The Who: Live in Boston

Pete, Roger, and company put on a great show at The Tweeter Center. Stand out songs include Love Reign O'er Me, Behind Blue Eyes, and Baba O'Riley. Roger's voice holds up most of the night, and Pete plays very well. An interesting note for Who fans: towards the end of The Kids Are Alright and My Generation you can hear some of the words and music, respectively, that would eventually make the song Old Red Wine. My only complaint on the DVD is that Pino's bass and Simon's singing are very low in the mix, and both made significant contributions during the tour. The set list is full of the classics, and includes a few other forgotten gems such as Another Tricky Day, Sea and Sand, and Amazing Journey. We thought this may be the end of The Who, but here we are in 2004 and they're still going strong- Long Live Rock!

There seems to be a slight discrepancy with the venue and date of this concert, according to the book, "The Who Concert File" by Joe McMichael and "Irish" Jack Lyons, 2004 edition, this concert fell on Friday 24th of September. The Who, on the 24th according to the book, were playing the Xcel Energy Center, St Paul, Minnesota. Where as in the ending credits, in the DVD, which states, "Recorded live on September 24th at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA. The book itself is a highly interesting detailed book of every Who gig ever played.

With only two remaining players left in the game, The Who continued with what they had started, with true professionalism and show business obligations, they rolled onto the road and played to a full house as a band that was seemingly never fragmented, as powerful and tight as the moment the four original game players struck a chord together.

Live in Boston is a very personal gig to say the least, this being one of the very first shows, recorded for DVD, that has the whole of the rhythm section no longer with us. The very sad demise of Keith Moon in 1978, aged just 32, was too an unexpected shock, maybe a little predictable, but still a great loss. Then during the eve of the 2002 World Tour, John Entwistle passed away, rather equivocally, in a Las Vegas Hotel room, aged just 58 years.

Watching this concert, on DVD, is somewhat rather poignant to the fact that we are too reminded that no one is infallible, we all have to except that through the winds of change, we still have to come to terms that nothing can last forever, not even Heroes.

Pino Palladino, a Welshman by trade, took up the bass guitar at the age of 17. During the 1970s, he toured England and the USA with Jools Holland's band The Millionaires. In the 80s, he worked with many named musicians, including the likes of Elton John, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Chaka Khan, Joan Armatrading, Eric Clapton as well as David Gilmour, Don Henley and Phil Collins. Studio work during the 90s with Pete Townshend and Jeff Beck has kept him busy.

Keith Moons Godson, Zak Starkey, whose father played for The Beatles, continues to play the drums here, as always he is the great prodigy that Keith and Ringo would be proud off. John "Rabbit" Bundrick also remains in the background as the player of Keyboards.

As usual, their warm up number begins with I Can't Explain, following with Substitute, then a fantastic rendition of my personal favourite, from their 60s singles era, Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere. What comes as a pleasant surprise is the performance of the track Another Tricky Day, from the 1981 Album, Face Dances, which had Kenny Jones performing on drums, the original replacement for Keith. This musical recitation, up to now, is still a great Rock n' Roll build up to a spectacular show that never loses pace and drive throughout, this is still powerful Rock. There is a slight difference of musical structure here too; this comes from the back up that is the new rhythm section. With a new style that is Pinos, he subtly stands in the background, providing only the necessity that is his job. Pete and Roger are the conductors off this game and their players play their part without fault. Where as Pete and Roger are leading and pushing their parts to the front of this act, playing the rules that they have succumb too, for many, many years past.

During the 1970s, The Who turned away from the three-minute singles, and continued with the concept of the Album. As well as recitals taken from the 1969 Tommy album, there was a huge amount of material to choose from their earlier years, such as Relay, Bargain and Baba O'Riley. Of course, not forgetting the 1973 Quadrophenia double concept album, with great concert tracks as Sea and Sand, 5.15 and Love Reign O'er Me. Taken from this and others too, we see on Live in Boston all of these, done in typical Who fashion and driving the audience to great expectations and beyond. The ever-lasting show classics are here too, we see and hear, and are touched by songs of feeling with You Better You Bet, The Kids Are Alright, My Generation and Pinball Wizard. There are others in the Show that has also hit the right note for us all, we all have our favourite, and they are all here to enjoy. This is a show that was to prove that through diversity and, again, unpredictable change, The Who were survivors of the magical Rock n' Roll bus that can never be allowed to stop for anyone, except to, sadly and occasionally , drop off causalities along the way, and to hold their memories with great fondness, at least.

After the death of bass guitarist John Entwistle, Pete & Roger decided to continue on with their tour as a tribute to their friend & bandmember.

Even without Keith Moon (d. 1978) and Entwistle, the band still sounds fantastic. There's a bit of a difference, some new members, but they're still The Who and that's evident with this show.

If you're a fan of The Who (and who isn't?) I highly suggest giving this one a look.

Final Verdict: 8.5/10

-AP3-