Mohegan Sun was treated to rock royalty on June 23 as Roger Daltrey and his band took to the stage and performed a fantastic night of music. The evening was a mix of much anticipated Who songs along with others unexpected for Daltrey to play.
Daltrey was in great form and his voice couldn’t have sounded better. He started out with “Let My Love Open The Door” and went on to “Freedom Ride”. The crowd cheered when he next started into “Who Are You.” After was a mix of high energy songs with a few slower ones before revving up the crowd again.
He also gave a nod to John Fogerty of the former Creedence Clearwater Revival and the fact that Fogerty won back his rights to the music Fogerty wrote and had to fight to keep the rights to his own creations. As a tribute to Fogerty the band sang “Have You Ever Seen The Rain.” It was a nice way of recognizing Fogerty’s fight for what was his.
Roger Daltrey was backed by his touring band consisting of Simon Townshend, brother of Pete Townshend, on Guitar and vocals. Billy Nicholls was on Mandolin and vocals. Jody Linscott on Percussion and Doug Boyle on Guitar. John Hogg was on Bass. Geraint Watkins was on Accordion and Keyboards. Steve Weston on Harmonica and Scott Devours on Drums. Rounding out the band was an amazing Violinist Katie Jacoby who did backup vocals as well. He did well picking this group and they all meshed well together.
To say Katie Jacoby is amazing is quite a statement as she was alongside one of the most well-known rockers of many generations, Roger Daltrey. Jacoby more than held her own with the complicated and always crowd-pleasing song in the setlist “Baba O’Riley.” Jacoby took it on with a smile, nailed every note of it and the audience loved her. She got a well-deserved cheer at the ending notes of the song.
The entire night was fun and filled with great music, some reminiscing by Daltrey and he even answered a few questions he laughingly took out that were written down on paper. He would pull one out and give answers to some asked by people over time like “Are The Who getting back together?” The answer was a shrug and not in the planning too but you never know. Daltrey and Townshend don’t seem in any hurry for a reuniting with each having their own projects and schedules. But who knows, never say never, I guess.
Daltrey at 80, an age when many would hang it up and just kick back and coast through the rest of life, shows no sign of slowing down and is still out there on stage and giving great performances. He has picked a great group to tour with and they are giving a concert full of energy and classic songs so many know by heart. A Roger Daltrey concert is well worth attending, it was upbeat, well done and a great deal of fun. So, if you get the chance do go see him it’s a great night of music.
Review by Donna Erichsen
Photos by George Bekris
Setlist:
- Let My Love Open the Door
- Freedom Ride
- Who Are You
- Waiting for a Friend
- After the Fire
- Days of Light
- Giving It All Away
- The Kids Are Alright
- Another Tricky Day
- Squeeze Box
- Won’t Get Fooled Again
- Going Back Home
- As Long as I Have You
- Baba O’Riley
- Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
- Without Your Love