the Who at Chase Center, October 9, 2019

the Who at Chase Center, October 9, 2019

Live Nation presents the Who, with opener, Liam Gallagher
Chase Center
Terry A Francois Blvd at South St, San Francisco, CA 94158 USA
7:30 PM, Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2019 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2019 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

Set One: Liam Gallagher

[7:30 PM lights down, announcements, band out]

[7:30 PM] Rock 'n' Roll Star
[7:35 PM] Wall of Glass
[7:40 PM] Shockwave
[Liam dedicates the next tune to John Lennon]
[7:44 PM] Once
[Liam dedicates the next tune to the Who]
[7:48 PM] the River
[7:52 PM] Champagne Supernova
[set ends 7:55 PM]

Performers

Liam Gallagher: guitar, tambourine, percussion, vox;
TBD: guitar;
TBD: bass;
TBD: keyboards;
TBD: drums.

Set Two: the Who

[8:27 PM orchestra out]
[8:30 PM pre show video for Teen Cancer America]
[8:37 PM lights down, go! Pete starts on guitar; Simon on acoustic guitar]

Part One: with Orchestra

[8:37 PM] Overture
[Pete swaps to acoustic guitar]
[8:42 PM] Captain Walker/It's a Boy
[Pete swaps back to guitar]
[8:44 PM] 1921
[Simon swaps to guitar]
[8:47 PM] Amazing Journey »
[8:51 PM] Sparks (instrumental)
[Simon swaps to acoustic guitar]
[8:55 PM] Pinball Wizard
[Simon swaps back to guitar]
[8:58 PM] We're Not Gonna Take It
[9:07 PM yack from Pete; Roger & Simon on acoustic guitars]
[9:09 PM] Who Are You
[Roger & Simon swap to guitar]
[9:17 PM] Eminence Front
[9:23 PM another yack from Pete; Roger takes off his guitar; Pete and Simon swap to acoustic guitars]
[9:24 PM] Imagine a Man
[Pete swaps back to guitar; introduces the new Who song]
[9:30 PM] Hero Ground Zero
[9:35 PM union break for the orchestra]

Part Two: just the band

[RD intro yack; Simon swaps to 12-string acoustic guitar]

[9:37 PM] Substitute
[PT yack; Roger puts on an acoustic guitar; Simon swaps back to guitar]
[9:42 PM] I Can See for Miles
[9:47 PM] You Better You Bet
[Just the two: Pete on acoustic guitar & Roger singing]
[9:54 PM] Won't Get Fooled Again
[Some of orchestra back; Katie & Audrey seated front & center with the guys; Simon on acoustic guitar]
[10:01 PM] Behind Blue Eyes

Part Three: with Orchestra

[Pete & Simon swap to guitar; Pete yacks awhile]

[10:06 PM] Ball & Chain
[10:11 PM] the Real Me
[Pete swaps to acoustic guitar]
[10:15 PM] I'm One (PT)
[Pete swaps back to guitar]
[10:18 PM] 5:15
[RD takes an oxygen break; PT yacks: stuck my finger up my own asshole there]
[10:25 PM] the Rock
[10:32 PM] (Piano solo: I Left My Heart in San Francisco) » Love, Reign O'er Me
[10:40 band introduction; Katie out to the middle to stand & jam]
[10:44 PM] Baba O'Riley
[show ends 10:49 PM: lights up, big bow, more thanks, more yack; done 10:52 PM; ain't gonna be no encore so we bolt for the exit!]

Performers

the Who

Roger Daltrey: acoustic guitar, guitar, harmonica, percussion, tambourine, vox;
Pete Townshend: guitar, acoustic guitar, vox;

…with quite a bit of help from:
Jon Button: bass, harmony vox;
Loren Gold: piano, keyboards, jaw harp, harmony vox;
Billy Nicholls: harmony vox;
Zak Starkey: drums, percussion;
Simon Townshend: guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, harmony vox.

…and the orchestra leaders:
Katie Jacoby: 1st violin, concertmaster;
Keith Levenson: conductor, musical coordinator;
Audrey Schneider: principal cello.

