The ability to deliver onstage is what defines each great rock and roll band. No matter how many times people meet in a studio to try to make magic, it all boils down to what happens when they get on stage. They perform in front of the largest audience imaginable. While The Who was already renowned as one of the finest live rock bands of all time, Roger Daltrey considered one of his contemporaries was far from technicians on stage.
When The Who initially started, everything revolved around the music coming from America. The blues and R&B sounds of the late 1950s significantly influenced half of the iconic British Invasion bands. Several Mods were performing James Brown tunes at their initial shows.
When Daltrey and Pete Townshend collaborated on the song ‘My Generation‘, a new texture emerged. Compared to inadequate rock facsimiles at the time, Townshend unknowingly birthed the sounds of punk rock with pioneering innovation. He maximized the potential with barrages of feedback and noise.
With Keith Moon as an excellent showman behind the kit, the band swiftly received plaudits from every rock band on the scene. This was rivaled only by Townshend’s determination to push his compositions on records like Tommy. By the time the band began delivering landmark setlists on their album Live at Leeds, they had carved out their route in rock and roll. They combined dramatic works of theater with rock and roll grandeur.
Before Roger Daltrey discovered his voice as a songwriter and performer, The Rolling Stones established the hard rock genre. For all of the great blues songs they covered in the past, Mick Jagger was always known for incorporating blues sounds into his stage performances. He frequently danced to his heart’s delight across the stage as Keith Richards blasted out one riff after another.
Compared to The Stones’ hallmark threat, Daltrey thought his band was on a whole different level. This was thanks in large part to how they blended diverse aural textures into their music, such as synthesizers on ‘Baba O’Riley‘. Daltrey viewed The Stones as one of rock’s greatest spectacles but questioned their musicianship.
When assessing the band’s chops, Daltrey believed that most of their live performances were lackluster. He said, “As a band, if you were outside a pub and heard that music coming out of a pub some nights, you’d think, ‘Well, that’s a mediocre pub band‘. There’s no disrespect.” But the music can. It’s part of its appeal. Like I said. “You must see the Stones.”
While The Who were not immune to technical difficulties, their tenacity onstage rivaled some of the album performances. This was particularly evident in Daltrey’s amazing screech at the finale of ‘Love Reign O’er Me‘. Despite all of the excellent music The Who produced during their time together, Daltrey believes. Their rock and roll credentials could compete with The Stones on their best day.
