Roger Daltrey Brings Tommy Back to Life in Trieste (2012)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 3 October 2026

Author: Peter Podbrežnik

Location: Trieste / Politeama Rossetti / Italy
Concert date: 18.03.2012
Attendance: 1600

Few bands can boast followers as loyal as the legendary classic-rock innovators The Who, and although only two of the original four members are still alive today, guitarist/conceptual genius Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey, interest in their magnificent legacy seems even greater than ever. On the bus we took to the gig bash in the middle of Trieste, besides the traditional, always welcome company of music encyclopedists and rock old-timers, we also had Slovenia’s biggest The Who fan on board, whose collection includes more than sixty different studio, live and compilation releases, which means we were in very good company, surrounded by sincere lovers of good music.

Just how strong a mark The Who’s musical legacy still leaves on younger generations of listeners after all these decades, we could see in wonderful fashion on Sunday evening, when Mr. Daltrey rolled into Trieste with his backing band, still the picture of exceptional vocal bravura and stage charisma. Roger was in the middle of a solo tour with a festive twist, as on it he performed The Who’s entire conceptual masterpiece »Tommy«, which turns exactly forty-three years old this year.

For the occasion he gathered around him bandmates with enviable instrumental chops. The backing band, which Daltrey named Plan B, was led by guitarist and musical director Frank Simes, also the main choreographer of the legendary rock opera. Keeping him company were the excellent rhythm guitarist and singer Simon Townshend, Pete’s younger brother, who with the help of his signature cap recalled him in looks too, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button and drummer Scott Devours. Roger simply couldn’t have picked a better concert venue in Trieste than the magnificent operetta-theater hall Polietama Rossetti, which seems made for pompous stage productions, a category that undoubtedly includes »Tommy«, which was also presented as a movie musical in 1975. The show was split into two parts. The ‘regular’ part was devoted to performing the entire rock opera, after which Roger added a few The Who classics in the encore, a couple of songs from his solo career, while one performance went to guitarist Simon Townshend, who proved himself a quality solo singer too.

Absolutely every performance of the evening, meaning not just the whole »Tommy«, was accompanied by vivid, inventive graphic projections that fit the colorful lyrics of this cult concept about the ‘deaf, dumb and blind’ boy who turns his ‘miraculous’ recovery into a mass cult, while traditional The Who iconography dominated in between. The instrumental opener »Overture«, marked by Townshend’s thick guitar riff, wrapped the hall in a cloud of indescribable euphoria right at the start, and for a moment it really seemed The Who were with us, not just Roger going solo. The superb sound system, which allowed for maximum intensity of atmosphere, did its part too. On »It’s a Boy«, where Tommy’s birth ‘happens’, Simon Townshend excellently stood in for Pete’s original vocal parts, while Mr. Daltrey kept him company on tambourines and finally got his first word in with the thundering closing line »a son«.

The performance of the sarcastic »1921« was marked by excellent vocal interplay between Roger and the backing singers behind him. Despite being 68 years young, Roger still has a very well-preserved voice, and he’s kept a good measure of the youthful vitality with which he thrilled in his heyday as one of the most charismatic commanders of the stage. His trademarks still include the obligatory cabaret-style swinging of the cable connecting the microphone, which he whipped around like a true English working-class cowboy. And he still doesn’t run out of that characteristic British humor, joking among other things about the pain in his neck from lying too long and sleeping badly in an uncomfortable hotel bed.

Somewhere between the psychedelic classic »Amazing Journey« and the instrumental »Sparks«, those of us in the crowd were finally convinced of the enviable technical abilities of Roger’s backing band, which paired excellent technique with an exceptional sense of subtlety. They thrilled us in the punchier moments too, when the atmosphere in the hall had to be heated past boiling point. During »Eyesight of the Blind (the Hawker)« Roger impressed with theatrical drama, accompanied by a pulsating succession of guitar phrases. The sarcastic-comic »Christmas«, which the projections paired with an amusing depiction of Tommy’s ‘unbelieving’ Christmas mischief, sucked us fully into the furnace of the musical show. During the motif »Tommy Can You Hear Me?«, which returns later, Roger vividly demonstrated his vocal chameleon act, easily and convincingly shifting between aggression and subtlety the whole time.

