Just about everybody has a favorite band; a special group that can seemingly do no wrong, where even their weaker efforts are better than most other bands best works.  For me, that group has always been The Who.  I have listened to all their albums countless times, and have heard many of their live concerts.  Song for song, they have more energy and power than any other band.  Well, for my money at least.

Unfortunately, The Who that tours now is different than the group that first came to fame in the 60's.  Keith Moon, the bands maniacal thrashing drummer, died in 1978, and John Entwhistle, the stoical band member who was responsible for some of rock's greatest bass riffs, passed away in 2002.  The remaining two members, singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend, still tour using session musicians to fill in the voids in the group.  But The Who was one of those entities that are definitely more than the sum of its parts.  None of the band members solo albums, though some were very good, were able to capture the magic that occurred when they all played together.  So how does this remaining half of the group sound in concert?  Not too bad after all, but they have lost some of the excitement that made the group so enthralling in the past.  Some of that can be explained by the fact that they are a lot older now, but a good deal of it is because they aren't quite complete.

This DVD captures The Who's concert from September 24, 2002 at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA, a show from the group's first tour after the unexpected death of bass player John Entwhistle.  Lasting slightly over two hours long, the band sure gives your money's worth with a set encompassing their entire career.

As for the line up, in addition to Pete Townsend on guitar and Roger Daltrey singing, Zak Starkey, Ringo's son, is on drums, and Pino Paladino, an active session musician who has worked with Eric Clapton, Elton John, and Jeff Beck among many others, replaces John Entwhistle on the bass.  In addition, Rabbit is on keyboards, and Pete's brother, Simon, plays rhythm guitar and sings backup.

The concert gets off to a mediocre start.  I Can't Explain, a rock standard, feels a little tired, like they've played it thousands of times, which they have.  After a trio of their pre-Tommy songs, the group launches into some of their later material, which came across as more fresh and energized.  Pete's guitar solo on Who Are You was excellent.  While not loud and glaring, it had genuine feeling to it, and harkened back to The Who's prime.

Pete gives a good introduction to the three songs they preform from Quadrophenia.  Sea and Sand sounded much better than I've heard it preformed in years.  5:15 was good, though I did miss the brass section, but Love Reign O'er Me didn't have the emotional impact that the song usually carries.

The concert did have some great moments in it though.  My Generation really rocked and the changes they made to the song made it feel fresh and new.  The Kids are Alright, a favorite of mine from way back, gets several new verses added to it.  Pete expanded the song and included lyrics that change the meaning in interesting ways.  The new version is an excellent song in its own right, and it's great to see it preformed live.  The songs that they preform from Tommy as an encore were also great fun to hear, though Townshend's playing on Pinball Wizard wasn't as crisp as it usually is.
 
The original members of the band, though aging, still have some life left in them.  Roger's voice retains a lot of its power, much more than I was expecting.  Pete's vocals, on the other hand, are sounding a little tired and worn, especially in the beginning of Behind Blue Eyes.  The ohhhh's at the beginning of You Better You Bet where Pete and Roger are supposed to sing in tune are particularly unattractive.

While Pete Townshend's voice might be a little rougher, and though he doesn't jump around and cavort around the stage like he did 30 years ago, his guitar playing isn't hampered by his advancing age.  He is still able to instill a sense of urgency and power into songs like Won't Get Fooled Again and Sea and Sand.

The main problem that I had with the concert in general was that Roger's voice and Pete's guitar were mixed higher than the other instruments in most cases, which is too bad because it gives the songs a different feel and sound, and not necessarily better.  On Love Reign O'er Me the amazing synthesizer riff practically disappears into the background for most of the song.  Another example is the way the bass guitar is handled though out the concert.  Where as John Entwhistle's bass would act as a foundation for a lot of the songs only to leap to the front for several intricate bars and then unexpectedly returning to the background, in this concert the bass just sits in the back, never really emerging.  This is too bad because Pino Paladino is an excellent bassist.  He was able to pull off all of John's riffs without missing a note and it's unfortunate that he was regulated to a background position in the mix.  The songs suffer for it.

Zak's drumming, while not as energetic as Keith Moon's (but then who is?) was very competent.  He managed to keep the beat and put in a lot of frills, even though the first minutes of I Can't Explain let it be known that he wasn't able to fully fill Keith's shoes.

Pete wasn't in the best of humors during this concert either.  Before they launch into three songs from the aborted Lifehouse project (two of which ended up on Who's Next) there is an odd exchange between Pete and a member of the audience who apparently was heckling the band.  Pete cusses him out, and concludes with stating "I don't know what band you think you're following, but sometimes I think you've got the wrong one."  Later in the set he stops while introducing a song as says "For F*ck's sake, be quiet.  I'm trying to concentrate."  He berates the audience a couple of times for talking, and even threatens to walk off if people don't shut up.

The Who preformed the following songs:

I Can't Explain
Substitute
Anyway Anyhow Anywhere
Who Are You
Another Tricky Day
Relay
Bargain
Baba O'Reily
Sea And Sand
5:15
Love Reign O'er Me
Eminence Front
Behind Blue Eyes You Better You Bet
The Kids Are Alright
My Generation
Won't Get Fooled Again
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey/Sparks
See Me Feel Me
Listening To You

Audio:

This DVD has a PCM stereo track and a 5.1 Dolby Digital track.  Both tracks sounded outstanding in their own right.  The 5.1 audio really put you in the middle of the music, with some backing vocal and cymbal crashes, in addition to the noises from the audience, in the rear.  This actually works much better than it sounds, giving the feeling of being in a club where sound seems to assault you from all directions.  The stereo track was more pure and precise, with the audience sounds being mixed a lot lower, but not as encompassing and powerful as the 5.1.  There wasn't any (unintentional) distortion in either track, and even the really loud parts were accurately reproduced.  In short, this disc sounds great. There are also English subtitles, which I was surprised to find.

Video:

Filmed live, the full frame video quality was good but not outstanding.  Some of the songs were a little dark, but this is more of a lighting problem than anything inherent in the DVD.  The lines were fairly tight, though people in the long shots were not as defined as I would have liked.  Digital defects were not a problem.  An adequate disc.

Extras:

I wasn't expecting much in the way of extras on this DVD, and was pleasantly surprised to find some interesting bonus' included on this disc.  First off is an art gallery with approximately 25 images drawn by the late John Entwhistle.  I enjoyed the characatures he did much more than the realistic drawings.  There is also two interviews; a fourteen minute talk with Pete and an eight minute interview with Roger were they discuss their reaction and feelings about John's death.

There is also an Easter Egg: On the song selection submenu cursor down to "Relay" and then press left to highlight the emblem on Pete Townshend's T-Shirt.  Select it and you will be treated to a 13-minute audio interview with Pete Townshend from March 2004 where he talks about the guitars that he currently uses and how they differ from the guitars that he used back in the 60's.

Final Thoughts:

Without Keith Moon and John Entwhistle this group isn't really The Who.  Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are still talented, but without the other half of the band they just don't have the energy and power that the band is known for.  That being said, this concert was still very enjoyable.  A lot of the songs really rock, Roger's voice is strong and Pete can still play guitar.  Honestly, this was better than I thought it would be.  If you already have The Kids are Alright and Live at the Isle of Wight Festival and are yearning for more Who concerts on DVD, this disc is Recommended.