The Who - Vegas residency

[Obscured]

The Two, err...The Who keep going.

www.pollstar.com/news_article.aspx?ID=829949

***The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Sin City has chosen The Who as the first rock band to hold down a residency at the destination venue. The new dates start July 29 and continue Aug. 1, 4, 7, 9 and 11. Those are being advertised as the “first six” performances, so more are probably coming. The next place to catch The Who will be at the "Teenage Cancer Trust" at the Royal Albert Hall in London March 30 and April 1. The band will play an acoustic version of its landmark album Tommy at the charity performances, which a press release claims will be its first full performance of the rock opera since 1989. The sets for the Vegas shows promise to span the rockers’ expansive catalog, from the days when the band called itself The High Numbers to hits off Who’s Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and Live At Leeds. What are being called the “Greatest Hits” shows in the U.K. are set to take place in April.***

[GuitarGeek]

The sets for the Vegas shows promise to span the rockers’ expansive catalog, from the days when the band called itself The High Numbers to hits off Who’s Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and Live At Leeds. What are being called the “Greatest Hits” shows in the U.K. are set to take place in April.***

Here's hoping they acknowledge the existence of The Who By Numbers. Of course if they did, they'd probably insist on playing Squeeze Box, easily the weakest song on the record (and one of the weakest songs they recorded during the Moon era).

[Jefferson James]

I'm planning on catching Celine Dion and The Who during the same visit and killing myself with one stone.

[JKL2000]

Is David Copperfield opening for them? Is it still Kenney Jones on drums? I've only seen them on their farewell tour in the early 80s, their last live shows supposedly.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

No, Zak Starkey has been drumming for the 'Oo since before JAE died. They also have Simon Townshend playing second guitar, and keyboardists. I think three of them.

[JKL2000]

No, Zak Starkey has been drumming for the 'Oo since before JAE died. They also have Simon Townshend playing second guitar, and keyboardists. I think three of them.

JAE?

[Dave (in MA)]

JAE?

Thunderfingers.

[Sean]

Here's hoping they acknowledge the existence of The Who By Numbers. Of course if they did, they'd probably insist on playing Squeeze Box, easily the weakest song on the record (and one of the weakest songs they recorded during the Moon era).

They did Slip Kid on the last tour, on some nights. There's YT vids out there.

[Jubal]

Is David Copperfield opening for them? Is it still Kenney Jones on drums? I've only seen them on their farewell tour in the early 80s, their last live shows supposedly.

No, but the guy who juggled toythe Abbey Road Medley will open by Juggling to side 4 of Quadrophenia.
;^{D}

[GuitarGeek]

They did Slip Kid on the last tour, on some nights. There's YT vids out there.

Yeah, but without The Ox?! I wonder if it sounds any better than the version from the Madison Square Garden show from 76. It sounds reasonably good, except Townshend kind of cheats his way through the guitar solo, just strumming chords during the breakdown section where he did the volume pedal solo on the studio version.

I wonder if they've done Dreaming From The Waist lately. That was the other song, besides Squeeze Box, which was played regularly in 75-76. I have one recording of them doing it in 79, and I'm not sure if they've done it since then. Townshend said it was one of his least favorite songs to play, apparently because Daltrey liked singing it. I think the only other songs from that album that were ever played live were Slip Kid and However Much I Booze, which were only played a handful of times each during the By Numbers tour.

[Jerjo]

"In a Hand or a Face" should have been played as well in that tour. Pretty good Who song.

[emperorken]

I live in Vegas and have been a Who fan forever. However, at $200 or more for good seats, I'll pass. This is normal, though. The big strip resorts have priced the locals out of the market for entertainment.

[progeezer]

I would pay more than $200 to see The Who, if Keith & Ox could be exhumed & resurrected, that is.

$75 tops for the current lineup.

[JJ88]

Yeah, but without The Ox?! I wonder if it sounds any better than the version from the Madison Square Garden show from 76. It sounds reasonably good, except Townshend kind of cheats his way through the guitar solo, just strumming chords during the breakdown section where he did the volume pedal solo on the studio version.

I wonder if they've done Dreaming From The Waist lately. That was the other song, besides Squeeze Box, which was played regularly in 75-76. I have one recording of them doing it in 79, and I'm not sure if they've done it since then. Townshend said it was one of his least favorite songs to play, apparently because Daltrey liked singing it. I think the only other songs from that album that were ever played live were Slip Kid and However Much I Booze, which were only played a handful of times each during the By Numbers tour.

Some of those late 1975 sets (when that was a new album) are odd, in retrospect. In some shows, only 'Dreaming From The Waist' and 'Squeeze Box' post-date 1971, from memory. Not a single song from Quadrophenia was played live on later dates of that tour!

One wonders if that's why By Numbers doesn't have much of a reputation really, there was only that one hit and they barely touched it live so the songs never really had much of a life beyond the album itself.

Some of the more recent sets have included things like 'A Quick One' and 'So Sad About Us'.

[SteveSly]

I live in Vegas and have been a Who fan forever. However, at $200 or more for good seats, I'll pass. This is normal, though. The big strip resorts have priced the locals out of the market for entertainment.

Although I agree the price is pretty insane it is a chance to see them in a venue that is much smaller and more intimate than the arenas as stadiums that they usually play. I saw Elton John at the same venue a few years ago and it was a very different experience from seeing him in a hockey arena.

[GuitarGeek]

"In a Hand or a Face" should have been played as well in that tour. Pretty good Who song.

I think Townshend was asked once why they never did that song live, and he said it was because it was too depressing to play night after night.

