The Who at Bologna, Italy - Unipol Arena

 

The Who Setlist Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy, Back to The Who Tour 2016

 

 

Videos

I Can't Explain
I Can't Explain
I Can't Explain

The Seeker
Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
The Kids Are Alright
My Generation
Behind Blue Eyes
Behind Blue Eyes
Behind Blue Eyes
Bargain
Join Together
5:15
I'm One
The Rock
Love Reign O'er Me
Sparks / Acid Queen
Pinball Wizard / See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again / band intros
Won't Get Fooled Again
Won't Get Fooled Again
Pete's slide

 

Press

Sky Mag
OptiMagazine
l'Adige.it
Rolling Stone
Muzika
On Stage
Rockol
Quotidiano
R.it
Panorama

 

Review by Pat Stanton

The Bologna show last night was one of the best that I have seen during the 50 hits tour. The band had an energy that was lacking in Vienna due to the conditions of heat and lack of air circulation. The fans were some of the most enthusiastic and polite that I have encountered in a GA show. A very young crowd in general with some older folks peppered in.

The day started early for me as I arrived at the arena at 10 am. I joined a passionate group of 13 young Italians who were seeing the band for the first time and three American friends. The Italians organized the fans, writing numbers on our hands upon arrival which was to represent our place in line and when we entered. This worked well except for a few fans who cut into the line at the end and pushed ahead of fans who had been there for hours before. The wait was worth it. I was fortunate to get a spot on the rail in the center which is why I had so many fabulous Roger shots that I posted separately.

From the moment the band took the stage, the crowd went crazy. Both Pete and Roger seemed a little overwhelmed by the response at first but they got over it quickly. I noticed that Roger did not have a guitar for the first song and immediately guessed that we would hear a different set list. They opened with I Can't Explain, followed by The Seeker before they reverted back to the Who Are You, etc. list. Definitely a welcome change.

Pete spoke often in Italian, albeit only short phrases and sometimes off a paper so he would get it correct. Roger added in a few Italian comments. Every time the fans went crazy.

It was so cool when the band started to play Behind Blue Eyes and the entire audience started to sing along in English. The band was drowned out but they loved it. They also sang along with Baba and WGFA.

Pete was in fabulous form. He was all over his side of the stage, coming to the back middle frequently. It was a totally different performance than Vienna and we were gunned down machine gun style, got a great leap and a super slide in WGFA. From my vantage point I could see that he was going to slide as he went almost off stage and then ran across stage sliding from the middle. After the leap, Roger looked at me and said "he did it" which was in response to my moaning in Vienna towards Pete that Roger heard when I said - what happened to the leap?

Roger sang with passion and precision all night. His Love Reign got a Wow from me as it was wonderful. The audience gave him an embarrassingly long ovation after it.

The arena was warm but not oppressively so. Roger threw a few bottles of water into the audience and Binky came down to the pit several times with packs of bottles of water that were distributed and that we all shared. Nice when the performers care about their fans like that.

Pete resurrected his "you weren't even born when I wrote this " reference when introducing a Who's Next song (Bargain in this case) and us old folks in the front dutifully clamored that we were.

The audience loved it when Roger stuck the microphone out to get crowd vocals. He seemed to do it more often last night than usual and we didn't need encouragement to sing along, loudly.

Pino got a huge ovation at the end as he was introduced as their own Italian band member. Funny when he is introduced in Cardiff he is introduced as Welsh but if course his heritage is Italian.

Roger thanked the fans for not rioting this visit. He referenced previous visits when there were, saying they stopped coming to Bologna, but that they were very happy to be back.

 

Review by Paul Varey

Another train journey, another review. I'm in two minds about last nights concert in Bologna. Although the sound was a lot better and,the show far slicker. In the main it felt a little phoned in and sterile. To me it also felt that some songs were extended not because Pete was in the mood to jam and, the band had got into a groove, but more because by extending three or four songs it meant they didn't have to play a 'whole' other song.

The best parts of the night, for me anyway, were the Quadrophenia and Tommy sections. Although I do hope they put in some serious rehearsal time before the Tommy shows next April.

Conversations with other long term Who watchers have led me to realise how much I miss John and the thunder of his bass on stage. I'm in no way criticising Pino, but it feels as though he has been hidden in the mix again and, Who music needs that thunderous bass to be up front and hitting you in the stomach. We all know Pete and John had a war as far as who could be loudest in the mix. But Pino isn't John and won't start that type of battle so it would be good to see him allowed some room to breathe.

Zak continues to be the best non Keith Moon drummer the Who have, although last night there seemed to be a couple of unexplained thuds. But that also happened with the support band so it may just have been a sound problem.

It's off to Milan for the final show of this European leg and I would guess some veiled references to the fashion industry from Pete during or before Eminence Front.