The Who The Song Is Over concert review: Where to buy tickets, set list
The Who haven’t sold out just yet.
A few chords into a stirring rendition of their 1971 classic “Behind Blue Eyes” at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, Aug. 19, lead singer Roger Daltrey brought the song to a surprising halt.
Although the track sounded fine to the untrained ear, the 81-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer waved the band off and requested they re-start. Allegedly, the timing was off and/or he wasn’t in step with the band. Simply put, the man wasn’t pleased.
What made this small moment special — in an evening full of explosive highs — was the perfectionism Daltrey and his fellow frontman, guitarist and sometimes vocalist Pete Townshend, demand from their ensemble. According to Set List FM, they’ve played “Behind Blue Eyes” live 896 (!) times, yet they still need to make sure they deliver a pitch-perfect performance to their fans each and every time. Clearly, this is no cynical cash grab. These limber 80-somethings still care about the music, man.
As for the rest of the concert, part of the band’s ongoing ‘The Song Is Over Farewell Tour,’ The Who delivered a hit parade of transcendent fan favorites, singalong stadium anthems and deeply-felt ballads leading to the 1-2-3-4 punch of the dizzying “Baba O’Riley,” muscly “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” melancholy “The Song Is Over” and quiet, acoustic “Tea & Theatre” to close the evening.
Rather than limp out like some of their contemporaries, Daltrey and Townshend know to call it quits at the height of their powers. Goodbyes are never easy but The Who, well, they made theirs triumphant.
And, for a band that sings so much about youth (the now-ironic lyric “I hope I die before I get old” from 1964’s “My Generation” was certainly on my mind all throughout the evening), they’ve maintained their anarchic spirit more than 60 years into their storied career. Let’s just say they know who they are.
But let’s start at the beginning.
Here’s our review of The Who’s ‘The Song Is Over Tour’ show at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center starting with their surprise celebrity opening act to the last strings Townshend strummed.
*Note: if you scroll to the bottom, you’ll find a complete calendar of all upcoming Who concerts including dates, venues, special guests and links to buy tickets.
Opening act
Before the classic rock royalty took center stage at the New Jersey Devils’ home, Billy Bob Thornton kicked off the proceedings.
Yes, really.
The wily “Bad Santa”/”Sling Blade”/”Fargo”/”Friday Night Lights”/”Armageddon” character actor is a rocker on the side and regularly tours with his backing band, The Boxmasters.
Midway through their 2025 run, they’re accompanying The Who (who have a number of other special guests joining them on the goodbye outing, which you can find below) and adding a bit of bluesy, barroom flair to the arena rock.
As a performer, Thornton surprised. The 70-year-old Arkansas native sounded less twangy than one might expect; Weird Al’s nasally high-pitched register is an apt descriptor.
Rocking a slick bowler hat, he and the boys played a sturdy 45 minutes in front of a trippy, film strip backdrop.
Groovy, original songs of theirs entertained as the crowd trickled in; their Devo and Kinks covers were equally fist-pump worthy. These guys are pros.
This was never more evident than when the power went out mid-set. Rather than fret, the group extemporaneously had the drummer “Meat” play a mean solo.
Now, that’s exactly the kind of improvisatory fun expected from an opening act.
Kudos to Billy B and The Boxmasters. That’s how you get a show underway.
Who’s Next
As he was leaving the stage, Thornton expressed his disbelief that he was opening for one of his favorite groups.
“The Who, man,” he said, shaking his head. “They’re one of the three great rock bands along with The Beatles and Rolling Stones.”
A palpable chill was felt across the arena when he uttered that throwaway line. This sold-out crowd was about to witness one of the final shows this immortal group was about to perform. How many more times would they ever play “Pinball Wizard”? Tonight was special.
20 short minutes later, the lights went out at the Prudential Center and the crowd cheered.
Roger Daltrey, strode onstage, dressed so casually one could mistake the rock God for a guy enjoying a Cinnabon at the food court. Not far behind him was his lifelong bandmate Pete Townshend, decked out in slacks and a sport coat.
