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[winslowboy]

Who in Hull - are you?


A very soggy welcome awaited The Who and the thousands of fans who had bothered to turn out on this cold, wet evening in Hull’s KC Stadium. Even the bootleg T shirt sellers (£10) and cancer charity collectors with their buckets waiting in ambush on the approach walkway were fairly lacklustre in their appeals for money. No sign of the scooter brigade and the much-hyped Mods guard of honour though - probably sheltering under their parkas somewhere warm and dry!

For the first couple of hours, the two warm up acts, Jackson Analogue and The Ordinary Boys, did their best to entertain the crowd on the pitch which, early on, seemed to be dominated by the yellow, orange and green jacket colours of security, stewards and paramedics respectively! Lots of people drinking beer, bottles on the pitch and glasses for those sitting in the stand, made me idly wonder what people did for a toilet break when standing tightly packed in the middle of a crowd. If you leave, how do you get your place back, but if you don’t? Fortunately for my thought flow, the video screens jumped into life to announce that the concert was being recorded as part of their European tour series (US tour versions from earlier in 2007 are also available) and pre-orders could be taken at www.themusic.com .

At 8pm and just as one over-exuberant fan was being frogmarched out of the tunnel, a casually-dressed Roger Daltry followed by Pete Townshend, looking resplendent in dark shades and wearing a black suit with a scarlet kerchief, led in the rest of the band in the shape of John Bundrick (keyboards), Pino Palladino (bass), Zak Starkey (Ringo’s son) and Simon Townshend (Pete’s brother).

Bang! Straight into I Can’t Explain complete with legendary Daltrey mike-swinging and Townshend windmills. Just as I remembered them from 35 years ago and I knew the evening was going to be a good one. Straight into The Seeker and then my all-time favourite, Subsititute (one of the first songs I ever sang live!). A pause for breath for Roger while Pete promoted and sang the first of their new album’s songs Fragments which also featured some nifty lead guitar work.

Who Are You, complete with screened vintage video clips of a rushing train journey (looked like the London to Brighton run to me, in true Mod fashion). It received rapturous applause (CSI is also very popular over here!) and, wait for it, yep the f*** word version was sung!

A change of pace with Roger singing Behind Blue Eyes and then Relay. Back up to speed now with another classic, Baba O’Riley, featuring Roger on harmonica.

Another pause for breath whilst Pete introduced and sang Eminence Front, an ode to cocaine smuggling, which apparently did much better in US than here in UK because it was a sound track to Miami Vice. I thought it was a really strong number.

Another change of pace with Roger singing the poignant A Man In A Purple Dress, another one of Pete’s creative works from the new album. The first of Pete’s two acoustic guitar renditions of the evening with Roger singing really soulfully. It reminded me a lot of the style of Tommy, their rock opera.

The Real Me, sung by Roger, featured some video background shots of tailors’ dummies. You Better, You Bet, in which the audience was invited to sing the chorus, received rapturous applause and lots of bottles (I hope they were plastic!) thrown up in the air; most gushing liquid! Straight into My Generation (and more aerial bottle displays!). This was the real thing, not the Zimmers’ new cover version, and then a seamless morph into Cry If You Want with Roger and Pete swapping vocals on each verse and yet another person evicted for throwing bottles!

Won’t Get Fooled Again, another crowd pleaser (apart for yet another evicted fan!). CSI and WOMD had both contributed to this one’s success! A keyboard solo, a drum solo and guitar solos brought this number to a close and the band to the front of the stage as Roger introduced them by name, each member in turn.

9.25pm - was this the end already? Of course not, although several people clearly thought so and had already vacated their seats below me. After a few minutes of dimmed lights and empty stage (and possibly Pete having a quick drag behind the video screen on my side), they returned with The Kids Are Alright and Pinball Wizard.

Meanwhile, another seven people were evicted en masse for exuberant bottle throwing, each one protesting their innocence more vigorously than the last. The band played on with Amazing Journey with the Sparks instrumental tagged on the end. A change of pace now with See Me, Feel Me and then the rest of the band left leaving Roger (holding a coffee mug) and Pete (holding his acoustic guitar) on stage to finish with the closer Tea and Theatre.

At the end, Roger Daltry trudged off slowly and almost dejectedly and very grateful for the overcoat handed to him by his assistant. Pete Townshend, on the other hand, positively beamed and waved to me as he walked through the exit tunnel. So I waved back; it seemed like the right thing to do after such a memorable 2 hours of rock nostalgia. Loved it and so did everyone else who went, apart from those who got hit by a bottle (I guess)!

