When you get the itch you get the itch. This is the case for legendary The Who vocalist Roger Daltrey who wanted to do some dates this summer as his bandmate Pete Townsend enjoys spending the summer on his boat. Daltrey is in the midst of a 11 city trek that included a stop at the OLG stage in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Daltrey handpicked the artists that would accompany him doing these shows. They included: Simon Townsend on guitar and backing vocals, Billy Nichols on mandolin on backing vocals, Doug Boyle on guitar, Scott Devours on drums, Jody Linscott on percussion, Steve Weston on harmonica, Geraint Watkins on keyboards and accordion, John Hogg on bass and backing vocals, and Katie Jacoby on violin and backing vocals. Accompanying Daltrey on this show as the opener was KT Tunstall.
Tunstall opened the show and has been on the scene since 2004 and her debut album ‘Eye to the Telescope.’ Since then she has released 8 more studio efforts. Tunstall was very endearing and said when Roger Daltrey calls you to open the shows you drop everything you do to join him on tour. Her 30 minute set included only 5 tracks but she made the most out of her time. She played the first handful of songs with her acoustic guitar. She did a lot of looping (a technique that involves repeating a section or phrase of music to create a continuous texture). Tunstall told jokes in between tunes. No more evident than she poked fun at herself when she played her hit “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.” She stated “Oh, your the girl who does that song, I know you.” She finished her set with “Suddenly I See,” where she played an electric guitar. Overall, it was cool set by Tunstall.
Daltrey took to the stage at around 9pm to a thunderous applause. The band immediately went into the Pete Townsend cover “Let my Love Open the Door.” He did a lot of talking and cracked some jokes in between tracks. He answered fans questions (that were submitted before the show) in between some of the earlier songs. Daltrey was a bit fidgety with his chair at the start of the third song “Who Are You.” At about 15 seconds in, he got up and pushed and then kicked the chair over. Then proceeded to say I didn’t like you much anyway as the band restarted the track. A pleasant surprise is when Townsend (Simon in this case) took leads on “Mobile.” The similarities in their vocals are uncanny. Surprisingly, the song has never been performed in live setting by Pete Townsend. So Daltrey always liked it and felt that it should get its due. A funny moment is when Daltrey dedicated “Another Tricky Day” to the President of the United States’ son Hunter Biden. Before Baba O’Riley, he talked about how he doesn’t do the “scream” anymore due to his age and having blown out his voice in the 70’s and 80’s constantly. He said doing it over and over and wondering if would be able to sing the next nights performance was always stressful. The band sounded very tight and having a ensemble like that really brought out elements in the songs that otherwise may have got lost in the shuffle. A great example of this is when Jacoby’s violin took over the intro to Bab “O’Riley. A different texture but yet sounded terrific!
The set was a good mix of covers and originals. The covers he did were carefully selected and done with dignity and class. This was the case when he tackled the Creedence Clearwater Revisited song “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.” You can evidently see that Daltrey was having a great time on stage, smiling and laughing the entire way through. At 80 years young Daltrey has nothing else to prove. If this brings him joy and the fans walk away pleased then that’s all that matters!
Setlist:
Let my Love Open the Door (Pete Townsend )
Freedom Ride (Largo cover)
Who Are You (The Who song)
Waiting for a Friend (Billy Nicholls cover)
After the Fire
Days of Light
Giving It All Away (Leo Sawyer cover)
The Kids Are Alright (The Who song)
Squeeze Box (The Who song)
Another Tricky Day (The Who song)
Won’t Get Fooled Again (The Who song)
Going Mobile (The Who song – Simon Townsend on vocals)
Love Ain’t for Keepin’ (The Who song – snippet)
Real Good Looking Boy (The Who song)
I Keep it to Myself (Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltrey cover)
As Long As I Have You
Have You Ever Seen the Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
Without Your Love (Billy Nicholls cover)
Baba O’ Riley (The Who song)
We would like to thank Steven Cahill from the Fallsview Casino and Penny Guyon from Firefly Media for the credentials to review the show.
