Saturday
May102025
Meanwhile The Who Are Retiring (Again)
Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 12:01AM
I think this one is going to stick.
The Who are retiring with a farewell tour called "The Song Is Over." In my opinion, that is an incredibly sad name for a tour, but it definitely gets the point across, doesn't it?
Tour dates are below - no Ohio stops. Actually, not all that many stops at all, considering. Tickets will be bonkers expensive, I'm sure. I also think the tiny "Live Nation" under The Who logo in the lineup is just ridiculous.
tagged The Who
The Who
Reader Comments (6)
But Daltrey always struck me as a twit, and now strikes me as a hard-of-hearing old codger yelling at the 'yoots' smoking 'grass'. And Townsend struck me as a prima donna, a bit too self-involved and a touch too interested in being interesting (like Morrissey with talent and a lack of hard-right political diatribes). Credit, though, where it is due. His recent explanations for not liking playing live made sense to me. Then again, they are out there--one last time--to grab some more of that . . . wait for it . . . lucre. So, I guess, contradictions?!?!
As an older English friend of mine once opined, I grew up a generation late. His point? My views on The Who (and The Beatles) suggest I am just a touch too young to understand them in context. I think I agree to some extent.
But paying to see them now? I have to imagine that it will be those who, in context, are willing to (as I am in certain cases) squint so as to see one last drop of nostalgia slide down the side of their credit card statement. At least they won't get fooled again. Giggle.
Ya never know when a show will give you a “moment”. On a whim I saw James Taylor last summer. Nose bleeds. Like $21. Elevator line was huge with all the seniors. James is still special. Especially for his generation. During one of his quieter songs if one was paying attention; you could hear 80% of those seniors singing/speaking those classic Taylor lyrics. Quietly as if that moment had transported them and their aging selves back to their “time”. It was hauntingly beautiful on a beautiful summer evening on the water. I even discovered a “bucket list” song” for my playlist. See, I have a Spotify playlist with no more than 100 songs that define my journey. I add and subtract as times and myself change. Because it is always only “now”. James’ Secret O’ Life was added after that show.
Just like the music we celebrate on BBG that brings us back to our time. ✌️
Your point about those quiet (or loud, depending on the song!) moments of transcendence is very well taken. I had one a few years back when ELO did a Traveling Wilburys' song with Dhani Harrison covering his dad's parts (he was opening that tour). And I even had one as recently as this past Dec. when I finally got to see WASP (well, Blackie) live for the first time. Backing tracks or not, when he launched into a snippet of "Forever Free" I felt like a 'yoot' again.
And isn't that the great thing about music? Who cares what I like? What matters, at the end of the day, is that music serves as a reminder of just how precious our lives have been, of how many blessed memories we are lucky to have and hold dear. If we can make and share a few more, so much the better. We get one trip. I keep trying to make the most of it.
All the best, Kixchix. And to think that I was such a twit to you when I first started posting here. I can be a world-class knucklehead! Take care.
I kid, I kid!
And speaking of kids, when I was one, it was the original Big 4! …
The Beatles, The Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin!
Though Led Zeppelin is my personal favorite, I do realize without the first 3, you wouldn’t have the latter.
We also wouldn’t have 80’s Hard Rock and Metal, as you can hear the influences of all of those classic bands in the 80’s stuff, probably more so The Who and Zeppelin!
I wonder what Blackie Lawless thinks of The Who. WASP did cover “The Real Me” on 1989’s “Headless Children” album.
I did see The Who at Madison Square Garden, 6th Row one of the 6 nights they played in July of 1996 and granted, it wasn’t 1976, but it was still pretty amazing! … Enteistle was still with them, Daltrey was still spinning his mic and Townsend was still doing his windmills!
He also pointed out to the sold out crowd that all the equipment on stage was analog, at a time when most bands had adopted the tech still prevalent today.
I also locked eyes with Roger Daltrey as I was rolling into the hotel bar at The Four Seasons in Hollywood and he was rolling out … I was so Godsmacked (haha!!), I couldn’t even muster a “Hello”, which I could have as we literally brushed right by each other.
Look, as you have noted, though I’m paraphrasing, everyone’s got their point of view.
I would just ask you listen to the vinyl of “Who’s Next” and “Live at Leeds” on that killer stereo of yours before you write ‘em off completely.
But as you eluded to, agreeing or not agreeing, that’s what makes horse races!”