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Rating: It was tough but it was worth it; a journey lasting two days, a long wait at the entrance, but it was all worth it.
I was there in front, first row behind the barriers. The concert opens at 20:45 with the opening act "Casbah Club"... not a bad performance, if we exclude the numerous audio problems due to a malfunctioning amplifier.
At 22:00 the crowd erupts, chants of "Roger Roger!", "Who Who Who!", "Pete!!!!!" and "We are the mods, we are the mods..." begin; the Who are on stage... everyone is in plain view, especially Roger and Pete.
Few preliminaries and lots of substance, this is what they've accustomed us to... and they don't betray expectations this time either. "I Can't Explain" is performed in a super electric version, as is "The Seeker". The audience is in a frenzy, jumping and singing practically every song. "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere" is excellent, "Relay" is a gem, truly appreciated.
With "Who Are You" one witnesses an immense explosion of power... Pete's performance is excellent, Roger's is great, it really feels like being back in the good old days. "Behind Blue Eyes" starts, as has become recent tradition, with Roger on acoustic guitar... it all explodes in the end, causing immense emotions.
"Real Good Looking Boy", a new piece dated 2004, is performed perfectly, nothing to say. At the end of this piece, the whole stage "turns off," and a single spotlight illuminates Pete, who takes his acoustic guitar and headphones, to play some "Quadrophenia" for us. As soon as Pete's "solo" performance is over, the sports hall erupts again under the notes of "Baba O'Riley", and is moved by those of "Love Reign O'er Me", sung divinely by an almost rejuvenated Roger Daltrey. Roger, like in the old days, breaks the tambourines he used and throws them towards the audience, along with the harmonica. Fantastic.
"You Better You Bet" is a bit like the calm before the storm... oh yes, because "My Generation" was truly the total frenzy. The audience jumps, splashes of water and beer fly, everyone sings... and, of course, the shouts go "Why don't you all Fuck off!!!!", instead of the original words. The only thing missing is Keith's drumming, somewhat compensated by Pino Palladino's excellent work on bass and Pete on guitar, who gives us plenty of arm acrobatics.
"Won't Get Fooled Again" ends the first part of the concert in a spectacular way, with Roger screaming "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" and swinging his microphone in the air. After a few minutes, here they are back on stage, to give us "The Kids Are Alright" and "Substitute", revolutionized by Pete's improvised solos. The final run of "Tommy" with "Pinball Wizard", "Amazing Journey", "Sparks" and "See Me Feel Me", is really impressive... everything happens. Pete short-circuits, his arm keeps spinning, he makes impressive grimaces, jumps on the amplifiers on the side of the stage... crazy. An explosive finale, complete with throwing of picks and promises like "We'll be back in Spain, you are fantastic".
Having then earned a Pete autograph on the Quadrophenia booklet at the exit is a separate emotion, but I can assure you that I've never spent two hours like this in my entire life.
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