The 1971 Who album, Who's Next, is the epitome of a legendary classic rock album.
It contains a trio of FM radio staples with "Baba O'Riley," "Behind Blue Eyes," and "Won't Get Fooled Again." The production was cutting edge featuring what are still-modern-sounding keyboards.
And the cheeky album cover, allegedly a dig at Stanley Kubrick's 2001 monolith, is one of the finest of all time.
And while the three singles have been performed close to 1,000 times over the past 50 years, two of the tracks had never been played by the British rockers.
One of them, "The Song Is Over," finally got its live debut on Sunday (3/30) at the Royal Albert Hall during their final appearance at this year's Teenage Cancer Trust.
“We dedicate this to all the fans that heard the 2016 setlist a 100 times,” guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend told the crowd of 5,000 fans. “Well, not 100 times, but a lot. So, we’re going to have a go at this one."
Unfortunately it took singer, Roger Daltrey, two gos to get through the tune because the 81 year-old had chosen to chuck his in-ear monitors prior to the gig so he could feel closer to the audience, according to the band's blog.
Shortly after the dynamic song really kicked in, Daltrey came in a little early, and once he realized his error, asked the band to stop.
“To sing that song, I do need to hear the key,” the blue-eyed star who still has a mighty voice said, holding onto a mug of tea. “And I can’t hear. There’s no pitch here. I just hear drums, ‘boom boom boom.’ I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry guys. We’ll try one more even though it’s getting late.”
When they restarted, all went well. And it was a lovely way to conclude the group's 21-song set.
What's interesting is until last weekend, there were two original album cuts from Who's Next that hadn't been performed, yet "I Don't Even Know Myself," which was a B-side for "Won't Get Fooled Again," had been performed 76 times.
The final Who's Next song yet to get its moment in the limelight is “Goin’ Mobile,” a number Townshend sings on the album.
Ironically, it's Daltrey who has sung it the most during his solo outings, often allowing Pete's younger brother, Simon, to take the vocal duties.
So why not play it in a Who set?
And how has no cell phone company used it in a commercial?
There was one more Who's Next rarity The Who performed at the 150 year-old venue.
"Love Ain't For Keeping" was performed 28 times between 1970-71, then 9 times during their "farewell" tour in 1982, and then shelved for 22 years when they played it once in 2004, and then locked up for another 21 years until they placed it in their setlist twice last week.
They sure named that song right.
Daltrey joked to an audience at an earlier gig that he was starting to feel his age.
"The joys of getting old mean you go deaf," the singer said. "I also now have got the joy of going blind. Fortunately, I still have my voice."
Townshend relied on a chair during parts of the show because he's recovering from knee surgery, which he claims went out when he was dancing like his old pal Mick Jagger.
But that has not stopped these rockers who swore they'd die before they got old. As Pete recovers, Roger is hitting the road this spring.
Meanwhile The Who have two Italian summer dates on their calendar.
Tickets are available on The Who's website.