…and my guesses for the orchestra (thanks to Ting's pictures):
David Arend: contrabass;
Joseph Brown: trumpet;
Michelle Djokic: cello;
Jenny Douglass: viola;
Laura Griffiths: oboe;
Dawn Harms: 2nd violin;
Tom Hemphill: percussion, drums;
Katherine Johnk: viola;
Natasha Makhijani: 2nd violin;
Deborah Tien Price: 2nd violin;
Evan Price: 2nd violin;
Wenyi Shih: 2nd violin;
Karen Shinozaki Sor: 1st violin;
Iris Stone: 1st violin;
Margaret Tait: cello;
Alicia Telford: horn;
Scott Thornton: bass trombone;
Mads Tolling: 2nd violin;
Jessica Valeri: horn.

…and then the otherwise unidentified folks (sweeping from L to R and F to B, as seen from the audience):
TBD: harp;
7 TBD: violin;
2 TBD: viola;
2 TBD: flute;
2 TBD: clarinet;
TBD: oboe;
TBD: bassoon;
TBD: bassoon, contrabassoon;
TBD: marimba, vibraphone, percussion;
TBD: percussion;
TBD: timpani;
TBD: cello;
2 TBD: contrabass;
2 TBD: horn;
2 TBD: trumpet;
2 TBD: trombone;
TBD: tuba.

Notes

Not knowing what to expect, we head over to Chase Center really early, parking at Rockridge BART, then getting off at Embarcadero to transfer to an SF Muni Light Rail car running out to Mission Bay, and arriving at Chase Center around 6:30 PM.

There's a huge crowd waiting to file into the center, and after a few minutes to check out the scene, we join the queue and slowly shuffle forward, through the security check, then inside to find our seats. Turns out that we're just below one of the VIP lounges, at roughly 3 PM orientation if you imagine the stage at 12. I'm psyched to see a tall wall behind us … that means no one will be whining when I stand up to dance. I'm less psyched about our crooked orientation towards the stage, but our aisle is wide enough to turn towards the front and still enjoy enough room for shaking the legs.

7 PM and we're relaxing as the place fills up slowly. There's a nice pre-show slide show happening, and I'm happy to note that the folks partying above us in the bar are only barely audible. Another potential distraction to cross off the list of worries!

Liam Gallagher and his band hit the stage at 7:30 on the dot and zip through a short set – six songs in less than half an hour, playing to a mostly indifferent crowd. Sound for their set is mostly a loud, undifferentiated mush. Uh-oh.

At 8:27 PM the orchestra musicians begin taking their places on stage, and soon little bits of tuning and riff rehearsal become audible over the din of the crowd. Get excited! Lights go down at 8:30 on the dot, but what follows is rather anti-climactic: a promo video for Teen Cancer America, a philanthropic organization started by Roger & Pete in 2012. Guess I can't fault them for advertising if it shakes loose a few more donations – cancer treatment is way too expensive these days! The band has come onstage during the video, and once it ends, the Two make their entrance. Time for some maximum rock 'n' roll, eh?!

Was it good? Yeah, it was good. The sound was EXCELLENT considering the circumstances (a rock and roll band playing with a friggin' orchestra in a basketball arena). Not concert hall pin-drop quality, but good enough to make me happy. And the audience was pretty good too. Hardly any folks around us yapping during the show; and mostly standing or dancing 'til they got to the new songs.

Was I bummed when they wrapped things up? Well of course I wanted more! So many great songs that didn't get played! But I was happy that I got a solid 2-hr set too. Thanks guys! I realize as the wrap up the lengthy thanks and bows at the end of the set that the crew is starting to put gear away, so as soon as the band leaves the stage, we bolt for the exit. Thankfully, there are very few people in front of us, and we zoom through the VIP bar, down a big stairway and out to the bay-side plaza. It seems as if it's been raining a little, but right now it's just a heavy drizzle. I'm not interested in standing around getting wet, so we scramble around the south concourse looking for the next bus. Of course there are TONS of buses lined up, but most of them are shut … too early, I guess. Just as we're about to queue up in the damp fog at the door of one of the not-yet-ready buses, I see a half-dozen more buses across the street starting to load up. Now, that's what I'm lookin' for!

We dash across and join a very short queue, and then six minutes after the show ends we're seated on a warm bus, waiting for it to fill up and then roll on to BART at 16th & Mission… turns out to be a real easy trip, and we're home in an hour. Not too bad for our first experience at the brand-new Chase Center!