Who woulda thunk these lads from London would be playing together 60 years after forming their all-timer group? Who could have predicted they’d be together for seven decades? No one, that’s who.
An in-your-face montage made up of newspaper clippings reintroduced the rapt crowd to the band’s history. Subtle nods to the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle were certainly appreciated.
The Who Hits
Once the outfit settled in, they unveiled the chippy, jangly “I Can’t Explain,” sounding as regal and rock and roll as ever. Any fear of whether Daltrey could still wail or Townshend was off his game, were quickly quashed. These gentlemen have the goods.
Up next was “Substitute,” which just might have the world’s easiest one-word chorus to sing along to. The enthusiastic, all-ages audience shouted “Substitute!” in unison with smiles plastered on our faces.
After they wrapped the cheeky, mod jam, Townshend took the mic. The rock elder statesman delivered a brief anecdote about how, years ago, Springsteen had seen them play in the Garden State. Of course, the New Jersey crowd “Bruuuuuuuce’d.” And, for a guy that’s seemingly seen everything, Townshend seemed surprised. Clearly, this Brit didn’t know how deep The Boss’ roots run in his home.
He continued, explaining that this is the definitive farewell tour — unlike their infamous, joke-y 1982 ‘It’s Hard Tour’ they claimed was their last — although they “might do more.” Fingers crossed that means a Las Vegas Sphere residency. A fan can dream (and The Eagles and Dead and Company said they were done touring before shacking up in Sin City).
From there, the band launched into the gleeful “Who Are You.” Cellphones flew out of pockets for this one. No one wanted to miss recording Townshend this all-timer live. My goodness, this one smashed the crowd to pieces.
Townshend’s signature solo sounded pristine; Daltrey brought the “eff-you” attitude, the high-pitched background vocals were straight gooey goodness and drums thundered all building to the ecstatic rollercoaster ride sound this song provides: heavenly harmonies to stadium rock within seconds.
This is what we all came for.
The Who round two
Tracks four and five were “The Seeker” and “Love Ain’t for Keepin’.” Per usual, Daltrey hit extended high notes like a champ. The man refuses to phone it in. More than anything though, after witnessing this quartet of epics, it was clear that Roger and Pete use their skills to the fullest. No two songs are alike but they are all unmistakably Who-ian.
Fans nudged their friends and smiled singing along as soon as the acoustic (and then electric) “Pinball Wizard” guitar landed. At this point, it was impossible not to give in and air guitar and air drum. Pure fun!
Of course, rather than maintain that breakneck pace, the band slowed things down for the deeply-felt, “See Me, Feel Me.” Hearing Daltrey reach into the vulnerable depths of his soul moved the crowd; by stripping the instrumentals and letting him go at it all by his lonesome, only added to the cinematic nature of the bravely naked, trembling ballad before building to a hard-charging crescendo. There’s no holding back here.
Finally, we made it to the aforementioned “Behind Blue Eyes” portion of the night. As noted above, there was a false start before the seasoned vets laid down a seemingly perfect version of the intimate opus. Once again, they opted to let Daltrey go a cappella at the end, ditching the guitar and eliciting chills from this humble spectator. Hair-raising stuff.
Funny that one of rock’s all-time great guitar groups’ secret weapons is to drop the axe and showcase their singer.
The Who surprise
A loud applause break was followed by an odd silence. Another technical difficulty?
No, siree. The skittish, synth-y “Eminence Front” inspired a raucous cheer. Once again, the gang zagged when we expected them to zig. Crowd-pleaser to gorgeous heartstring-pulling ballad back to crowd-pleaser seemed to be their strategy.
As always, Townshend handled vocals here, delivering a harsher, growlier yowl than his pal, Roger with each passing “People forget.” To add to the fun, he added the impromptu lyric “if you wanna join this s—-y, s—-y, s—-y little party, you’ve got to dress to kill” at the end. The crowd giggled.
