The Who – "Smoke! Violence! We Showed Them What War Was All About”

The new The Who With Orchestra Live At Wembley is a stirring document of The Who's 2019 headline show at Wembley Stadium, backed by a 50-piece orchestra. It marks several decades as one of the world's premier live rock acts, and certainly one of the most unpredictable and explosive. Here, Roger Daltrey recalls 10 key Who gigs. Then, on page 86, Pete Townshend further explores the notion of The Who as an incendiary live entity while on p93, Joe Geesin presents a live Who discography.

- By Rob Hughes

Roger Daltrey is unequivocal about where his passions lie with The Who. "I've always preferred playing live to recording in the studio," he tells RC over a zoom call from his home study in Burwash, East Sussex "The studio has always been a slog for me because we never used to rehearse the songs beforehand. Playing the track at the same time is all right for a guitarist, but for a singer to sing the same thing over and over again, you kind of lose sight of it in a way. So, the studio was never a comfort zone. But on the stage, everything's out there on the night, which brings a certain amount of freshness and excitement to it all."

Given The Who's fearsome reputation as one of the greatest live bands on the planet, it's not difficult to see his point. And while no one is disputing the brilliance and ambition of much of The Who's studio output over the past six decades, their concerts, historically, have tended to pack added thrills. They first started building a buzz around their native West London in 1963 (a year after forming as The Detours), consolidating their following at places like the Goldhawk Social Club. The Who swiftly became synonymous with the burgeoning mod movement, holding court at the Railway Hotel in Harrow and unleashing Maximum R&B at Soho's Marquee.