ROGER DALTREY + LESLIE MENDELSON – LONDON PALLADIUM 17.7.22
When this tour was first mooted, Roger Daltrey was apparently referring to it as the ‘use it or lose it’ tour. The inference being that while The Who weren’t on the road, Roger had to remain active in order to keep his pipes in trim. Because of the way schedules have inevitably changed due to Covid, this tour is now immediately followed by a Who tour of the USA and Canada. Well, at least Roger’s voice will have been well exercised in advance!
Support tonight at The London Palladium comes from Leslie Mendelson, who is from New York, and she is accompanied by guitarist Steve McEwan, who is from Hull. They are both very excited to be playing the Palladium, especially Leslie who asks “is the Queen here?!!” Her Majesty isn’t, which is rather a shame as I think that she may have enjoyed Leslie’s efficient singer-songwriterly fare. Her most recent album is called ‘If You can’t say Anything Nice…’ which came out in April 2020. They have only been able to tour it in recent times for obvious reasons. Leslie and Steve adorn the songs with Everly Brothers style harmonies throughout the set, which are very impressive.
One song, ‘The Human Touch’ they co-wrote with Jackson Browne. Indeed Steve has a Martin electric guitar which was gifted to him by Jackson Browne. This is quite a rare instrument as Martin only made electric guitars for a short period in the early 1960s. I must confess, I’m a tad jealous! They finish with a slightly rockier and somewhat anthemic song called ‘All Come Together’. It’s very positive and possibly a little over-optimistic in today’s climate. On the other hand, it delivers a message that the world probably needs.
Roger Daltrey catches us on the hop slightly by arriving onstage a few minutes early, to give a fairly political opening speech about the lack of Government help given to musicians during lockdown. He has a point, but in reality he’s making it to the wrong people.
Roger has assembled a very impressive band, comprising Simon Townshend (Pete’s brother) on guitar, Doug Boyle also on guitar (Doug was in Robert Plant’s band in the late 1980s and early 1990s), Geraint Watkins on keyboards (he has previously played with Dave Edmunds, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison and many others), John Hogg on bass, Jody Linscott on percussion (she has previously played with The Who and Pete Townshend), Billy Nicholls on backing vocals (who has a long history with The Who), Steve Weston on harmonica (who played on Going Back Home, the album that Roger Daltrey made with Wilko Johnson), Ben Townshend (son of Simon) on drums, and Katie Jacoby on violin.
The set perhaps surprisingly starts with a Pete Townshend solo song, ‘Let My Love Open The Door’, which comes from Pete’s 1980 solo album ‘Empty Glass’. Roger says that “it would have made a great Who song”. Well yes, possibly. Personally I would have preferred ‘Rough Boys’ from the same album, but Roger probably knows best.
Tonight’s gig is a deep dive into both Roger’s and The Who’s back catalogue, together with one or two choice covers, such as ‘Freedom Ride’ by Taj Mahal. The Who’s ‘Squeeze Box’ gets a very rare outing. I’m pretty sure that I’ve never heard the band play it live. Geraint Watkins and Katie Jacoby adorn the song with accordion and violin solos respectively. ‘Waiting For A Friend’, a Billy Nicholls composition from the ‘McVicar’ soundtrack, features the kind of violin solo that you would expect to be played on a guitar.
At this point Ben Townshend takes the stage. Up to now all percussion duties have been undertaken by Jody Linscott. Ben is wearing a red t-shirt that appears to have his name on it. It’s very similar to the ‘Keith’ t-shirt that Keith Moon wears during the ‘Who Are You’ sessions in ‘The Kids Are Alright’ film. An homage perhaps?
Roger says that ‘Another Tricky Day’ from The Who’s ‘Face Dances’ album has “become lost”. To be honest it’s not one of The Who’s finest moments. It’s okay, but not wonderful. Tonight’s version is good, but there are other songs that I would rather have heard. ‘Who Are You’ is a more expected inclusion. Roger sits and plays acoustic guitar, which is a far cry from when I first saw The Who perform it in 1981. Then he was running on the spot whilst singing the song. Now he’s over forty years older!
