The WHO's Farewell Tour
- Cheryl Alterman | The Music Soup Editor
- Sep 25
- 9 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
The culmination of a lifelong appreciation for this band, when 'super fan girl' (me) photographs The Who!
On a beautiful September evening in Mountain View California, at The Shoreline Ampitheater, The Who played to an audience of approximately 18,000 attendees. This was the tail end of their "The Song is Over" farewell tour. From here, they headed north to Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest for three more shows and are winding up their last show, on their last tour, in Palm Springs on October 1, after being together for 64 years.
As I have worn my Who jacket to the Shoreline for other photo shoots, (recently three in the last three weeks), the staff knew I was a Who super fan.
So on this night, I got a 'pass' for crossing the line from a professional music photographer to super fan this one time. The Live Nation escort for the photographers, even told me that she got video and stills of me shooting 'my boys' (included in the gallery below). And needless to say, when I received these, I was over the moon and so grateful that these special moments were captured.
The photographers were allowed to shoot the first three songs with our gear, at the stage, which is typical. After the first three songs, we are instructed to store our gear in the office and come back to the venue if we want to see the show. Which is also typical. On this night, I cleared it with the Live Nation escort to run to the office and dump my gear as quickly as possible, so I wouldn't miss more than one song. And that is exactly what I did. After storing my gear I ran back into the venue as fast as I could. I got it done so I only missed one song which was, "I Can See for Miles".
Upon my re-entering the ampitheatre, I noticed there were about 8 or 10 people standing at the stage, so of course I made my way there and placed myself directly in front of Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, and stayed there for two of the most blissful hours one can experience in life. At one point I asked the person next to me to pinch me, as I had a weird out of body experience thinking perhaps I had a horrific accident on the way to Mountain View and I was in fact dead, and landed in Who heaven watching this show from the best position in the house, and I would soon realize I was dead. After multiple pinches...it was confirmed that I was not dead, it was indeed real life and I was experiencing the best night of my life, standing a couple feet from the band I have followed for decades, on this, their last ever tour.
Over the next two hours I danced, sang and shot video (as others also did near me, whilst standing at the stage). I am posting these videos on my You Tube if you'd like to check them out. Whilst filming, I made sure that I held my phone low so not to disturb my 'in real life' view or others' view of the show. And this also encouraged the eye contact that I had with the band that also enhanced my overall experience...as if it could even get better than it already was! Oh my...this girl was in total 'WHO HEAVEN' for the entire concert and I hope this feeling never goes away. All part of that teenage enthusiasm! I've always believed that music keeps us young and this evening was a perfect example as became again my teenage self for this entire evening!
The band took the stage at 8.50 and played until 11pm. When the band appeared, I was soooo ready with my cameras in hand, and my prime position in front of the stage. I shot 546 photos during the three songs with two cameras, which is way more than usual, but this was way more important to me personally than many other shows. For decades, I've attended nearly every Who tour, on both sides of the pond since I was a kid. And this night was the culmination of it all! All the Who shows I've been to in my life helped, as I knew their moves and when Pete was likely to do his signature 'windmill' and when Roger may swing his mic around in the air.
They sang so many great tunes....all were anthems of my lifes' soundtrack. They began with, I Cant Explain, then rolled into their huge catalogue of hits. Not able to play them all, but they did play such beloved tunes such as..Substitute, Who Are You, I Can See for Miles, Long Live Rock, Pinball Wizard, See Me Feel Me, Behind Blue Eyes, My Generation, The Real Me, 515, Baba O'Riley, Love Reign O'er Me, and more fab Who anthems. The band ended the evening with The Song is Over (also the name of the tour). And at very the end, the band left the stage and Pete and Roger remained. Pete grabbed his acoustic guitar and a chair whilst Roger stood next to him and sang, Tea & Theatre. It was soft, sweet and very touching, especially when Roger put his arm around Pete as he sang this song.
The lyrics in this song, Tea & Theater, sounded like an end to a lifetime of performing, touring and being lifelong rockstars. Now they were two old men wrapping up the rock n roll and perhaps replacing it with a quiet chat and a cuppa tea. After all, Pete is 80 and Roger is 81, so taking it a little easier in future may be the right path. Or perhaps they may have solo plans for some independent music/tours coming up, who knows. All I do know is that was a perfect ending to a band that has been making music together since 1964.