[GuitarGeek]

Some of those late 1975 sets (when that was a new album) are odd, in retrospect. In some shows, only 'Dreaming From The Waist' and 'Squeeze Box' post-date 1971, from memory. Not a single song from Quadrophenia was played live on later dates of that tour!

I hadn't realized it, but yeah, you're right, the shows I have from 75-76, they don't do any Quadrophenia at all. And I don't think they do any of the non-album singles from that era either on those shows. I think maybe they felt the actual act of performing Quadrophenia on it's own tour wsa such that they didn't want to touch any of those songs for awhile.

One wonders if that's why By Numbers doesn't have much of a reputation really, there was only that one hit and they barely touched it live so the songs never really had much of a life beyond the album itself.

Yeah, probably. And none of the songs were taken on by FM radio, either, so they remain obscure among the less ardent constituency of the fanbase.

Some of the more recent sets have included things like 'A Quick One' and 'So Sad About Us'.

Nice to hear they're doing So Sad About Us. When I saw them in 2000 (last time I saw "the real band" as far as I'm concerned), they did The Relay, which I thought was an odd song to play, as it was only ever issued as a single (not counting best of appearances, of course) and it wasn't much of a hit, so it seemed to weird that they resurrected that one. But then, I think that was somehow connected to the Lifehouse project, which Townshend was finally presenting to the public the way he wanted to at the time, so maybe that's why it was played on that tour. They also did Anyway, Anywhere, Anyhow on that tour, which also struck me as an unusual choice.

[JJ88]

If you're now a 'nostalgia act', it's better to do these obscurities and lesser-played songs than the same old thing, year in year out. What's left of The Who are in the fortunate position of having an embarassment of riches to choose from.

'Relay' actually was not that easy to get on CD until that Who Hits 50 best of (which is, more or less, a complete A-sides collection, though not really advertised as such). It was obviously on the 30 Years... box but crossfaded. There was enough stray material for them to have done a full album in 1972, really, many of the songs only turned up on non-album singles. That, 'Let's See Action', 'Join Together', 'I Don't Even Know Myself', 'Water' (not keen on that one, but still) and the others from this time which later turned up on Odds And Sods.

Actually that may be why 'Slip Kid' was played, thinking about it...it's on The Who Hits 50.

[JKL2000]

If you're now a 'nostalgia act', it's better to do these obscurities and lesser-played songs than the same old thing, year in year out. What's left of The Who are in the fortunate position of having an embarassment of riches to choose from.

'Relay' actually was not that easy to get on CD until that Who Hits 50 best of (which is, more or less, a complete A-sides collection, though not really advertised as such). It was obviously on the 30 Years... box but crossfaded. There was enough stray material for them to have done a full album in 1972, really, many of the songs only turned up on non-album singles. That, 'Let's See Action', 'Join Together', 'I Don't Even Know Myself', 'Water' (not keen on that one, but still) and the others from this time which later turned up on Odds And Sods.

Actually that may be why 'Slip Kid' was played, thinking about it...it's on The Who Hits 50.

I had Relay in some form long before that 50th collection. What was it on though, I forget?

[Jerjo]

I had Relay in some form long before that 50th collection. What was it on though, I forget?

Hooligans? That was the first place I had heard "Join Together", "Relay", and "Let's See Action"

[JJ88]

^It was on CD, of course, but only long out-of-print ones. For instance, an obscure 2-cd 80s set- The Who Collection- and a twofer release Rarities, both put out in the UK. Neither are too common.

The Who catalogue is still a mess, let's be honest. Lots of stray tracks that are hard to find; for instance, the re-recorded 'Circles' for the Ready Steady Who EP and the UK mix of 'Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde'. Think tracks like that are only now available on CD in Japan- ludicrous.

An affordable singles collection CD (like The 'Stones London one) would solve most of this; Hits 50! at least sorted out the A-sides.

[spellbound]

I live in Vegas and have been a Who fan forever. However, at $200 or more for good seats, I'll pass. This is normal, though. The big strip resorts have priced the locals out of the market for entertainment.

That's too bad. I thought if I happened to be in Vegas, I wouldn't mind seeing the Who. But $200 is too steep for me, and I haven't been to Las Vegas in almost 40 years, although it's only 400 miles away. Guess I'll have to be happy I saw them in '73 and '76, when ticket prices were reasonable.

[Jerjo]

It's a good thing that the Who have enough classic albums and that live reputation to keep them in the upper reaches of the rock hierarchy because their management of their catalog and their history after Moon died would be enough to sink most bands.

If I had the bucks, and was in Vegas, I'd probably go. Seeing them in a smaller venue would be a blast. I read an account by Ronnie Wood of the Stones playing a 3000 seat hall in Vegas. The tickets were about $300 but the crowd had an insane amount of energy. Plus Jagger being confined to a smaller stage results in him being more focused and little more crazy. Woody said it was the most intense show of the tour.

[GuitarGeek]

I had Relay in some form long before that 50th collection. What was it on though, I forget?

I had it on the early 80's Who's Greatest Hits release on MCA, the one with the Union Jack cover. Not sure if that ever made the transition to CD though.

[SteveSly]

If I had the bucks, and was in Vegas, I'd probably go. Seeing them in a smaller venue would be a blast. I read an account by Ronnie Wood of the Stones playing a 3000 seat hall in Vegas. The tickets were about $300 but the crowd had an insane amount of energy. Plus Jagger being confined to a smaller stage results in him being more focused and little more crazy. Woody said it was the most intense show of the tour.

If I remember right the seating capacity at Ceaser's is around 4500 which is still about a quarter of the size of the smaller venues The Who normally play.