Full Set List

I Can’t Explain
The Seeker
Substitute
Fragments
Who Are You
Behind Blue Eyes
Relay
Baba O’ Riley
Eminence Front
A Man In A Purple Dress
The Real Me
You Better You Bet
My Generation
Cry If You Want
Won’t Get Fooled Again


Encore

The Kids Are Alright
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey/Sparks
See Me Feel Me
Tea and Theatre
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Taking one day at a time means not having to worry about all of next week!

[winslowboy]

Postscript

A late news report suggests that ticket sales/total gross income were less than anticipated for this event (I guess the army of security staff and stewards and everyone else needs to be paid as well!). The Stadium owners have indicated that this may be the last live concert to be held here. REM was also a bit of a flop last year but that was put down to lack of proper promotion.

There goes my dream of getting the Eagles to play Hull, then
_________________
Taking one day at a time means not having to worry about all of next week!

[EaglesBabe18]

Very nice review WB! Thanks for sharing. :D Sounds like you had a great time - how cool Pete waved to you, was it the shirt?

The security sure had a busy night by the sound of it, with all those bottle throwers 'shown the tunnel'! Btw, I guess the bottles were plastic as that's usually the rules at stadiums.

Roger and Pete will be heading here for the next concert to 'christen' our stadium on Friday night, looks like everyone who's going is in for a treat.
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Be young, be foolish, be happy.

[EaglesBabe18]

[mewsical]

Thanks for a great review! I've put it on the blog as well.

[eaglemom]

Great review WB!

What was with all of the bottle throwing? Is that a regular occurance at a Who concert?

[mewsical]

[EaglesBabe18]

[winslowboy]

08:00 - 28 May 2007 - Hull Daily Mail article



Bosses of the city's KC Stadium will consider canning concerts after they failed to sell thousands of tickets for rock legends The Who's appearance in the city.

An estimated 17, 000 of a possible 24,000 tickets were sold for Saturday's performance by the band, which has sold 100 million albums in a career spanning more than four decades.

Stadium manager Rob Smith said he was determined to try to continue putting on concerts at the stadium but conceded it was "crazy" to carry on suffering financial losses.

He declined to discuss exactly how much the stadium missed out on but had the remaining tickets sold at the lowest price of £35 it would have added about £245,000 to the pot.

In the past the KC has failed to sell-out big names including REM and Bon Jovi. However Elton John and Neil Diamond played to capacity crowds.

Mr Smith said: "We have got to consider whether this will be the last concert because, from a business point of view, it is crazy.

"We are not saying it is the last one but we have to look at it over the coming weeks to see if it is viable to continue.

"Five years ago we didn't have anything like this in Hull and we want to see it carry on, but we have to think how long we can do this for if we don't get the support.

"I don't think it is a problem unique to Hull, it is happening to stadiums across the board."

For Who fans the somewhat lacklustre ticket sales and Saturday's rain failed to dampen their enjoyment of the concert, which saw the 60-somethings talk to people from across the generations.

Bernard McGuinn, 52, who took his son Adam to see the band for his sixteenth birthday said: "I love the energy of The Who. I have seen them about six times before and I wanted to share that with my son."

Mr McGuinn, who regularly travels from his home in Selby for KC concerts said: "It would be a shame if they stopped doing concerts here. It is an ideal night out and just what this area needs."

The Who delighted fans with a 90-minute set which included classics including Can't Explain, Substitute and Behind Blue Eyes mixed with songs from their new album Endless Wire.

The band, which featured Ringo Star's son Zak Starkey on drums, didn't appear phased by the rows of empty seats. Both of The Who's front men took the opportunity to pay tribute to the city.

Pete Townshend, who sported a red cravat and looked more like a country squire than a rock rebel, told the crowd he felt at home in the city as he had relatives here.

Roger Daltrey said: "It's a long time since we've been here, too long."

He later made reference to their 1970 gig at the City Hall where the recording machine broke.

He told the crowd that had the recording machine worked, their famous Live In Leeds album would have been Live In Hull, because it was a better concert
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Taking one day at a time means not having to worry about all of next week!

[EaglesBabe18]

[mewsical]

So, I guess they'll do these type concerts again when Hull freezes over?

A shame if they have to stop, but like the promoter said, no point in going into the hole on these things.

[winslowboy]

[EaglesBabe18]

[EaglesBabe18]

[Henley_Fan]

Great review, wb! If I was at a concert and someone threw a beer/coke at me, it's coming right back at them.
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