the Who at Golden 1 Center, October 26, 2022

AEG Live presents the Who Hits Back! 2022 Tour, with opener, Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs
Golden 1 Center
500 David J Stern Walk, Sacramento, CA 95814 USA
7:30 PM, Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

tour promo art

[7:30 PM] {lights down}
[7:31 PM] {band out without introduction}

1. [7:32 PM] Wicked Mind
2. [7:36 PM] Fault Lines
3. [7:42 PM] Wreckless Abandon
4. [7:48 PM] I Still Love You
   [7:53 PM] {band introduction}
5. [7:56 PM] Even the Losers
6. [8:00 PM] Refugee
7. [8:07 PM] Runnin' Down a Dream
   [8:11 PM] {thanks, bye!}
   [8:12 PM] {setbreak}

• Mike Campbell: guitar, vox;
• Chris Holt: guitar;
• Matt Laug: drums;
• Lance Morrison AKA Craw Daddy: bass.

[8:38 PM] {lights down; band out; PT yack}

1. [8:38 PM] Overture
2. [8:44 PM] 1921
3. [8:47 PM] Sparks
4. [8:55 PM] Pinball Wizard
5. [8:59 PM] We're Not Gonna Take It
   [9:07 PM] {end Tommy segment; RD puts on a guitar; PT yack}
6. [9:08 PM] Who Are You
   [9:15 PM] {banter}
7. [9:16 PM] Eminence Front
   [9:21 PM] {RD takes off guitar; PT yack about new(ish) record}
8. [9:23 PM] Ball and Chain
   [9:27 PM] {Orchestra break; core band remains onstage}
9. [9:29 PM] You Better You Bet
   [9:34 PM] {PT complains about his guitar}
10. [9:35 PM] The Seeker
    [9:39 PM] {RD puts on an acoustic guitar; add cello}
11. [9:40 PM] Naked Eye
    [9:45 PM] {drop cello; RD takes off guitar; RD yack about how things don't really change}
12. [9:46 PM] Another Tricky Day
    [9:51 PM] {PT: we were not an angry band}
13. [9:53 PM] Won't Get Fooled Again
    [10:01 PM] {add section leads: violin, cello, contrabass; PT swaps to acoustic guitar}
14. [10:03 PM] Behind Blue Eyes
    [10:07 PM] {pause for return of the orchestra; PT: now for selections from Quadrophenia}
15. [10:08 PM] The Real Me
16. [10:12 PM] I'm One
    [10:15 PM] {PT swap to guitar}
17. [10:16 PM] 5:15
18. [10:23 PM] The Rock »
19. [10:30 PM] (piano solo)
20. [10:32 PM] Love, Reign O'er Me
    [10:38 PM] {Orchestral bow; PT introduces the band}
    
    Finale
21. [10:41 PM] Baba O'Riley
    [10:46 PM] {show ends; all bow; comments from both PT & RD}
    [10:50 PM] {all off}

the Who

• Roger Daltrey: harmonica, percussion, tambourine, acoustic guitar, guitar, ukulele, vox;
• Pete Townshend: guitar, keyboards, vox;
• Jon Button: bass, contrabass, electric contrabass, harmony vox;
• Loren Gold: piano, keyboards, jaw harp, harmony vox;
• Katie Jacoby: violin, electric violin;
• Randy L: contrabass;
• Keith Levenson: conductor;
• Emily Marshall: keyboards, associate conductor;
• Billy Nicholls: harmony vox;
• Audrey Snyder: cello;
• Zak Starkey: drums, percussion, guitar;
• Simon Townshend: guitar, acoustic guitar, vox;
• orchestra members unidentified.

Dirty Knobs opening for the Who was a novelty: the crowd was kind of obnoxious (ignoring the band) until they realized who Campbell was, and then they turned into obnoxious singalong Petty fans.

And it only got worse for the Who: party people screaming drunkenly, “superfans” talking over the music, loudmouths belting out incorrect lyrics, etc. Really annoying. I wanted to move seats (hoping to find a quieter place), but Ting didn't think that would work out, so we stayed put and suffered. There might have been a few songs not interrupted by aud idiocy, but not many.

Performance-wise, the show was decently good. Slightly sloppy. The format for this tour – same as last time around, if you went – was that there was a local orchestra onstage. First & last 40 min were with the orchestra. Middle 40 min just the “core” band of RD, PT + hired hands (8 this time – last time was more). I don't think the sloppiness was due to the orchestra as much as the impossibility of getting them to mesh with the variances in the core band's delivery.

Both Pete & Roger were in good moods, and talked a lot.

Roger can't scream as well as he used to, and wisely held back a LOT. I was also surprised to see that his mic-swinging skills seemed to be off: maybe old age is getting in the way too much?

As with many of the past tours, Pete's brother Simon played a lot of the classic guitar lines, leaving Pete free to strut and pose dramatically. This might have pleased the fans, but it was weird to watch him do windmills and NOT hear loud clanging guitar chords.

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!