The Who - October 3, 2006

The Who / Inward Eye
MTS Centre
Winnipeg, Canada
3 October, 2006
audience: 10,000

At show's outset, Pete Townshend joked about how they were back in Winnipeg again and again. There was no joking as the band cranked out hit after hit, stopping to play several songs from the new album due out later this month. Their last show in Winnipeg was on October 18, 1976, almost 30 years ago. Their first show here was on August 22, 1967.

Singer Roger Daltrey appeared to be fit enough to run a marathon, while Townshend seemed a little less agile. He powered through several "windmills" on his guitar, but his scissor jumps were a lot more geriatric in nature. The guitarist also sang several of his parts a bit differently, not even trying to hit some of the notes that are beyond his range. Roger Daltrey was surprisingly strong on his vocals, although at the end of the show, in the final tune, you could tell he was out of gas. Toward the latter part of the show, Townshend appeared to loosen up and had his best guitar soloing.




Setlist:
I Can't Explain, The Seeker, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere, Fragments, Who Are You, Behind Blue Eyes, Real Good Looking Boy, Sound Round, Pick Up The Peace, Endless Wire, We Got A Hit, They Made My Dream Come True, Mirror Door, Baba O'Riley, Eminence Front, Man In A Purple Dress, Mike Post Theme, You Better You Bet, My Generation, Won't Get Fooled Again, Pinball Wizard, Amazing Journey, Sparks, See Me Feel Me, Tea And Theatre.

Townshend atributed the tour to the forthcoming album, having said that otherwise there was no reason to go on the road. Some of the new material met with polite applause and while all of it sounded like The Who, I'm not sure how much of it will become audience favorites.

Local power trio Inward Eye opened the show and were quite beside themselves, opening for one of their biggest influences and playing to a hometown crowd. They sounded better as their set progressed.



While no longer in their prime, they didn't disappoint me and I intend to relive the experience by getting a dvd of the show. They are recording dvds and cds of all their shows on this tour and my set will be shipped to me by the middle of November.