An orchestra on stage, the Simfònica del Vallès, and a completely saddled track give an idea that the concert that was going to take place on Wednesday night at Sant Jordi was not exactly by the Who. Not one of those Who who became famous destroying instruments on stage and recklessly playing with fireworks. Not the quartet that appeared on the souvenir T-shirts for sale at the entrance to the venue, reflecting a youth band that had its best years in the 60s and 70s. But all this vanished when Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend jumped into the stage acclaimed by a Palau that was not filled for the occasion.
And it is that the Barcelona fans wanted to receive the English group, especially since they had never visited the city before despite a frustrated attempt in 2006. It did not matter that the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle were missing, or even that they did not will play the iconic My Generation. Daltrey and Townshend, 79 and 78 years old respectively, put together a concert where they had the pleasure of interpreting a good part of the themes from Tommy and Quadrophenia, their rock opera from the megalomaniac head of the London guitarist, with symphonic accompaniment.
The band took the stage calm and punctual, at 9:30 pm, accompanied by Simon Townshend, Pete’s brother, on guitar and Zak Starkey, son of Beatle Ringo Starr, on drums. Together with them two keyboards, a bass and of course the thirty members of the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès, protagonists at the opening and closing of the concert with a sound that devoured the band itself with the exception of the drums. After an instrumental start with Overture, it was soon possible to verify that the years have treated Roger Daltrey’s powerful voice well, who took over the rest of Tommy’s songs (and the entire concert) especially in Pinball Wizard, the most acclaimed piece of this first part, with Daltrey turning the microphone over by the cable. The one who did give away was Townshend, who did his classic pinwheel with his arm in We’re not gonna take it, which was acclaimed by the public.
It was the first of a series of hits received with loud applause by the respectable, who after visiting Tommy and lowering the presence of the orchestra vibrated with hits like Who are you, received as if the concert had started again. It was enough that the synthesizers that characterize this song began to sound, where Townshend took the opportunity to demonstrate his agile handling of the guitar. A success that he repeated when he interpreted You better you bet or Wo n’t get fooled again, followed by clapping by the public and closed by a loud scream from Daltrey. In between Townshend, not very talkative, opened his mouth to present Ball and Chain, the only song they performed from their last album, Who, released in 2019, applauded but not as much as the youthful Substitute, from 1966.
Before the Symphony resumed its place, Behind Blue Eyes sounded with violin and cello accompaniment, a soft ballad from the album Who’s Next. It was the counterpoint to attack Quadrophenia, the album that marked a generation of mods, with the powerful The real me, followed by I’m one, 5:15 and the instrumental The Rock, performed entirely with Daltrey off stage while the screens they took a visual journey from the 60s to the present, including interspersed images of Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Love, Reign O’er Me, with a new display of Daltrey’s vocal power, closed the operatic chapter, but there was still one last gift for the public: that visit to the future from the past that is Baba O’Riley. High end to a performance that will probably (and unfortunately) be the rock duo’s first and last in Barcelona.
