The Who closed this year’s series of benefit concerts for the UK charity Teenage Cancer Trust at London’s Royal Albert Hall last night (Tuesday, March 30th) with a full-length performance of their 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia. The Who’s usual touring band of Roger Daltrey (lead vocals), Pete Townshend (vocals and guitar), Zak Starkey (drums), Pino Palladino (bass), John “Rabbit” Bundrick (keyboards), and Simon Townshend (guitar and backing vocals) was augmented for the show by horn and string sections. They were also joined by special guests Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Tom Meighan of Kasabian. Vedder sang “The Punk and the Godfather” while Meighan sang Keith Moon’s part in “Bell Boy” and began the song seated on a scooter.
There was no encore after the performance of Quadrophenia. Daltrey is the patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, and is believed to have attended all of the shows this year. He may have been too tired to do an encore last night.
There have been rumors that last night’s show might have been the last gig ever by The Who. Pete Townshend’s tinnitus has been bothering him lately, and some scheduled shows by The Who in North America have already been cancelled. The reviews for last night’s show were positive. If last night’s performance of their best album was the last show that The Who perform, then they went out on a high note.
For more about The Who ‘s Quadrophenia show last night, see the reviews from XFM London, NME.com, RollingStone.com, and the UK newspapers The Times of London, The Sun, and the Evening Standard.
Matt Kent of TheWho.com took a bunch of great photos at the show, one of which is above. To view the photos, go to TheWho.com.