‘Giving It All Away’ from Roger’s first solo album is preceded by the story of how the song came about, and how Roger came to record it. It was all down to meeting Leo Sayer apparently. ‘The Kids Are Alright’ has modified lyrics, very much bringing it up to date, and on ‘Tattoo’ Roger is accompanied by just Simon Townshend and Billy Nicholls. Pete Townshend’s ‘After The Fire’ is preceded by the story of how The Who split up in 1982, and when Pete sent Roger a tape of this song in 1985 Roger knew then that The Who were only “resting”.
‘Days Of Light’, a Daltrey composition from his ‘Rocks In The Head’ album, sounds like it could have been written by Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane. A more surprising inclusion is Simon Townshend’s ‘The Way It Is’. This is sung by Simon and also sounds like it could have come off Townshend senior’s and Lane’s ‘Rough Mix’ album.
Roger tells the story of how he came to record with Wilko Johnson, and that gentleman’s near miraculous recovery from pancreatic cancer. ‘Going Back Home’ (by Dr. Feelgood), ‘Some Kind Of Hero’ and ‘Keep It To Myself’ from that album are all essayed tonight. ‘As Long As I Have You’ is a Garnett Mimms song and is Roger’s tribute to Northern soul.
The set begins to draw to a close with an awesome version of ‘Baba O’Riley’. Katie Jacoby plays the intro, the lead guitar part and the synth part on violin. She is utterly astounding. Roger gives a quick vocal burst of ‘Love Reign O’er Me’, as somebody shouted out a request for it. The set finishes with ‘Without Your Love’ from ‘McVicar’, and a creditably ballsy version of ‘Young Man Blues’, as per The Who’s ‘Live At Leeds’ version.
Tonight has been a brilliant show, and not just for the music. Between songs Roger answers questions submitted from the audience, and is quite the raconteur. So, what’s next Rog? Some UK Who shows would be nice…..
The band:
Simon Townshend (guitar, backing vocals)
Ben Townshend (drums)
Doug Boyle (guitar)
Geraint Watkins (keyboards, accordion)
John Hogg (bass)
Jody Linscott (percussion)
Billy Nicholls (mandola, backing vocals)
Steve Weston (harmonica)
Katie Jacoby (violin, backing vocals)
Roger Daltrey setlist:
‘Let My Love Open The Door’ (Pete Townshend cover – single 2016)
‘Freedom Ride’ (Taj Mahal cover)
‘Squeeze Box’ (The Who – from ‘The Who By Numbers’ 1975)
‘Waiting For A Friend’ (from ‘McVicar’ 1980)
‘Another Tricky Day’ (The Who – from ‘Face Dances’ 1981)
‘Who Are You’ (The Who – from ‘Who Are You’ 1978)
‘Giving It All Away’ (from ‘Daltrey’ 1973)
‘The Kids Are Alright’ (from ‘My Generation’ 1965)
‘Tattoo’ (The Who – from ‘The Who Sell Out’ 1967)
‘After The Fire’ (Pete Townshend cover – from ‘Under A Raging Moon’ 1985)
‘Days Of Light’ (from ‘Rocks In The Head’ 1982)
‘The Way It Is’ (Simon Townshend cover)
‘Going Back Home’ (Dr Feelgood cover – from ‘Going Back Home’ 2014)
‘Some Kind Of Hero’ (Wilko Johnson cover – from ‘Going Back Home’ 2014)
‘As Long As I Have You’ (Garnet Mimms cover – from ‘As Long As I Have You’ 2018)
‘I Keep It To Myself’ (Wilko Johnson cover – from ‘Going Back Home’ 2014)
‘Baba O’Riley’ (The Who – from ‘Who’s Next’ 1971)
‘Without Your Love’ (from ‘McVicar’ 1980)
‘Young Man Blues’ (Mose Allison cover – The Who from ‘Live At Leeds’ 1970)
Hoping my sweet babboo plans such a tour in the USA next year!