Power pop takes many guises, but few would dispute that The Who played a pivotal role in its birth, combining soaring melodies and rich harmonies with crunchy guitar riffs and other sonic delights. Granted, a rock opera like Tommy steps outside the three-minute parameters of the ideal pop song, but even that example is littered with brilliant singles, mixed in with the “Overture,” “Underture,” and other instrumental passages.
The band’s hand in perfecting power pop, and the sheer artistry of their very deep catalog, whatever the genre, was eminently apparent at their appearance at the FedExForum last Friday night. Of course, purists are quick to point out that the most anyone can see these days is half the Who, and that’s technically true. But that rock band, by any name, was only part of the recipe Friday, as the group comprised only about one sixth of the total musicianship onstage. The Who that played Memphis Friday was a symphonic Who.
The core band was a powerhouse, of course. Front and center were the two original members, singer Roger Daltrey and songwriter/lead guitarist Pete Townshend. The late Keith Moon has long had a worthy stand-in with Zak Starkey on drums, who’s style owes more to the inimitable Mr. Moon than his own father, Ringo Starr. And the guitarist/backup singer was Pete’s brother, Simon Townshend. The shoes of the late John Entwistle, who passed away in 2002, were filled by the enthusiastic Jon Button. One special guest, who crafted pop singles in his own right back in the day and has written many charting songs, was backing vocalist Billy Nicholls. Keyboardist Loren Gold mastered the often tricky synthesizer, piano and organ parts capably, augmented by second keyboardist Emily Marshall. Finally, orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, lead violinist Katie Jacoby and lead cellist Audrey Snyder were joined by a few dozen classical players from Memphis.
Pete Townshend introduced the latter musicians, saying they were “Memphis born and bred, though only about five of them are any good at basketball.” Though stoically focused on their scores during the performance, many of the local players could barely conceal their delight after the show.
“I got to sit right by Pete Townshend and his amp…it was awesome,” quipped one player. Another said, “They were amazing! So cool to see Pete Townshend do the windmill in real life. It was a dream to hear them and be a part of their sound.”
Trumpeter Tom Clary posted a photo with only the caption “Jumbotron,” featuring a moment when his face loomed on the large screens flanking the stage.
In bolstering the sound of the Who, local classical musicians were carrying on a long tradition of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, players from which have graced pop and power pop records for over half a century now. And, under Levenson’s direction, the woodwinds, brass, strings and percussionists turned on a dime, from precise and delicate passages to outright bombast.
The sheer size and complexity of the mix may have diminished the sheer rocking abandon of The Who in their prime, especially when Townshend seemed to approach his role with great humility, blending in with the other orchestra players and generally keeping a low profile. At first, his guitar was notably quieter than one would imagine, until about midway through the set.
That was appropriate, as it turned out, as that half focused on material from Tommy. The irony, as Townshend pointed out after “Pinball Wizard,” was that there was no orchestra on the original album. “Our producer Kit Lambert wanted to use an orchestra, but I thought The Who were better than any orchestra.” The only nod to the classical world on the original release, Townshend noted, was John Entwistle’s French horn.
And yet the rock opera was receiving orchestral treatments from the first year of its release, even being transformed into a musical by Townshend in the 1990s. Last Friday, the orchestrations blended perfectly with the solid hammering of the rock band, bringing a bit of shimmer to the ethereal chords of Tommy‘s “Overture.”
A contemporary bit of inspiration made an appearance during Tommy as well. As the classic refrain of “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me” gave way to “Listening to you I get the music/Gazing at you I get the heat,” Townshend cranked his guitar up a notch and the lights glowed with the blue-and-gold of Ukraine.
Townshend sang relatively little through the night, explaining that a recent illness had left his voice sounding “like a cross between Elvis Presley and Louis Armstrong,” even as he belted out “Eminence Front” very much like that latter. At one point between songs, he pulled out his phone and fiddled about with it, saying, “I’m not checking my phone, I’m adjusting my hearing controls,” referring to Bluetooth-connected in-ear monitors he wore.
But he took the occasion to wax nostalgic about Keith Moon’s great desire to have an old-school rotary phone by his drum kit during shows, which would ring between songs, requiring him to answer it. “Hello, darling,” Townshend mimicked Moon. “Yes, everything’s fine, the show’s going well. Please don’t call me at work!”
Daltrey, for his part, was in fine voice throughout the night, delivering the high notes and even the scream in “Won’t Get Fooled Again” as if he was fifty years younger. Indeed, hearing him carry so many of the band’s greatest songs was a stark reminder of what a force of nature his voice still is.
Midway through the set, fans were able to hear The Who as an honest-to-god rock band, or at least a relatively stripped-down seven piece, kicking into “The Seeker” with both guitarists on acoustics. This was also the segment that featured a rare non-hit, which Daltrey called “one we recorded for the Lifehouse project,” albeit unreleased until the Odds and Sods LP: “Relay.” Perhaps egged on by Gold’s blistering organ solo, Townshend finally revved up his guitar during the number.
Eventually, the orchestra returned, and it was a very welcome re-augmentation as the collective launched into songs from Quadrophenia, Townshend’s lesser known, if more literary, rock opera. The titular instrumental number from the opera was a revelation in this form, as Time-Life style images of great moments in history from the ’60s onward flashed on the screen (a bit predictably). The photos did include local headlines about the death of Elvis. But the grandeur of the music made such a montage redundant. And that was brought home when, after an artful solo piano introduction by Gold, the entire ensemble erupted into “Love, Reign O’er Me.”
With “Baba O’Riley” and its extended fiddle outro by Jacoby (who changed into a Grizzlies shirt for the occasion), the night was over, as Daltrey blessed us with the words, “May you all have wonderful lives ahead of you!”
Setlist:
With Orchestra
Overture
1921
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Pinball Wizard
We’re Not Gonna Take It
Who Are You
Eminence Front
Ball and Chain
Join Together
Band Only
The Seeker
You Better You Bet
Relay
Won’t Get Fooled Again
With Orchestra
Behind Blue Eyes
The Real Me
I’m One
5:15
The Rock
Love, Reign O’er Me
Baba O’Riley