Photos and a review of The Who and Tom Cochrane in Toronto

[Ross MacDonald was there for us. – AC]

It was the weather that every outdoor venue dreams of: clear skies, the sun starting to set, 25 degrees (dropped to about 18 degrees at 11pm), and a very light breeze. And to top it off, Toronto’s Budweiser Stage hits the nail on the head acoustically as well. It is a natural bowl with great sightlines and seating on the grass hill at the back of the venue.

So although The Who could fill an arena, they decided to spend two nights serenading their fans at this 16,000 capacity outdoor bowl.

Opening for The Who was one of Canada’s most prolific rock artists: Tom Cochrane & Red Rider. The band wasted no time launching right into ‘Boy Inside The Man’. It was a 50-minute set of their greatest hits throughout the past four decades.

Tom introduced his second song ‘Big League’ dedicating it to the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash: “Hockey is one thing that brings this whole nation together. I’m never taking this song out of my setlist!”

Tom Cochrane was a quintessential opener. All the members of the band were full of energy, getting the audience to clap and sing along with their biggest hits.

After the fourth song, hit single ‘White Hot’, Tom announced: “We like to bring someone up on stage to sing along. But it’s a big jump up here. So we have our friend join us.” And out comes Alex Lifeson of Rush to join the band for their final three songs, kicking off with ‘Human Race’.

Next for the band, along with their new lead guitarist, was long-time favourite ‘Lunatic Fringe’ with its otherworldly effects. There couldn’t have been a better guest than Alex with his signature white hollow-body Gibson. Fun fact: Tom’s bass player Jeff Jones was an original member of Rush along with Alex, before Geddy Lee joined them.

To close out their set, Tom pulled out his harmonica for his biggest hit single, ‘Life Is A Highway’. It was a raucous affair that had the crowd on their feet, and ready to be rocked by The Who.

When one harkens back to the original British invasion of the 1960s, three bands come to mind: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and of course The Who. There have been long discussions over drinks as to which band is their favourite and why, but the bottom line is that these three bands set the Rock & Roll stage for all who followed, with guitar-forward hit songs that were the inspiration for countless other bands.

This is The Who’s ‘The Song Is Over: The North American Farewell Tour’. And yes, The Who have had previous farewell concerts and tours; however, this time is the last chance to see them live as they cross Canada and the USA.

The Who’s set got off to a bit of a rocky start (no fault of the band). Roger Daltrey’s mic transmitter was giving him problems and had to be swapped out before the show even started. They took it in stride with Pete joking that it took so long to fix that the show was now over.

Now that the re-start button was pushed, The Who broke into ‘I Can’t Explain’. Immediately everyone was on their feet. The fans knew that this was going to be a celebratory bash. And it was! Over the next two hours The Who performed hit after hit, exactly what everyone wanted.

Of course many in the crowd sang along to most of the night’s songs, but some of the biggest hits received louder and more full accompaniment from the audience. This was especially true for ‘Who Are You’ (certain phrases with profanity were emphasised), ‘Pinball Wizard’, and ‘You Better You Bet’.

Introducing ‘Love Ain’t For Keepin’ Roger said: “this is a song we only started playing live recently”. It really was an evening where the band wanted to give back to their fans. Right afterwards, Pete sat down on a chair with his acoustic guitar for a sombre ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ that had a psychedelic video on the screen behind the band.

And then there was a little funky/blues intro to ‘Eminence Front’. Pete’s passion in his vocal inflections were as if he was performing it for the fist time; all the while bending notes all the way up the neck using every fret. And even at the end, Pete was tapping the strings of his Strat on his solo at the outro.

Right after that, Roger said: “We are going to play a song that we dropped from our act when we were 25 years old because we felt we were getting too old.”
The band broke into ‘My Generation’. This song, about halfway through the concert, definitely gave Roger a certain renewed swagger. The screen at the back played video clips of young Who members including the much beloved Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Of note, Jon Button did a very solid job of John Entwistle’s bass solos.

A few songs later, there was a perfect test of Roger and Pete’s vocals: the intro to ‘You Better You Bet’ (hoooo-ooooo). And they nailed it! All night Roger’s vocals remained strong, and Pete hit his high notes. Everyone marvelled at how strong the boys were singing.

Next up Roger introduced Simon. “Our brother, not just Pete’s brother, Simon Townshend! Simon is going to sing a song we never performed live before this tour, ‘Going Mobile’.” Not surprisingly, Simon ‘s vocals are very similar to his big brother Pete, high and clear. While Simon was singing, it was the perfect opportunity for Roger to pull out his harmonica for accompaniment.

The Who performed a mini-set of four songs from Quadrophenia. At the beginning of ‘The Real Me’ Roger even spun his mic by the cord and threw it out a few metres. Like Pete’s windmills earlier, these actions are indelible characteristics of The Who.

Quadrophenia is evidently very special to The Who, Roger and Pete put raw emotion into those songs. In ‘I’m One’ Pete picked up his acoustic guitar, finger picking, and took over lead vocals again. Roger was back on his harmonica.

The third Quadrophenia song was ‘5:15’, and on the screen behind the band there was a video backdrop of the Brighton Pier and Ace’s Vespa scooter adorned with multiple mirrors and lights. Roger twirling his mic by the cord, Pete tapping notes, then some more windmills for good measure, everyone was thrilled by the performance.

The Quadrophenia finale started with a piano intro to ‘Love, Reign O’er Me’, Roger centre stage, backlit, and arms raised over his head, and as the crescendo climaxed he started into his vocals. Roger’s vocals in the choruses were powerful. Pete’s finger picking was lighting-fast finger. This was the highlight of the night. The song closed with Roger’s a cappella vocals. The hush turned into a roar of approval from the fans.

There was no wasted time breaking for an encore, but now the concert was in the home stretch with an extended ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. It started with the buildup and more psychedelic videos. Towards the end everyone was anticipating: “will Roger do the scream?” The organ playing its notes. Then the drums. And of course, hell yeah he did!! Another burst of emotion that had everyone screaming along. And more windmills from Pete.

So on that high note, the band moved into another epic hit: ‘Baba O’Riley’. The crowd was singing along, but it became screams for “teenage wasteland, it’s only teenage wasteland!” as Pete was soloing on the highest frets. And out came violin superstar Katie Jacoby for the solo finale, dancing back and forth as she performed.

The band slowed it down playing their last song with the full band: ‘The Song Is Over’. Pete then introduced the band and thanked them and the audience “We are really pleased to have been here.”

The band filed out, leaving Roger and Pete alone on stage, dark except for white spotlights on the two of them, Roger standing and Pete sitting down once again with his acoustic guitar. Fittingly they sang ‘Tea & Theatre’, a quiet and sobering end to the night.

Afterward Roger and Pete gave heartfelt thank-you to the crowd and took a bow. Pete added: “Toronto is a special place. We started or finished many tours here in Toronto. And every time we did we knew it was going to be a great tour.”

A final wave to the fans, and it was exit stage left. Bittersweet was everyone’s mood. A phenomenal concert in every way, but the curtain had to fall in Toronto.

The Who:
Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Pete Townshend – lead guitar, vocals

Touring Musicians:
Simon Townshend – guitar, vocals
Jody Linscott – percussion
Loren Gold – keyboards, backing vocals
Scott Devours – drums
Jon Button – bass guitar
John Hogg – backing vocals, percussion
Katie Jacoby – violin

Tom Cochrane & Red Rider:
Tom Cochrane – vocals, guitar
Ken Greer – guitars, backing vocals
Jeff Jones – bass, backing vocals
Davide Direnzo – drums, backing vocals