The Who Kick Off North American Tour in Philly

On the opening gig of their North American tour at the Wachovia Center in Philly last night, the Who managed to electrify, reviving past glories and getting a shot of energy from their new material. For two-and-a-quarter hours, the duo — backed by drummer Zak Starkey and Townshend's kid brother Simon on guitar — powered through dozens of songs from the Who's upcoming album, Endless Wire (due October 30th), including the complete Wire & Glass "mini-opera." (Apparently "operetta" sounds too fey, eh Pete?)

The new tracks seem to form another installment of the Who's ongoing musical autobiography: "We Got a Hit" even directly quoted the "Substitute" guitar riff. Daltrey hit some clunker notes and even got tangled up in his own microphone cord while executing a baroque twirl, but nailed the climactic scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again." And hits like "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere," "Who Are You," and "My Generation" sounded sufficiently great. Townshend, as ever, had the last word: After the band flubbed the intro to "You Better You Bet," he cracked, "See? The old stuff can sound just as crappy and unrehearsed as the new stuff."

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Song Stories

“My President”

Young Jeezy | 2008

Young Jeezy teams up with Nas on this track, in which he compare his own success with the idea of an African-American winning the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2008 presidential election. "When I pulled up in my car, that s--- was unbelievable to people in my neighborhood because they were like, 'We grew up with him. How the hell did he accomplish this?'" he told Rolling Stone. "I feel like it was the same way with Obama. I grew up all this time, but I've never seen a black man this close to running this country."

More Song Stories entries »

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