REVIEW: The Who Durham Riverside Cricket Ground at Chester-le-Street 19 July 2023

By music correspondent Peter Smith

I am, of course, a massive fan of The Who. They, along with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks epitomise the best of British rock from the 1960s and going into the 1970s. Indeed, during the 1970s The Who were, without doubt one of the best rock bands in the world alongside the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. I have seen The Who 20+ times since 1971 and they remain a major force as a live act.

Somehow, almost beyond my own hopes, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey have managed to continue the life of The Who after the great losses of Keith Moon and John Entwistle, both seemingly irreplaceable. Yet the band continued, partly because of their strong fan base, the connection to mod culture and more importantly because of the tenacious nature and vision of Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. So The Who lives on and I am very glad that this is the case.

Another opportunity to see them! I grab it with both hands each time. And this time it was local at Durham cricket ground. Unlike the Rod Stewart concert, the weather held out and Jan, my carer for the evening, and I were pleased that we were not drenched; there had been some rain but thankfully it subsided by the time we reached the wheelchair platform, which gives a good view of the proceedings. As we entered the cricket ground we could hear the sound of UB40 featuring Ali Campbell finishing their set with "Kingston Town" and "Can't Help Falling in Love". Sadly, we had just missed him singing "Red, Red Wine". Nonetheless it was good to hear his voice again.

This time, The Who were accompanied by quite a large orchestra, similarly to the last time I saw them in Wembley Stadium a few years ago. The performance was in three parts: segments from Tommy with the orchestra, the band performing a "greatest hits" set and finally, the orchestra returned to join The Who in playing segments from Quadrophenia. The concert started at 8:15 PM prompt with the band and orchestra playing a short section from the Tommy overture, quickly moving into "1921" ("is going to be a good year"), then "Amazing Journey" (which is, by the way, still amazing!). We were then taken through further sections of Tommy Including, of course, the wonderful "Pinball Wizard" and closing with "We're Not Gonna Take It". The orchestra stayed to back the band for "Who Are You" and finally a track which is finally starting to grow on me; "Eminence Front" sung by Townsend.

The orchestra left the stage in order for The Who to play a set of great songs from the past. At this point I should mention the band which comprises a selection of great musicians including regulars Simon Townshend (Pete's brother) and Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr). So we roll back to the 1960s and are treated to "The Kids Are All Right", "Substitute", "I Can't Explain" and "My Generation" among others. All of these are classic songs and I can't say which is my favourite. They all take me back. I recall when either "I Can't Explain" (their first single, of course) or "Substitute" would open the set during the 1970s. Then they complete this short section with excellent versions of 1970s classics: "Won't Get Fooled Again" and another great favourite of mine, the lovely ballad "Behind Blue Eyes".

Now there was a time when I thought Roger was losing his vocal abilities, but these days his voice sounds as strong as ever. Pete Townshend looks well and still plays some mean guitar; no real arm twirling and certainly no smashing the guitar these days, but you can't have everything and maybe smashing the guitar would be unseemly at his stage in life. Oh, but Roger still does some great mike swirling during "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Finally, we move into the last segment featuring songs from Quadrophenia including the speed fueled ("out of my head on the") "5:15" which conjures up images of Phil Daniels as Jimmy on the train to Brighton. Magic. I have come to love Quadrophenia, which I once felt was nowhere near as good as Tommy, having seen The Who perform the opus in full on many occasions. I now understand why many people believe it is The Who's best work and how it has become a mod classic. To close they perform another favourite "Baba O'Riley". It is 10:30 PM and a prompt finish right on curfew time.

I bought a couple of programmes (one for me and one for my friend John in the USA, as I often do) and regret not purchasing a set of Zak Starkey drumsticks. However, I correct this omission of judgement by ordering a set online. Many thanks to Jan for taking the photographs. We meander our way out towards our taxi who is waiting for us. One thing I have just remembered.

During the concert, Pete Townshend reminisces about, when playing in the North-East, staying at a hotel in Gateshead and he can't remember whether it was named the Three Bridges or the Five Bridges Hotel (I'm pretty sure it was the Five Bridges Hotel). He tells a nice story of how when driving up to Scotland he ran out of money and could not afford to put petrol in his car. He stopped at the hotel, they kindly lent him some cash and he was on his way again. Even though, he admitted, that was after some wild and pretty bad behaviour in the hotel during the 1960s.
Happy days.

Setlist: With Orchestra: Overture;1921; Amazing Journey; Sparks; The Acid Queen; Pinball Wizard; We're Not Gonna Take It; Who Are You; Eminence Front

Band Only: The Kids Are Alright; You Better You Bet; Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere; Substitute; I Can't Explain; My Generation; Cry If You Want; Won't Get Fooled Again; Behind Blue Eyes

With Orchestra: The Real Me; I'm One; 5:15;The Rock; Love, Reign O'er Me; Baba O'Riley