Electric Eye - Rock & Roll Memories: The Who @ La Défense Arena, Nanterre

For a long time, between the late sixties to the mid-seventies, The Who was the best live band on the planet. Better than the Stones, better than Zeppelin, and yes, even better than your favorite band. Now, I'm too young to know this from experience: I've had to learn it second-hand through many (many!) live albums, bootlegs, concert movies and various documents. But the excitement, the power, the insanity, the musicality of a Who show was unmatched, unrivaled, unequaled. That was in large parts thanks to the manic drumming of Keith Moon and the virtuosic bass playing of John Entwistle, whose endless creativity and astounding chemistry turned their rhythm section into a lead instrument of sorts.

But in 2023 that unorthodox rhythm section is long gone, and The Who is a much different band. The voice is still here: Roger Daltrey, nearly eighty, still belts out those teenage anthems like he means it, and if you close your eyes, it can almost bring you back to 1971. Sure, the register is a tad lower, and the timbre is slightly gruffer, but the little cracks give the songs a new, different emotion.

And Pete Towshend, the guardian of the temple, who wrote most of the band's songs, has been stepping up and reclaiming his crown as a guitar hero. Not that there was ever any doubt, but when Moon and Entwistle were alive, he had to reign in his own flashy tendencies for lack of space. Again, different.

Things are not what they used to be. And had Moon and Entwistle lived, things would have changed regardless. It's called time, and it happens to everyone. Different doesn't mean that it's not as good, necessarily. Different poses the question: what's in a band? What's in a name? Is it still The Who?

Well, yes. As long as Rog and Pete are here, playing this incredible catalog, it's The Who. It's just another iteration of this classic band. These songs need to be played, and they deserve to be heard. Who is more legitimate in playing them, Who is more authentic. That wasn't a question: Who is more legitimate in playing them, and Who is more authentic.

On this run, they are accompanied by their usual backing band, including the amazing Zak Starkey on drums, and by local symphony orchestras. Hearing these songs with the added bombast and emotional weight of a full blown classical outfits is a breathtaking experience.

The show starts with some excerpts from the seminal Rock Opera Tommy augmented by an orchestra, and it sounds glorious, powerful and epic, and, despite the classical nature of the arrangements, the songs thankfully never lose that kick-ass rock n' roll feel, thanks in large part to Roger's voice, which still carries those working class accents of early British Rhythm N' Blues, and of course Pete's guitar which remains as wild and exciting as on Live at Leeds. Their rendition of Acid Queen of course serves as a tribute to Tina Turner who passed away last month. The band then plays a couple of hits unrelated to Tommy before ending the first symphonic section of the show.

The next section of the show sees The Who shed the orchestra and adopt a more traditional rock approach with some of their most famous songs, including early hits like Substitute and The Kids Are Alright. This is The Who at their very best, just banging away and performing these timeless anthems for several generations of fans. A delicate version of Behind Blue Eyes with violin and cello closes that part segment of the evening, before the return of the orchestra.

As Pete says, the Quadrophenia portion of the set is the part where the orchestra really comes into its own, and it's hard (pun intended) to disagree: that record was written like a classical opera, with lyrical and melodic themes coming together like all the split personalities of the protagonist. That part is absolutely splendid, with special mention to Love Reign O'er Me where Roger's voice is in full display.

And the Lowry Berkshire organ intro of Baba O'Riley echoes through the arena, which means the show is soon coming to an end. It was pretty cool to hear that song played with a violin solo as on the original recording, rather than a harmonica like they'd been doing on stage... Yes, the end is near. After that song, the band and the orchestra leave the stage, leaving only Rog and Pete to sing an emotionally charged version of Tea & Theatre, from 2006's Endless Wire. The lyrics take a special resonance when performed by these two old men who have been through everything together, and who, after decades of bickering, might end up being the best of friends after all.

All in all an absolutely fantastic night, because the repertoire of course is top-notch. Still, there were a few minor let-downs: obviously, they can't play everything. But skipping classics like My Generation, Can't Explain and to a lesser extent I Can See For Miles is a disappointment. But on the other hand, we got to hear Tattoo, which is a rare treat. Some of their lengthier numbers like Won't Get Fooled Again were also played in a truncated version. Townshend's guitar was also strangely under-mixed throughout most of the show. But those are small complaints compared to the absolute joy of hearing those wonderful songs performed by these two legends, and the incredible musicians backing them.

Sadly, the curtain call at the end of the night seemed like a very final bow. Will we ever see The Who on a French stage again? It seems unlikely. But then it seemed unlikely that the band would recover from losing Keith Moon forty-five years ago, and John Entwistle twenty-one years ago. For a while it also looked like the two remaining members would never agree to set foot on the same stage again. Against all odds, The Who survived it all. The sixties, the seventies, the eighties, etc. The deaths of half of their members. The farewell tours. The fights, the bickering. The death of the record industry. And yet here they are in 2023, playing with the urgency and energy of men half their age. No one knows what the future holds, but for two hours and fifteen minutes, in this gigantic arena in the outskirts of Paris, it felt good to be in the present.

Re-live the concert by playing the setlist in the embedded Apple Music player below