WHO’S NEXT – THE WHO. 23 Feb 2023 at 7.30pm

WHO’S NEXT (1971) – THE WHO’S BEST ALBUM.

Apart from Live at Leeds, the Who have never sounded as LOUD and unhinged as they do here, yet that’s balanced by ballads, both lovely (“The Song Is Over”) and scathing (“Behind Blue Eyes”). That’s the key to Who’s Next – there’s anger and sorrow, humor and regret, passion and tumult, all wrapped up in a blistering package where the rage is as affecting as the heartbreak.

This is a retreat from the ’60s, as Townshend declares the “Song Is Over,” scorns the teenage wasteland, and bitterly declares that we “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” For all the sorrow and heartbreak that runs beneath the surface, this is an invigorating record, not just because Keith Moon runs rampant or because Roger Daltrey has never sung better or because John Entwistle spins out manic basslines that are as captivating as his “My Wife” is funny.

This is invigorating because it has all of that, plus Townshend laying his soul bare in ways that are funny, painful, and utterly life-affirming. That is what the Who was about, not the rock operas, and that’s why Who’s Next is truer than Tommy or the abandoned Lifehouse. Those were art – this, even with its pretensions, is rock & roll.

We are delighted to welcome mastering engineer JON ASTLEY back to The CAT Club. John has remastered Who’s Next for the 2023 reissue.

Happy Trails.

No use of mobile phones permitted during this event. 

Ticket price includes £1 booking fee per ticket.