Roger Daltrey (04/07/2011)

This one is really a test on my memory, but I've got quite the good memory so I shouldn't have any problems... hopefully.

We'd been to Barnsley, me and my brother, Dan, we'd taken the three/four hour drive down there so that he could go for a job interview (he got the job, by the way) and the first of many good things happened that day, he bought me a pack of Monster Munch. Now Dan is about as tight as a crab's arse but he felt sorry for me because I was starving, it was a strange sight to see him get his wallet out, I'm sure it had dust on it.

We get back home, get ready and my mam tags along with us to set off for Newcastle, well Gateshead - at the Sage, a wonderful palace (do you get my pun?). We're waiting around, the Who shirt that my mam told me to wear because "no one else will be wearing it" has been worn by three other people that have gone. I look at my watch and it's time to go in.

 I drag my lovely family members inside the theatre type room and we await the support act, a Mr Paul Freeman whom I found very attractive, though that wasn't the only thing going for him - this was made quite clear when he began playing. I was happy enough with his act! If something terrible had happened, like Roger had lost his specs and he had to cancel due to the spectacle loss, I'd have been happy with what Freeman had to offer. He gave us some of his songs, I was writing down all of the names of the songs onto my phone and not being able to wait to get home and listen to him. He had great (as much as I hate the word) banter with the audience, even dragging one poor bloke up to sing with him, I think his name was Alan, well done Alan.

My favourite Freeman performance was of 'Tightrope' - one of his own, it was so strong and powerful, every sound coming from him was bouncing off of the walls and floating straight into my lugholes, it was heaven. Then came 'Band on the run' my mam gave me that look that says "Oh, he's doing a Paul cover" (let's get it straight here that I'm not really a fan of Beatle/Beatle solo covers, not often anyway), I just gave her a nod and enjoyed this great THING (-only way to describe it) that Freeman was doing, I applaud you Freeman!

We got one last word from Freeman before he left stage, he had a CD that was getting sold on a stand and he'd be there to sign. So I drag my mam and brother out but there is no Paul at the stand, so we're at the top of the stairs looking around waiting for someone in the know to walk by so we can ask. Dan points to a young looking guy and says "He should know" so he flags him down, and it's Paul Freeman! My mam does the embarrassing bit where she tells him that I thought he was fantastic. Cheers mam, I can speak for myself - I still love you though. But I'm stood there in total awe of him, we end up walking down the stairs together and I pluck up the courage to ask him for a photo, he asks me my name and shakes my hand too. I buy a CD, £5! (BARGAIN! - I'm going mad with Who puns!), Paul signs it and once again I remind him of his brilliance but in my head I'm thinking "Please run away with me." ho, ho, ho.

Dan grabs a drink, we go back inside the place of the gig (what should I even call it?), and await Mr Roger Daltrey with his band of merry men, not that I think of Roger in anyway as Robin Hood. And he comes on, Frank Simes (Guitar), Simon Townshend (Guitar), Scott Deavours (Drums), Jon Button (Bass) and Loren Gold (Keyboards) all with him. Frank Simes stands almost in front of me, I'm on the second row but there is an empty seat in front of me. He looks like the coolest person in the world, honestly! What a dude, I found one of his plectrums on the floor that must have been there from sound check.

Roger welcomes us like old friends, then explains that this is not a Who gig "Oh but Roger, then why are you using Who storage boxes?" I let him off though, I wasn't about to start shouting at Roger Daltrey in the middle of the Sage, it's a place of class. He begins Tommy, the woman who is in the front row, and whom I can see from the corner of my eye, is up already, head banging away - she's American bless her, doesn't understand that we're all boring in England and don't do that sort of thing. Her friend gets up too, she looks like a pear, they're jumping like maniacs and I begin laughing - they're bloody hilarious.

Ah Pinball Wizard, the MIC swinging begins, I hope that it doesn't hit someone, Simes and Townshend are doing a spectacular job of the guitar work, working as a team to get those powerful chords to hit everyone right in the gut. I turn my attention to the drummer, I like Deavours but I can't help but be against him because of Moonie, I'm like a proud mother. But I can't be too against Deavours because he is a bloody good drummer! He his a magician with those sticks, he does a great job of filling in for Keith, even Zak - he could never be the same as either but he does a good job of it, I think he's done Keith proud.

You know what else was great to hear? The other Who songs, Baba O' Riley - what a moment! Everyone was up and dancing, I was pulling off some Pete Townshend moves and really going along with the crazy dancing women and their man friend, who was dancing a little like Rick Astley. Behind Blue Eyes, Roger dedicated it to a boy who had committed suicide and I cried, I honestly was sat in the Sage shedding a few tears because it was so beautiful. Going Mobile! Never thought I'd get to hear that live but Simon did Pete proud, he did the whole band proud, I loved it, crazy woman was still up dancing so I couldn't really see Simon that well, but I could feel him. One of the top performances of the night, I take my hat off to you Mr Townshend, if I had a grey beanie I'd take it off to you.

My favourite performance was of Blue Red and Grey, Roger had this tiny uke strapped to him and he told us a story as to why the Who never play it. He refers back to an earlier joke when a woman was against him doing a cover, he straps the uke onto him and says "And for the woman over there, an hour of George Formby!" There are a couple of hiccups to do with what Roger had been putting his voice through all night - we forgave him and all was well when he finally managed to get through it, such an angelic song.

The sound was great, when acoustic songs were being played the room created such a rich sound, a little bit of reverb too which added to the crisp, and clear music. I love the Sage, I think more artists should play there, it's a great venue, no matter where you're sat you have a great view and don't miss out on any note getting played and it's a beautiful 'theatre'. I wish I could go back, I wish I could relive the night where Roger Daltrey resurrected Tommy with his powerful voice, man it's hard to believe that he's in his 60's.