On the melodramatic »Cousin Kevin«, where the ambience and concept slowly veer in an even more bizarre direction, Roger and the gang nailed the moment when Tommy is tormented by his maladjusted cousin during childhood play. On the psychedelic-hard rock fusion »The Acid Queen« the band carried on with an interpretation faithful to the original, while Mr. Daltrey devotedly delivered thrilling vocal theatrics. Many in the crowd recognized one of the rock opera’s peaks in the ten-minute instrumental »The Underture«, where the instrumentalists laid down an unforgettable jam. Drummer Devours had the extremely tough task of filling in for the late Keith Moon, but did an excellent job and especially thrilled us every time he took a swing at the gong. Jon Button too, who filled in for John Entwistle on bass, proved to be a proper good egg, and the same goes for his bass playing.

The pedophilia-tinged »Fiddle About, marked by the arrival of Uncle Ernie, drew attention mostly with its bizarre yet witty central tune. As expected, the biggest roar from the crowd came for the great evergreen »Pinball Wizard«, accompanied in the background by a witty graphic projection of a pinball machine. As it should be, the triumphant chorus and the vividly thick guitar riff thrilled most. With Tommy’s victory at pinball, the first part of the rock opera hit its climax. Meanwhile guitarist Simes snapped a string on his Fender Stratocaster, but didn’t let it throw him until the end of the song, when he swapped guitars. What gave the band the most headaches were tangled cables, which the stage crew had to straighten out several times during the show.

On »Go to the Mirror!«, where the »see me, feel me, touch me, heal me«« motif repeats once more, Roger’s gang impressed above all with a serving of thick hard rock riffs. Then, with a string of shorter pieces including »Tommy Can You Hear Me?«, the bluesy »Smash the Mirror« and the acoustic-psychedelic »Sensation«, they convincingly pulled off the conceptual transition of Tommy’s sudden recovery and the founding of his own religious cult. The folk rocker »Sally Simpson« was accompanied by a comic projection that let us enjoy the caricatured adventures of a teenage girl obsessed with the freshly minted preacher Tommy. On the psychedelic »I’m Free« the colorful vocal harmonies and subtle piano arrangements got their chance again. On »Welcome« pomp went hand in hand with folk arrangements, with Roger picking up the harmonica. After the comic interlude »Tommy’s Holiday Camp« came time for the party and the grand finale of the regular set with the unforgettable evergreen »We’re Not Gonna Take It«, which is essentially a cross-section of the whole concept, as Tommy’s odyssey came to a triumphant close.

The second, encore part of the three-hour show brought a number of other The Who classics. With »I Can See For Miles«, »The Kids Are All Right« and a bluesy version of »My Generation«, Roger took us back to the early years of his The Who career, when in the mid-sixties they started helping shape the history of rock. Romantic souls were surely most charmed on the night by the evergreen ballad »Behind Blue Eyes«, one of the most beautiful rock ballads of all time. On »The Way It Is« guitarist Simon Townshend shone as a solo performer, since it was his own song, and he charmed everyone present in the hall with it. We also got to hear the classic »Who Are You«, from the album of the same name from the late seventies, and covers of »Gimme A Stone« (orig. Levon Helm) and »Young Man Blues« (orig. Mose Allison). »Days of Light« was one of two of Roger’s own solo songs on the night.

For many in the crowd the peak of the night was the unforgettable »Baba O’Riley«, one of the best rock compositions of all time and, in many people’s view, the best The Who song ever. The pulsating opening effect was of course played on a synthesizer, while Roger’s vocal pathos, commanding the thick guitar riff, hit atmospheric power of ten here. With the solo ballad »Without Your Love« Roger closed the first encore. For the grand finale he picked the classic »Blue Red And Grey« from »The Who by Numbers« (1975), part of what Roger called the overlooked but, for him, favorite The Who album. He played it on ukulele and did fine until the moment he forgot the lyrics of the next verse. Bassist Jon Button accompanied him on bass in the meantime. After unsuccessful, almost comical attempts to carry on, he decided to play the song again from the start, and this time it went without a hitch. That was the end of our wonderful get-together with the legendary singer, who along with his excellent band took us to the summit of the classic-rock Parnassus that night.

Roger Daltrey has proven that after all these decades he’s still one of the top masters of his trade and one of the few still unbending authorities of rock’s golden era, someone who knows how to serve up good rock to an always hungry crowd. It would be nice to see him join forces again with his old buddy Pete in the near future, ideally for a tour on which they’d play the whole masterpiece »Quadrophenia« once more, The Who’s other famous rock opera.