In the middle of the Who's 2002 Tour, bassist John Entwistle died of a heart attack. Yet, The Who went on. This show was actually recorded right in my neck of the woods. Despite the show's title: The Who - Live in Boston, this show was actually recorded in Boston's South Shore in Mansfield, MA at the Tweeter Center, known to those of us who grew up here as Great Woods. The Tweeter Center is a small venue that is half indoors, half outdoors. The first few thousand seats are under a large pavillion and beyond that is a huge grassy hill which provides thousands more places to hear if not quite see the show. I have been there countless times, and although I saw one of The Who's farewell tours in Foxboro, MA, this DVD makes me wish I caught this show. If you think that the loss of "The Ox" would slow down Daltrey and Townsend read on:

Performance / Set List

Townsend and Daltrey start the show with a bang, opening with classic I Can't Explain. Townsend wails on his cherry red Fender Stratocaster, but I must say that despite Roger Daltrey's voice sounding powerful, you can hear the strain in it. Was it age, was it the death of long time friend, John Entwistle? I don't know. Overall, I felt his voice sounded good, better than many other aging rock stars, but yet there is a noticable strain in Roger's voice, he seems tired. Substitute and Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere follow with a good deal of power. Taking Kenny Jones spot on the drums, is another drummer, Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr's son). Yes Starkey is very competent, but like Kenny Jones, all I could think was He's no Keith Moon. Of course no one is. On bass duty was Pino Paladino, who also puts in a competent performance, but its hard to see someone standing where Entwistle stood. C.S.I. theme song Who Are You was belted out next and sounded pretty good. Another Tricky Day seems to be an apt song to sing for the band. Townsend is now bald, greying hair on the sides and a scruffy short grey beard. His guitar playing is precise and powerful as he introduces Relay. From Who's Next comes one of my favorite quiet songs Bargain. Townsend sings on part of this song, and it seemed to have an extra degree of sadness. In the background the keyboards add to the song.

Another song sold to C.S.I. Baba O'Riley delights the fans next. (That's Teenage Wasteland for the uninitiated). The opening keyboard chords caused much cheering from the crowd. Daltrey sounded pretty good on this song. After this song, Townshend banters a bit about the good old days, then launches into a hat trick from Quadrophenia performing Sea and Sand, 5:15 and Love Reign O'er Me.

From It's Hard the band performed a powerful rendition of Eminence Front which I have added to my list of favorite Who songs. Although it was one of their last studio albums, I thought it proved that the Who still had chops. One of my all time favorite Who songs was the sad emotional Behind Blue Eyes which Daltrey sang with such sadness and emotion that I hit rewind to listen to it again, it really was one of the highlights of this show. You Better, You Bet was followed by three Who classics The Kids are Alright, My Generation and the end of the C.S.I. trilogy Won't Get Fooled Again. Although the bass solo from My Generation was there, it lacked that twangy depth that John always played it with.

The finale for the show is a whole set of tunes from rock opera Tommy; Pinball Wizard, , Amazing Journey, Sparks, See Me, Feel Me and Listening to You. The crowd was on their feet for these songs.

Although Daltrey sounded slightly strained, and I don't consider this as one of the best Who concerts, I was impressed by how well they played, especially given the circumstances. I feel that Daltrey and Townshend definitely gave the crowd at the Tweeter Center their money's worth.

Video Quality / Cinematography

I was disappointed to see that they chose to shoot this in 4:3 format, even though wide screen televisions were becoming more popular that year, but the video quality is quite good, and certainly of DVD quality. The cameras do a good, competent job of capturing the band on stage, with the occasional shot of Great Woods. I wouldn't have recognized my favorite venue though, because it was shot at night. The band used a simple light show and stage set for this tour. I must say that Paladino looked awkward when the camera focused on him, as if he was painfully aware that he wasn't John Entwistle.

Sound Quality

Although there was no DTS track, the show offers a choice of stereo PCM or a pretty well recorded Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Audience clapping and cheering and a bit of ambient sound is in the rear surrounds, and the fronts and center create a good sound stage, giving good placement to members of the band. Bass response was good and deep, and the sound quality was excellent for this show.

Summary

Although Entwistle was gone for this show, Daltrey and Townshend do a great job of carrying on the tradition of The Who. I think it is a worthwhile set to pick up for Who fans. It gets four stars.



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD