The Who
The Royal Albert Hall, London, March 28, 2025
As Roger Daltrey steps down as curator of Teenage Cancer Trust’s annual week-long residency at the Royal Albert Hall, what does this mean for The Who moving forward? The band’s charitable mouthpiece, now 81, has always given them this benevolent purpose to reconvene at least once a year – and, indeed, their two appearances this week are their first since TCT24.
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READ MORE: The Who’s 50 Greatest Songs Ranked!
On opening night, Pete Townshend, who turns 80 in May, crunches out the opening riff to their 1965 classic I Can’t Explain, and if it feels a little creakier than it was even on 2022-23’s Hits Back tour, it transpires that there have been mitigating circumstances: each of The Who’s core survivors soon reveal they’ve been suffering the kind of wear and tear which might make less committed warriors, if not want to die before they get any older, then at least retire.
“I had a complete knee replacement four and a half weeks ago,” confesses Townshend in a familiar nasal whine befitting such OAP concerns. “But because I’m Superman, I’m here! Maybe I should auction off the old one. Elton John had one done, and he wears his as a bracelet. Unfortunately, mine’s in three bits…”
Too much information, perhaps, and Daltrey, now 81, later mutters about deafness and deteriorating eyesight. “But luckily I’ve still got my voice,” he concludes, to huge roars of approval, “otherwise I’ll have the fully Tommy!”
In between the ‘bantz’, Daltrey, Townshend, and their svelte five-piece combo gradually up the intensity across a rapid-fire barrage of immortal bangers. Their youngster rhythm section – lanky Alaska-born bassist Jon Button, 54, and drummer Zak Starkey, sporting a canary-yellow hooded onesie at 59 – establish a swinging propulsion to Who Are You, Starkey puffing excitably to commemorate his late predecessor, Keith Moon.
Iconic selections, chiefly drawn from ’60s hits compilation Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy, Who’s Next(including a first extra-groovy outing for Love Ain’t For Keeping in two decades), and Quadrophenia send unremitting waves of pleasure through punters young and old. Much like when The Rolling Stones played Hyde Park in 2022, there’s a care-free, joyful quality to the performance, rattling out nothing but crowd-pleasers for two ecstatic hours, celebrating an unsurpassable songbook. What do the mighty ’Oo still have to prove? Why be self-indulgent, or feel obliged to reinvent the wheel? Somehow, sharing a beautiful, unforeseen twilight moment in the here and now feels truer to rock ‘n’ roll’s original impulses than huffing and puffing to achieve some perceived artistic high ground.
And yet: Daltrey is on fire. His powerhouse high notes on Love, Reign O’er Me, astonishing at any age, fill the Albert Hall’s giant basin, prompting his own personal standing ovation. Townshend’s fingers suddenly seem to defrost in response, summoning a blazing solo on 1982’s Eminence Front and, yes, windmilling at his strings on a magisterial Baba O’Reilly.
Daltrey pauses to orate passionately about TCT, his “dream life”, and so they charge on through a volcanic Won’t Get Fooled Again. At the last, just The Who’s core duo remain for an acoustic Tea & Theatre (off 2006’s Endless Wire), a song few know, but whose affecting words about “just the two of us” are lost on nobody. This battle-scarred, once-fractious pairing embrace briefly, the applause deafening. If, as has been repeatedly speculated upon, The Who might soon call it a day, then this is surely how to go out in style.
Setlist:
I Can’t Explain
Substitute
Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
I Can See For Miles
Bargain
Pinball Wizard
Love Ain’t For Keepin’
The Seeker
Behind Blue Eyes
The Real Me
5:15
I’m One
Love, Reign O’er Me
My Generation
See Me, Feel Me
Eminence Front
You Better You Bet
Baba O’Reilly
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Tea & Theatre
The Who return to the Royal Albert Hall to headline TCT on Sunday night (March 30). On Saturday (March 29), a special night curated by Erased Tapes will feature Penguin Cafe, Daniel Brandt, Douglas Dare and Hatis Noit. More info and tickets HERE.
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