The Who Hit Home Run at Fenway Park
The legendary band rocks Boston during their final farewell tour
“We’re a Who tribute band,” Pete Townshend told me during a phone interview from England just before The Who’s farewell tour of North America began.
Ok, then. This meant I didn’t even have to delicately pose a question of who exactly was The Who in 2025? It is, once again, an issue and, frankly, it’s been trenchant since the deaths of drummer Keith Moon (1978) and bassist John Entwistle (2002), but especially so in the wake of the weirdly timed pre-tour sacking of The Who’s longest-serving drummer, Zak Starkey.
Townshend wasn’t being flip or self-deprecatingly funny. He was being realistic, simply saying The Who were Roger Daltrey and himself — God bless the spirits and estates of Moon and Entwistle and no hard feelings about Starkey — and they are carrying on one last time with half-a-dozen hired hands. He had a caveat, though, even if you want to accept Townshend’s tribute band tag: “There’s also something more, really, which is that the art. The creative work is when we perform it, we’re celebrating.”
Such was the case at Fenway Park, Tuesday Aug. 26, a date that was slightly in doubt because two previous concerts had been scrapped due to unspecified illness amongst the band. The 80-year-old Townshend (songwriting, guitar, some vocals) and the 81-year-old Daltrey (vocals, some guitar and harmonica) did that creative work and here we all are, fans and band, celebrating it for what they swear — this time they mean it — is one more farewell tour.
It wasn’t without humor. “Help, I’m too old for this,” faux-moaned Townshend after “Cry If You Want.”
“Help the aged,” said Daltrey, when Townshend sat down for “Behind Blue Eyes.”
“It’s important that I sit down so I don’t fuck it up,” said Townshend.
At times, it was glorious, although in a weird ironic twist of fate they did not perform “The Song Is Over” from 1971’s Who’s Next — the song Daltrey lobbied hard to be resurrected. This has predominantly been the show’s telling closer and the song for which the tour itself is named. At Fenway, The Who came on at 8:22 and exited at 10:07, with Daltrey singing and Townshend sitting, fingerpicking acoustic during “Tea & Theatre.” Telling lyrics there, too, of course: “We did it all, didn’t we? … Lean on my shoulder now/The story is done/It’s getting colder now/A thousand songs/Still smolder now/We play them as one/We’re older now/All of us sad/All of us free/Before we walk from this stage/Two of us.”
Heartfelt, it was. And the two actually did seem to have some trouble shuffling off that stage. Daltrey had said something about having to leave because of a Fenway Park curfew, possibly referencing an omission of “The Song Is Over.” But the Fenway Park curfew for concerts is 10:30. (A spokeswoman for The Who said later “Nothing was cut. They’ve been switching up songs for the closing number.” At the previous show at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, The Who played both songs. Same situation Aug. 16, the first US gig, at the Amarant Bank Center in Sunrise, Florida.)
This was, though, a full-on a show, or as full-on a show as possible. The group on stage included longtime adjunct guitarist-singer, Pete’s younger brother Simon Townshend who sang “Going Mobile,” as Pete explained he couldn’t hit the high notes any longer. Also, added Pete: “One of the pleasures of playing with The Who these last [whatever number of] years is playing with my brother, Simon.”
Daltrey quipped, “The brother I never had.” (Reference point: The long-running, very public conflict between Roger and Pete.)
Also on board: longtime percussionist Jody Linscott, the drummer for Daltrey’s solo tours Scott Devours, keyboardist Loren Gold (there since 2012), and bassist Jon Button (there since 2017). Sadly missed was violinist Katie Jacoby who positively lit up “Baba O’Riley” last time through town — Townshend took the time to acknowledge her contribution at that 2019 show and Daltrey “joked” it was the first time in “five bloody years” he had to return to playing that frenetic harmonica part for the closing acceleration, a part Jacoby zoomed into the stratosphere.
