Mike Kirschbaum, Powers Energy for Dolby Live
The Who performs Friday, Nov. 3, 2022, at Dolby Live theater at Park MGM as part of their “The Who Hits Back! 2022 North American Tour.”
Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022 | 2 a.m.
If last weekend's shows at Dolby Live theater at Park MGM prove to be The Who's final concerts on American soil, what a way to go out — and what a treat for those in the Las Vegas audiences.
The iconic British rock band, still led by the incredible Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, finished out its 2022 "The Who Hits Back!" tour with back-to-back shows Friday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 5. The 30-city North American tour began in April in Hollywood, Fla.
Townshend, the 77-year-old lead guitarist, and Daltrey, the 78-year-old lead singer, are the lone remaining members of The Who (drummer Keith Moon died in 1978; bassist John Enwistle died in 2002 at the old Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas). Townshend, the songwriter, producer and soul behind The Who, has made no secret of his dislike for the road as he's gotten older, leading to speculation that the Park MGM shows may be the end of the band's touring days.
Age, however, was no impediment at the Friday night concert.
Accompanied by a 30-plus member full orchestra, The Who started the evening with six songs from "Tommy," the 1969 double-album. The rock opera's familiar "Overture," led off the concert majestically. Daltrey, playing a pair of tambourines at center stage on the piece, and the lanky Townshend on his familiar guitar at stage left, essentially provided backup to the orchestra, largely made up of local Las Vegas talent.
"Overture" gave way to "1921," the first song with lyrics. Daltrey's voice didn't seem to be his best out of the gate — he later in the concert lamented the effects of the dry desert air on singers' voices — but didn't take long to sing at full pace.
By the time the band and orchestra were on the sixth "Tommy" song, "Pinball Wizard," they and the full-house audience were fully engaged.
"We're Not Gonna Take It / See Me Feel Me / Listening to You” saw Daltrey and Townshend at their best: Daltrey broke out his famed mic-swinging whip and catch while Townshend's trademark windmill guitar stroke both made their first appearances of the night.
It marked the end of the "'Tommy' sequence" of the concert, as Townshend called it. "Now," he said, "we're going to play two or three or four of our hits. You might recognize them. They're all on 'CSI.'"
He, of course, was referring to "CSI: Vegas," the popular television show that presents fictionalized accounts of the work of Metro's Crime Scene Investigation unit. Its theme song is "Who Are You," the title track to The Who's 1978 album, and was the first of those recognizable hits.
After it, "Eminence Front" and "Ball and Chain," the orchestra took a break for the next six songs and The Who went it alone.
Along with Townshend and Daltrey, The Who featured Townshend's brother, Simon, on backup guitar; Loren Gold and Emily Marshall on keyboards; Jon Button on bass; and Zak Starkey on drums. Billy Nicholls provided backup vocals.
After performing "You Better You Bet," Townshend launched into a lengthy story that included the start of a running joke about Ray Dolby, the American engineer who pioneered advances in audiotape noise reduction and the development of surround sound, and whose name is on the theater where The Who played. The story ended with Townshend waxing nostalgic about spending a day on a boat in a Florida swamp, drunk out of his mind and coming up with the beginnings of their next song in the concert, "The Seeker" from 1970.
"What was I doing in a swamp with a guitar?" Townshend asked rhetorically. "Those were the days."
If there was any doubt of Townshend's genius, the song "Won't Get Fooled Again," provided it. The song lyrics lament how little anything changes with the changing of the guard. It's as accurate a description of today's happenings as it was when it was released in 1971.
And if there was any doubt about Daltrey's vocal chops, he answered it with a point-on, loud, strong and long "Yeaaaaah" just before the song's final lyrics, "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."
The final third of the night saw the return of the orchestra. Early in the show, Townshend noted that the band and orchestra only had a brief opportunity to rehearse together. But under the baton of Keith Levinson, the orchestra shined bright.
A stirring video presentation in the final segment during "The Rock"provided a history lesson dating from The Who's founding in 1964 to today. It included images from the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon, the deaths of drummer Moon, Elvis Presley and John Lennon, Mother Teresa, Margaret Thatcher and the British invasion of Grenada, the falling of the Berlin Wall, the first Iraq War, George W. Bush and Tony Blair, the 9-11 attacks and ended with a montage that included Barack Obama winning the 2012 election, the onset of COVID-19, Donald Trump, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension of King Charles III to the throne.
"Baba O'Riley," the song many mistakenly call "Teenage Wasteland," provided a walk-off worthy of a great concert. Vivid lights, sound and activity filled the stage. One lyric of the song provided an apt description of what had taken place throughout the night: "Let's get together before we get much older."
Most impressive during the song was first violinist Katy Jacoby, who fiddled her way around Daltrey and tried to strike up a dance with Townshend in the song's ending fiddle arrangement.
It was the perfect ending to what might be the final tour of The Who in North America.
