the first row but close enough to see a panoramic of the whole band.

For moments I thought that Pete was going to break his guitar, but this was not going to happen. He was in good spirits but in a sort of angry mood. He was worried about the rain and his guitar equipment. Lot of signs for the equipment crew. They covered the guitar pedals and try to protect all the equipment. ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ started with Pete seating in a green chair. A time to relax. All the Who fans were singing the lyrics and the emotion was high. By the second verse Pete got up, catching with Zak eyes. Lot of looks between Pete and Zak, making the music alive!!!

Roger was sounding great. He is actually singing better than ever in the last 20 years. I don’t know how actually that can happen but is the truth. He manage the crowds with mastery and that is clear in ‘Join Together’, making all the people happy and singing with power!

‘You Better You Bet’ is a great number in the setlist, with Roger carrying all the weight of the song in his vocals. Is incredible how he is singing this song and all the melodic modifications that he’s doing are great!!!!! Is sounding better than ever.

Now we are going for a short Quadrophenia set with Pete holding his acoustic Gibson J200 and playing the intro of ‘I’m One’. This is one of those moments where we all get a little bit emotional. Pete was in great voice and by the break of the song people started clapping at the wrong time and he said ironically “What a fuckin’ time”. Then John Corey started playing the piano intro from ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ and suddenly he is playing ‘Tattoo’. Few people noted this but the one who recognized it starting to singing along as if the song was a true hymn. That took us all by surprise, even in one moment I thought that they were actually going to play it but then John reconnects with the ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ intro and Roger reach his arms up touching the sky and give an incredible rendition of the song with an amazing scream in the last chorus of the song. Pete’s guitar was sounding big!!

Then the Tommy section took us by surprise and was a highlight of the whole concert with ‘Amazing Journey’ and ‘Sparks’ showing us the best Zak Starkey drums skills. Pete made the birdman and it was a magical moment. ‘Pinball Wizard’ was a hit and the crowd was crazy! They didn’t believe, The Who were in front of their eyes and they were playing better than one can imagine! ‘See Me Feel Me’ and all the people were singing like one big crowd the words of ‘Listening To You’.

‘Baba O’Riley’ started to sound and the the people gone crazy, sing the three big chords of the piano.Roger voice is strong and reach all the notes with dignity. Pete is windmilling his arms and he was one with the crowd singing “Don’t cry, don’t raise your eyes”. It was like the crowd were waiting 53 years to hear this song live and alive. Wow!! Roger was a great art the harmonica and the song ended with a double leap by Pete Townshend. Classic.

‘Won’t Get Fooled’ again finished this encounter and in a big way. Pete’s guitar is loud and Roger is in great form. No slide from Pete, too much rain I think and a bigger scream by Roger Daltrey. We maybe saw the best rock concert in the history of Argentina.

The Who one more time were the best.

José Ignacio Errázuriz ‘Nacho’ Cruz