Both Daltrey and Townshend have physical limitations, the former not moving around much on the stage or executing his famous microphone lasso maneuver and the latter certainly not doing his famous split-legged jumps, though there were many of the trademarked windmills. All of this is to be expected, and, really not an issue. Everyone can do the math and it’s a pretty good bet few in The Who demo — musicians or fans — would have the stamina or chops to do what these guys do.
And what they do is put on a generous, career-spanning show, starting with “I Can’t Explain” and “Substitute” — representing the mid-‘60s band with backing video of back-in-the-day group shots and antics, some graphically enhanced. “Who Are You” was its usual percolating delight — Daltrey smiling as he got to the “Who the fuck are you?” lines. “Love Ain’t for Keeping” was a gentle reminder that The Who wasn’t all about crash-and-boom hard rock — or maximum R&B as they once tagged it. There were songs for the sensitive, too.
Tommy was represented only by “Pinball Wizard” — for me, this brought back memories of the days when I kinda was one in high school — and then “See Me, Feel Me,” hitting that chills-up-and-down-the-spine feeling as it transitioned into the “Listening to you …” refrain. One of rock’s best moments, re-lived one last time.
Ah, but you’re wondering (or certainly I was wondering upon entering Fenway Park): What about the glitches, the faux pas, the false starts — Daltrey’s voice. All these have been issues to a certain degree on tour, and I’m happy to say none were at Fenway (save that odd exit/song omission). Daltrey hit the notes with perfection and that means, yes, “Love Reign O’er Me,” from Quadrophenia was spectacular, with simulated rain cascading down on the video scrim behind the band and Daltrey singing to the heavens. Big, big applause after that one. And also, for the three preceding Quadro numbers, “The Real Me,” “I’m One” and “5:15.” It’s The Who’s best album — Townshend’s favorite — and the four-song segment culled from it was the night’s best run.
The defiant youth anthem “My Generation” naturally dinged the irony bell as it’s been doing for decades, but everyone knows that and plays along. (Pete and Roger didn’t die before they got old; neither did anyone in attendance; Keith definitely did and John arguably did.) “You Better You Bet” was The Who’s giddiest song, giving those in the audience a chance to sing along to their mate or date, “When I say, ‘I love you,’ you say, ‘You better, you better, you bet” and that rejoinder if you renege on it: “Or love will cut you like a knife.”
After the Quadro segment, The Who hit the cathartic heavyweights from Who’s Next, “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” It’s been mentioned many a time that the former song’s lyrics do not include the title — it’s a tribute to Townshend’s one-time spiritual mentor Meher Baha and minimalist musician Terry Riley — but I’m not sure it’s been widely noted that the latter doesn’t include the words in the title either. The title is declarative: “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” In the song, Daltrey sings about getting on his knees and praying “we don’t get fooled again.” There’s a difference. One is a strong statement, the other a plea. And the message/warning from the waning days of the hippie era about “the parting on the left is now parting on the right,” well, that couldn’t ring truer now.
One caveat, which is not news to anyone who’s seen a concert at a ballpark this century. The music may be live — and sound systems being what they are these days — the sound likely loud and clear, as this was. But the humans making that sound? Oh, so far away.
How far we were? Hard to say, 100 yards maybe, at an angle stage right, seated on the turf (well, turf covered with protective plastic and chairs if we wanted them). Yet, we — like I’m sure everybody not in the section directly in front of wide stage — mostly watched the two giant video screens flanking the stage. I tried keying on the real Roger and/or Pete — or some of the shadowed other players — but managed to do so for, oh, three-to-five seconds before giving up thinking, “Nope, they’re ants, back to the bright video where they were Giants Among Men.”
Musically, they were that. On the video, they were that. I wish I’d caught more of that vibe directly in my face, but so it goes: That’s rock in a ballpark for you.
It’s fair to say most everyone left with a smile on their face, realizing they’d seen this great band — or great tribute band — for the last time in their lives.
“Be happy, be healthy … be lucky,” said Daltrey walking off.
VIDEO: The Who perform “Baba O’Riley” at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts Aug. 26, 2025.
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