An amazing, reckless Keith and Entwistle tribute clashing old and contemporary images played in the background during the free-spirited “My Generation” right after. While the 61-year-old fuzzed-out bop blared, all I could think was the iconic “hope I die before I get old” refrain is more spiritual than physical. Sure, Roger and Pete are “old” by any stretch of the definition of that word but they certainly don’t act elderly. They’re still the guys they were in ’64, if a bit more serious about the craft.
Case in point, the far more refined/restrained “You Better You Bet,” which came next. The opening chords got a deserving roar before ramping up to a twinkly, operatic new plane halfway through the timeless tune. 11 songs in and the concert’s been all killer, no filler.
The Who switch things up
Track 12, “Going Mobile,” went a different route. The frontmen handed the reins over to Townshend’s brother, Simon. With your eyes closed, you’d never notice. The robust song sounded just the same as it did on “Who’s Next.” Daltrey played harmonica. Even though he refused to compromise, not singing for three minutes was likely a nice respite for the hard-working octogenarian.
“The Real Me” off “Quadrophenia” was an admitted lull in the action. As bombastic as the rocker is, this felt like a step down from the nonstop party. The scrappy “I’m One” and horn-happy “5:15” also read as filler, at least for this diehard.
Where was “I Can See For Miles?” “Magic Bus?” Townshend’s “Let My Love Open The Door?” “Boris The Spider?” “1921?” “Bargain?” “Squeeze Box?” Obviously, it’s understandable the group would want to rock ditties from one of their most well-known efforts but there were other classics to hit!
Oh, well. I’ll let it be since they wrapped with the emotive, forever-powerful “Love Reign O’er Me,” which came complete with Townshend’s trademark roundhouse guitar whip. As his arm made a full revolution around his instrument, the crowd yelled for more. We were back.
Daltrey’s went for broke straining his vocals to hit the polished high notes he established over 50 years ago on the soaring tearjerker that’s more fire and brimstone sermon than rock. This is the manliest song you’ll ever cry to.
Once complete, the man sighed. That took a lot. “Love” reigned o’er him.
The Who by numbers
Nearing the end, “Baba O’Riley” sounded. To describe “Teenage Wasteland” is a fool’s errand. The hypnotic electro-keys can’t be done justice with mere words. They must be heard, felt, lived to understand.
The jittery song evokes a black magic, lighting in a bottle, mysticism on every listen. Hell, I’m tearing up typing these words. If you’ve made it this far, you know that witnessing “Baba O’Riley” in person is bucket list material for any Wholigan, worthy of the pilgrimage alone. The song is pure joy that can’t be matched. “Teenage Wasteland” forever and ever and ever.
This majesty led to the giganticism of the spaced-out, maximalist “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” which sounds like an eerie alt “Twilight Zone” theme before blasting into a melt-your-face crowd-pleaser. The fact that these songs exist as bookends on 1971’s “Who’s Next” astounds me to this day.
Unfortunately, even with the primal, guttural, soul-shattering “YEAAAAAH!” Daltrey unleashes at the end, the song can’t match “Baba.” Nothing can.
With that, Pete and Roger slowed things down with a mournful take on 1971’s “The Song Is Over,” now embellished with organs. They introduced the band — ’twas a real “who’s who” of who’s in The Who — and ended the evening with 2006’s acoustic “Tea and Theatre.” Emotionally wiped, the long-running rockers gratefully waved to their adoring fans and left. No encore necessary.
Final verdict
If you consider yourself a Whovian/Wholigan/Who fan, ‘The Song Is Over Tour’ is an absolute must. The band has made it crystal clear they aren’t touring again so this really might be your last chance to hear “Baba O’Riley,” “Who Are You,” “Eminence Front,” “Pinball Wizard” and “See Me, Feel Me” live.
While they skip a few fan favorites but Roger and Pete do a great job spreading the love and hitting nearly everything their fans had come to hear.
Plus, they still give a s—.
