If you go back to 1982, The Who was the first artist to use the words “Farewell Tour.” The remaining original members of The Who; Roger Daltrey (81) and Pete Townsend (80) were in their 30’s at that time. Fast forward to today, now its common place for band to use that gimmick. The Who are currently on their ‘Song is Over” Tour. Considering the health and ages of both Daltrey and Townsend, this time is very plausible. The Who are finally saying goodbye with a17 city North American tour. For this show at Fenway Park, they brought with them Boston’s own the Joe Perry Project to open the show.
We recently reviewed the Joe Perry Project’s in Toronto on August 16th (Review Here), so we won’t go into a deep into their show performance for this review. Some of the major notables were that the show was cut significantly due to JPP being an opening act. The setlist was changed to reflect that. I was little surprised they kept The Black Crowes and Stone Temple Pilots songs into the set with it being condensed. Those were “Twice as Hard” and “Vasoline.” It was also odd that Perry didn’t address the crow as his hometown. Outside of that, the shorter set was solid and precise. Hopefully, they extend the tour because this is about as good as it gets.
Headlining was the legendary band The Who. The Who has downsized their touring outfit some since the last time I saw them back in 2019. This time The Who had only 6 supporting musicians backing them. They were Pete’s brother Simon Townsend on guitar, Lauren Gold on keyboards, John Button on bass, Scott Devours on drums, John Hogg on backing vocals and Jody Linscott on percussion.
The band opened up with “I Can’t Explain” off of their 1965 ‘Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy’ album. Daltrey donned a guitar for the 1st time in the set for “Who Are You.” Daltrey’s falsetto was tested on “The Seeker” and passed it with flying colors. Pete Townsend addressed the crowd a few times throughout the show and talked about the area being one of his favorite places to fish. For “Behind Blue Eyes,” Pete Townsend sat down to play the acoustic guitar. A very cool effect on their video screen happened during “My Generation.” The screen depicted a club and had the original video of the song playing where the stage was set up and the original show poster on the wall. Then it showed the current band on that same screen where the stage was in that club and changed the show poster to the current tour. It was something I haven’t see before and a visually a cool effect for the audience to take in. I’m glad that the band went back to 1981’s ‘Face Dances’ album to play “You Better You Bet.” This song along with 1982’s “Eminence Front” track were my first introductions to the band as I was an MTV kid. Simon Townsend handled his brothers solo song “Mobile” as Pete said, I can’t sing high anymore so its only fitting that I have my brother Simon sing it for you. Listening to Simon sing it you couldn’t really tell the difference. So, it was good choice handing that duty over. Daltrey’s voice would be put to the test during “Love, Reign O’er Me.” He shocked me and most people when he hit all the notes and did so with a lot of power. He continued to show his vocal prowess during “Won’t Get Fooled Again” as he hit the scream at the end. It was poignant that after band introductions, only Daltrey and Pete Townsend remained. Townsend again took a seat and played acoustic as Daltrey held some tea in one hand, and sang “Tea & Theatre” into the mic with his other hand.
I have seen The Who numerous times over the last 30 years (the first being in 1996). This may have been the best time I have seen them. It was really that good. So if this is indeed the “Last Song,” The Who can hang their heads high knowing that they were still on top of their game when they decided to call it a career. Kudos to a an amazing career that 99.99 bands would have loved to have!
Setlist:
I Can’t Explain
Substitute
Who Are You
The Seeker
Love Ain’t For Keepin’
Pinball Wizard
See Me, Feel Me (With “Listening to You” refrain)
Behind Blue Eyes
Eminence Front
My Generation
Cry If You Want
You Better You Bet
Going Mobile (Simon Townsend on lead vocals)
The Real Me
I’m One
5:15
Love, Reign O’er Me
Baba O’Reilly
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Tea & Theatre (Roger and Pete only)
Joe Perry Project setlist:
Let the Music Do the Talking
East Coast, West Coast (Aerosmith song)
Twice as Hard (The Black Crowes cover)
Combination (Aerosmith song)
Vasoline (Stone Temple Pilots cover)
Get It Up (Aerosmith song)
Last Child (Aerosmith song)
Chip Away the Stone (Richard Supa cover)
Walk This Way (Aerosmith song)
Train Kept A-Rollin’ (Tiny Bradshaw cover)
To see any Joe Perry Project photos, please go to: 97 Rock
We would like to thank Penny Guyon from Firefly Media for the credentials to review the show.
