Inger-Marie Opperud
On Thursday evening, the English pop band The Who kicked off their tour of Sweden at Gröna Lund in Stockholm. The audience waded in knee-high water after a violent downpour shortly before the start of the show. This did not adversely affect the enthusiasm, though. This meant that the police and guards on more than one occasion had a rough job controlling the crowd.
I find it very difficult to share this enthusiasm. Yet again, Who showed themselves to be a very stiff pop band of doubtful musical qualities.
The impression from Who’s visit to Sweden last autumn still stands. On that occasion they blamed their poor showing to the fact that they had to perform with borrowed instruments. This time, they had their own gear, but it didn’t sound any better.
The much talked-about destruction of instruments went off badly during the beginning of the show. Pete Townshend only managed to achieve a few cracks in his guitar.
Who lacks the natural stage charm of Hollies: their singing is worse, as well as their playing abilities. They shouldn’t have come back, really.
Note
Translation by Jan Forsgren
