Good advice for many aging singers. The band’s shows should be even better with Daltry resting his voice and all the guys getting a break between shows.
I need to see if theres any way to make one of their shows. I’ve never seen the Who live.
The second leg of the US tour starts in September. You should be able to get a ticket without a problem…depending on how far you want to travel or how much you’re willing to pay. I plan on seeing them in San Diego and Oakland.
Roger’s voice is the wild card when it comes to the quality of their gigs, but I go to see Pete. Oh, and don’t forget that Joan Jett is opening for them. She always puts on a good show.
Lots of people avoid shows every night. Even younger artists. There is no need to play every night.
Saw them in April and it was a very good show. It was not the same as they were in 1979 but I did not expect that.
Daltrey tells audiences not to smoke because his voice will shut down if exposed to anything
Almost every indoor arena bans smoking and have for a long time. But they don’t always enforce the law at concerts . Even outdoor stadiums have smoking bans.
I refuse to pay that kind of money to see a Who cover band. Especially since I’ve seen the real thing.
But when I saw them Daltrey twice told people to extinguish their joints. Granted there were few people smoking, a far change from concertgoers behavior a couple decades ago.
Whatever advice they’d give aging singers would apply in spades to Daltry, who really abused his instrument when younger. (Gee, that sounded kind of dirty, didn’t it?)
This sounds like the tour will be a dream for those 70 people on the tour. No driving all night to get to the venue for a 10 AM load-in. Actually have time to visit the cities rather than just traveling from arena to arena.
I have wondered why these veteran musicians don’t arrive to town a day early. Have a day and half to relax, and rest. See a few sights, go to a restaurant, and then play the gig that night. They’ve earned the right to take it easy. Let the young up and comers kill themselves gigging every night.
Michael Bolton and his band /crew used to schedule charity softball games around his tours. He and many of his guys loved playing and found it relaxing on long road tours. Raised some money for charity too. I think He’s probably stopped now that he’s getting older.
I don’t know about the current Who tour, but in the past the band had a “home base” location for shows within a geographic area–they would fly in for the gig and fly back afterwards.
I had only the vaguest notion of how fragile a singer’s voice is until I read a pretty good book about the Metropolitan Opera (Molto Agitato - recommended). While a case can be made that opera singers are more fragile than rock belters, a lot of it rang as true even for the latter. Careful warm-ups, long rests between full-out performances, and then all the usual stuff about not smoking and taking immediate care of respiratory issues - there are some real horror stories about rising stars blowing out their career in one ill-advised session. (The story of a sudden replacement warming up all the way to the Met, in the car, is pretty funny, too.)
Even as a Tom Waits fan, I wonder how some of these glass-and-gravel guys can still do it after forty, fifty years. To say nothing of those with mellower voices.
Would this advice be helpful to younger singers, or are we just talking about his generation?
Nah! The kids are alright.
“But my body feels so good and I still sing a razor line everytime.”
Not so much anymore, eh? You better you bet!
I saw The Who in Portland several years ago, and it was easily one of the best shows I’ve seen, Roger’s dodgy voice and the rest of the old guys notwithstanding. It rocked!
I’m sure a band with the status of The Who can manage, but most touring acts route their tours so they can make the most money since they have to spend money every day (crew, bus, rentals, etc) whether they are performing or not. Sure, maybe they aren’t playing EVERY night but 5-6 out of every 7 is pretty typical. Different economics apply to fly-in bands and acts that get 7 figure guarantees.
“The rest of the old guys”? Isn’t it down to him and Pete and whatever hired guns they bring on tour with them? It’s a weird world when Zak Starkey is “one of the old guys.”
Here’s what Roger and the other old guys sounded like earlier in the week. Not too shabby:
Zak will be 50 in September. Pete’s brother Simon, who plays with them, will be 55 in October.