Norman Ralph

Last night I had the honour of attending one of the greatest music concerts I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Standing fifteen feet from the stage, braving the pouring rain in hull’s KC Stadium I rocked the night away listening to The Who. Probably the greatest rock band ever.

Singing and dancing to classics like “Who Are You”, “My Generation”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Pinball Wizard” along with tracks from their new album Endless Wire, Liz and I were part of one of those rare moments you get with ageing bands, we felt transported to the swinging sixties and rocking seventies. We felt part of the Who Generation.

The concert as a whole lived up to my massive expectations. The two support acts were the perfect counterfoil to The Who. Jackson Analogue, an Isle of Wight based indie-rock band, were superb. I had never heard of them before last night but I have been inspired to investigate them further and would definitely buy their album and pay to see them in their own right. Their sound was difficult to pigeon hole. They seemed like a cross of the modern indie sound (like bands such as Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand) and the softer pop-rock of bands like Ash with a pinch of stagemanship like the Killers. Highly recommended!

The second support act were an enigma. They are a band that I resolutely dislike both on the radio and on disc. However, I found that live, they came into their own. Whether it was the atmosphere of a packed stadium, the atrocious weather lowering our expectations or they just perform better live I don’t know. I like them. They got me bobbing up and down, nodding my head to the deep bass rhythms and funky guitar licks. I definitely feel that the band comes from a different era, they would have been at home in Brighton in the late 60s and early 70s, driving Vespas. They had really well put together set list, remarkable energy and just the right sound for the occasion made them a spectacle in their own right. I really enjoyed the forty minutes they were on stage.

After a long delay whilst the stage was put together, we got the main attraction, the raison d’etre…The Who!

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey strolled onto stage, Roger carrying what seems to be the eponymous mug of tea and the concert kicked off. They opened with a barrage of hits – “Can’t Explain”, “Substitute” and then “Behind Blue Eyes”. The crowd was really geting into the set. Hit followed hit followed hit with songs like “Baba O’Riley”, “You Better Bet”, “Relay” and “The Seeker”. The songs from the new album really demonstrated a change for the band, gone are the guitar driven songs of the older albums and enter the vocals of Roger Daltrey who really has developed singing as an instrument to a new level. His rock tones mixed beautifully with the clever musicianship of Townshend and you ahve a recipe for success. I really enjoyed two of the songs, “Fragments” and “Man in a Purple Dress” both masterfully crafted.

By the time that The Who left the stage at about 10.30, we had been standing up for over five hours yet I could have gone all night listening to the entire back catalogue of songs. Amazing as The Who are on disc they really excel live. The presence of the two remaining band members was obvious. They owned the stage and what is more, they owned the audience. It was magical.

If anybody gets the chance to see them live then I recommend it, even if you don’t really follow the band. Liz knew very few of the songs yet she says that she had a great time, the music just carries you away; you can’t help but get caught up in the moment. I am not supposed to mention this but a certain somebody suggested that the gig was better than a certain other band (which she is obsessed about….).

All in all it was an amazing night, I literally cannot enthrall about it enough. There just are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe the elation, joy and awe I felt throughout the concert.

It was an added joy to be able to share this experience with Liz. I have never been to a concert with a girlfriend before as I rarely share musical tastes with them, I tend to enjoy the more obscure and older sections of the musical spectrum. I had a great time at the concert and some of that has to be attributed to Liz.

Sorry to those that went to Cabbage last night, but by the time I had driven to Lincoln to pick liz up then driven to Hull then back to Leeds I was shattered!