Joe Roberts
"You're going to be hit by a sledgehammer tonight."
That was the warning from You Am I frontman Tim Rogers, at the end of the band's warm up slot to The Who last night at Vodafone Arena.
But would there still be a "sledgehammer" in a band who, last time they were here in 1968, still had their engine room of drummer Keith Moon and bass player John Entwistle, both since sadly rock 'n' roll drug casualties?
Yes, because if anything, tonight reminded the crowd that at the heart of The Who has been and always will be guitarist Peter Townshend. Who singer Roger Daltrey tried to tour the band a couple of years ago under the same name but with Townshend's brother Simon on guitar instead. Poor ticket sales killed the tour before it got here. Only Peter would do.
And tonight with bass player Pino Palladino and drummer Zac Starkey - son of Ringo - and The Who showed that 36 years wasn't such a long time between Australian tours after all.
The band kicked off with an early classic, Can't Explain setting the scene for what would be a night of fondly remembered classics and a couple of more head-scratching newer moments. There were the songs that The Who are remembered best for, such as Won't Get Fooled Again, which was incendiary, Substitute, which was sluggish and Baba O'Reilly, which whipped fans into a frenzy with its dervish-like finale.
Yet a highlight of the night, despite being a band renowned for its rock 'n' roll, was Pete Townshend playing solo on acoustic guitar Drowned (from the album Quadrophenia), again a potent reminder of who really is the essence of The Who, even without (for that song) his trademark guitar Windmills.
Far from seeming like a "sad old bastard" tour, The Who stood tall as a beacon to so many who have come since, not least of whom was You Am I, who are clearly thrilled to be supporting their idols. The kids are still better than all right.
