Once again, The Who have shown their support for the Teenage Cancer Trust by performing 2 shows at the Royal Albert Hall in 2025.
The support act, Level 42, put on their usual high energy set packed full of hits in their allotted 45 minutes and were very well received by the near capacity audience.
The Who then came on and showed what a tight unit they still are with their debut hit "I Can't Explain", followed by "Substitute" and "Who Are You" before Roger chatted to us about their very early days as The Detours and his failed first marriage before launching into "The Kids Are Alright".
Their set comprised most of their biggest hits although "I Can See For Miles" was missing on the Sunday, but they found time for a number of album tracks such as "Bargain", "Love Ain't For Keepin'" and "Cry If You Want" from 1982's "It's Hard".
A highlight of the show came with Quadrophenia's "Love Reign O'er Me". Roger gave everything to the song and received a well earned standing ovation from the crowd. Even Pete was moved to say "well done" as a drained looking Roger stood motionless for a few moments.
Although the band had a few sound issues which prompted the odd outburst from Pete or Roger, the energy that the band put out was palpable. The Quadrophenia song ""The Real Me" suffered from technical issues but we were immediately blown away by a majestic "5.15".
Zak Starkey, Simon Townshend et all were impressive in support of Pete and Roger with Simon especially shining on acoustic guitar for the intro to "Pinball Wizard".
Pete admitted that he needed to sit more than usual as his 4 week old new knee was causing him discomfort but he said that he was in good form and appeared moved by the reception on several occasions.
Apart from the sound issues, Roger was also on top form and belied his age with the power of his voice and his ability to still hit, and hold, notes without ever appearing to strain.
3 hits in the shape of "You Better You Bet", "Baba O'Riley" and the iconic "Won't Get Fooled Again" took us to the show's climax with "The Song Is Over" from 1971's "Who's Next" which Pete said they hadn't played in years. The sound issues caused them to stop part way through and Pete encouraged Roger to start again which they did and then received a standing ovation before waving and leaving us to wonder how their 2 leaders with a combined age of 160 years could still perform at that level for 2 hours.
How long they will continue to be able to perform as a band is unknown but, if you have a chance to see them live in future, I highly recommend that you make the effort to see them while you can.
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