CONCERT REVIEW

THE WHO'S LAST TWO STILL ROCK JUST FINE

MARY CHIND/REGISTER PHOTOS

The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey, left, and guitarist Pete Townshend get the crowd fired up Tuesday in Des Moines.

Townshend didn’t need to apologize for new stuff

It was no surprise that the baby boomer faithful cheered loudest Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena when the Who sang "Teenage Wasteland," "Hope I die before I get old," "Meet the new boss" and other key youthful sentiments from its hefty chapter in the classic rock canon.

The big surprise was that the new Who songs from the band's forthcoming album, "Endless Wire," rated far better than a bathroom break — coaxing some of the night's finest performances out of the 42-year-old war horse of British rock's holy trinity (with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones).

There's plenty of room to debate whether frontman Roger Daltrey, 62, and guitarist Pete Townshend, 61, have been brave or ludicrous to soldier on as the Who after the deaths of monster drummer Keith Moon in 1978 and stoic bassist John Entwistle in 2002.

But there was no question that during Tuesday night's rendition of "Man in a Purple Dress," as Townshend strummed an acoustic guitar alongside Daltrey with their quartet of backup musicians off stage, the two of them were more than able to carry the weight of Who legend.

"Thank you so much for bearing with us through the new material," Townshend humbly told the 6,158 fans 70 minutes into the concert, by which point more than half the songs had been previewed from an album that won’t even hit stores until Halloween.

I call that a gutsy move, the sort of thing that should be remembered from the Who's first concert in Des Moines in 30 years — instead of the requisite guitar windmills and Daltrey’s ragged scream in the latest rehash of "Won’t Get Fooled Again." The same acoustic-duo treatment fittingly capped the night, for the final track from "Endless Wire," "Tea & Theater."

And the medley of "Tommy" songs that filled the encore before that was bracing stuff, worth the wait after lapses into weaker songs such as "Eminence Front" and "You Better You Bet."

The last song that the Who played in Iowa, on its premature 1982 "farewell" tour that included Cedar Falls, was the Beatles staple "Twist and Shout," originally by the Isley Brothers. On Tuesday, the Who benefited from an impressive Beatle offspring behind the drums: Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey. Townshend’s younger brother, guitarist Simon Townshend,

More online

For more photos from the Who concert, or to read Kyle Munson’s blog, go to DesMoinesRegister.com.

Kyle MUNSON

Roger Daltrey sings at the start of Tuesday's Wells Fargo Arena concert. His vocals improved as the show went on.

Pete Townshend lets loose on guitar during the Who’s visit to Des Moines. The concert attendance was 6,158.

See THE WHO, Page 5B