Don’t miss out on The Who. They’ll be at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Saturday, Aug. 23, Long Island’s Jones Beach Theater on Thursday, Aug. 28 and Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Aug. 30. We’ll see you there.
The Who tour schedule 2025
A complete calendar including all North American tour dates, venues and links to buy tickets can be found below.
| The Who tour dates |
|---|
| Aug. 23 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ with Booker T. Jones |
| Aug. 26 at Fenway Park in Boston, MA with The Joe Perry Project |
| Aug. 28 at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY with Feist |
| Aug. 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY with Feist |
| Sept. 2 at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto, ON, CA with Tom Cochrane |
| Sept. 4 at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto, ON, CA with Tom Cochrane |
| Sept. 7 at the United Center in Chicago, IL with Joe Bonamassa |
| Sept. 9 at the United Center in Chicago, IL with Joe Bonamassa |
| Sept. 17 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA with The Joe Perry Project |
| Sept. 19 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA TBA |
| Sept. 21 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA with Candlebox |
| Sept. 23 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC, CA with Candlebox |
| Sept. 25 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA with Candlebox |
| Sept. 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV with Billy Idol |
The Who set list
According to Set List FM, here’s what The Who took to the stage at Newark’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
01.) “I Can’t Explain”
02.) “Substitute”
03.) “Who Are You”
04.) “The Seeker”
05.) “Love Ain’t for Keepin’”
06.) “Pinball Wizard”
07.) “See Me, Feel Me”
08.) “Behind Blue Eyes”
09.) “Eminence Front”
10.) “My Generation”
11.) “You Better You Bet”
12.) “Going Mobile”
13.) “The Real Me”
14.) “I’m One”
15.) “5:15”
16.) “Love, Reign O’er Me”
17.) “Baba O’Riley”
18.) “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
19.) “The Song Is Over”
20.) “Tea & Theatre”
The Who farewell press conference
To make the farewell news official, Townshend and Daltrey conducted a 35-minute press conference discussing their history and the upcoming jaunt. If you’d like to see for yourself, you can find the surprisingly sprawling chat here:
The Who current band members
Throughout their seven-decade history, there’s been quite a bit of turnover within the band other than Daltrey and Townshend.
To give you a better idea of what the group looks like today, here is The Who’s current lineup:
Roger Daltrey
lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, percussion, ukulele
(1964–1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1996–present)
Pete Townshend
lead and rhythm guitar, backing and lead vocals, keyboards
(1964–1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1996–present)
Billy Nicholls
backing vocals
(1989, 1996–1997, 2019–present)
Zak Starkey
drums, percussion
(1996–present)
Simon Townshend
guitar, backing vocals
(1996–1997, 2002–present)
Loren Gold
keyboards, backing vocals
(2012–present)
Jon Button
bass guitar
(2017–present)
Katie Jacoby
lead violinist
(2019–present)
Keith Levenson
music coordinator, conductor
(2019–present)
Emily Marshall
keyboards, associate conductor
(2019–present)
Audrey Q. Snyder
lead cellist
(2019–present)
The Who special guests
At all shows, the sonically-gifted rockers will follow a big name opening act. In the off-chance you’re not familiar with their work, here’s each artist’s most-streamed song on Spotify:
Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters: “The Wind”
Billy Idol: “Eyes Without A Face”
Booker T. Jones: “Green Onions”
Candlebox: “Far Behind”
Feist: “1234”
Joe Bonamassa: “Blues Deluxe”
The Joe Perry Project: “Let The Music Do The Talking”
Tom Cochrane: “Life Is A Highway”
ZZ Ward: “Put The Gun Down”
Classic rockers on tour in 2025
Although not many groups that have been active for 61 years (!) are still touring well into the 2020s, here are five of our favorite acts you won’t want to miss in the next few months.
• Ringo Starr with his All Starr Band
Need more music from way back when in your life? Check out our list of all the biggest classic rockers on tour in 2025 to find the show for you.
This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