The end of this show was stunning and very touching. All of my experiences at Who shows throughout the years has been culminated in this amazing evening with it's more than perfect ending. And as if the ending of this night couldn't get better for me...it did!....As I was given the guitar pick that Pete played with for this last song, on their final tour....
As you can imagine, my perfect evening and photo shoot could not have been more magical.
This 2025 version of the band consisted of Roger Daltrey - guitar, harmonica and vocals, Pete Townshend, Simon Townshend - guitar and vocals, Scott Devours - drums, John Button - bass, Loren Gold - Keys, John Hogg - backing vocals, Jody Linscott - percussion. And featuring the epic violinist Katie Jacoby for Baba O'Riley.
Since 1978 The Who had replaced Moonie with several drummers through the years. Both for in studio and live touring drummers. As one can imagine, it must have been super tough to step into those shoes. Amongst many drummers that toured with The Who since Keith Moons' death, were Kenney Jones, the great Simon Phillips, and most recently (and in my opinion, perhaps the best fit) was the incredibly talented, Zak Starkey. I was looking forward to seeing Starkey once again but word was that Daltrey fired him a couple months ago before going out on this tour. He was replaced with Zaks' drum tech, Scott Devours.
The last time I saw them during their "Hits Back" tour in 2022, Zak Starkey was their drummer and his talent behind the kit brought The Who to a sound that was so close to Moonies' drumming style. It was amazing! And Starkey also had a stunning kit. I had really looked forward to seeing Zak Starkey again on this tour. Although I was super dissappointed with Daltreys' decision, Devours proved himself to be a fine sub. Replacing Keith Moon is probably a near impossible task anyway but when Kenney Jones took the throne after Keith died, his style was not even in the same universe as Moonies'. (Hence my personal opinion of he was not the right fit for stepping into Moonies' shoes!) But they've done fine since then and Scott Devours did do a great job even though he was not Moonie or Zak Starkey.
(On a personal note...As I am a drum fan and my favorite drummer of all time has always been Keith Moon. Sadly, I never got to see him perform live as he died in 1978, just before I saw the band live for the first time. However, I do have a pet, and he is named after Keith Moon/Moonie! So Moonie lives on in my house :)).
The Who also lost their original badass bassist John Entwhistle/The Ox, who died in 2002. He's been replaced by many bass players through the years and the latest one is John Button. He seemed to fit in nicely. As did Jody Linscott their female percussionist. She looked as though she was having a blast up there playing with The Who!
I had the privilege to cover this concert for The Music Soup. And to describe my excitement whilst shooting this gig, I think I'd have to invent a new word to surpass all the words I know that describe excitement, elation, thrill, passion, and the most intense joy one can have! Whilst talking to a friend after this experience, he described my excitement as sheer teenage enthusiasm. I totally own that one, because when Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Simon Townshend and band took the stage I was right back in the late 70's as a teen once again-no doubt about it! The only difference was, that I was operating pro camera gear! You may ask...Do I get this way at other shows...oh yes, many times, as music is my drug of choice, but the connection is possibly not as deep or lengthy as my relationship runs with the history and memories I have behind me with The Who. They have been deeply imbedded in my musical heart and soul for decades and will stay there forever until I can't remember anymore...which I hope never happens! And moreso after what I experienced on this night. This experience can be described as many things but this entire evening from beginning to end, made quite an impression on me....I recently heard an expression that may be appropriate here as one of the descriptions I can use...it really "blew my dress up"!
A note about the writing....I worked for BAM magazine for more than a decade. I began working for BAM as a photographer, then I was asked to write about the concerts I covered although I am not a 'writer'. Kenny Wardell, (the recently deceased owner of BAM) used to encourage me to write and when I replied, I'd say to him, "Kenny I am not a writer", he would always say, "give it your Cheryl fan girl fire"...and that's pretty much how he got me to start typing. So this article is a real pure example of that 'fan girl fire' as I had no other choice but to apply that fire here. I am and always will be "a super fan" for this band. I'm so grateful to Roger, Pete, John and Keith for all the musical joy for so many decades. LONG LIVE THE WHO!
It's four days post show and I am still riding high on The Who show experience from days ago. Music can and does do this. So as I say (in various formations) with most of my articles, "Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, be kind to each other, and never regret anything that made you smile".... And last, but definitley not least...see live music - it keeps our brain firing + keeps us young!
With peace, love, art and music,
Cheryl ☮ ❤️🎵
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