The Song is Over
The North American Farewell Tour
Supported by The Joe Perry Project
Hollywood Bowl – September 17, 2025
Funny story: when Julie was a kid, she asked her mom to get her Who tickets and her mom came back from Ticketron and said, “They didn’t have The Who, so I got you The Guess Who.” It still makes me laugh. Still when I asked her if she wanted to see The Who, she said no. Then when I said I got a deal for $30 tickets she said okay. And then I heard from my cousin a few days before that they were going to the Friday show. I couldn’t remember why I picked Wednesday. I was thinking maybe it was to avoid Friday traffic, but in hindsight that was probably just the day they were offering $30 tickets.
The Culver City bus was running and I got there in plenty of time. When I opened my car door I was hit with the delicious smell of candy being made at See’s across the street. I walked down the ramp and commented to the guy with the mustache that I could smell See’s and he replied, “It has smelled like that the whole time and it smells DELICIOUS!” I probably could have skipped the concert and happily just sat at the train station inhaling the intoxicating aroma of Toffeettes (or maybe California Brittle) being made. But I managed to tear myself away and hop on the bus. Julie made it with plenty of time to spare. I had warned her in advance about the lease event rules. They made her dump out her tea once and she was pissed. Our seats weren’t great, but there are no bad seats at the Hollywood Bowl so it was fine and our section was far from full so there was room to spread out. There were 3 women sitting one row in front of us and to our left who asked us to take their picture and then when an annoying dude who was there by himself started chatting them up and mansplaining The Joe Perry band to them, they moved closer to us. Once the show started, that dude was up and dancing and yelling. He was having the best time.
The Joe Perry Project was Joe Perry (of course) and Brad Whitford from Aerosmith, Buck Johnson from a bunch of Joe Perry adjacent bands, Jason Sutter from Smashmouth, Chris Robinson from Black Crows and Robert DeLeo from Stone Temple Pilots. They did a couple of songs and then a Black Crows song, which worked fine, an Aerosmith song and then Vasoline, which didn’t work at all. Chris Robinson just completely ruined it for me. Not his fault. He was otherwise great. He just should not sing that song. And then Slash came out on stage for Mama Kin. They did Get It Up, Last Child and Chip Away the Stone and then Steven Tyler joined for Walk This Way and Train Kept A-Rollin’. Honestly, I was surprised to come to see The Who and get an Aerosmith concert as well. It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to Aerosmith. Too bad they didn’t do Sweet Emotion. I was also disappointed that they didn’t do Allstar given they’d done a Black Crows song and a Stone Temple Pilots song. Not that I think that one would have worked either, but I’m sure Jason Sutter felt a little left out.
After load out/load in and some build up, The Who stepped onto the stage and honestly I was worried. Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry are as old as my parents and it’s a big stage. They tottered into position looking like they would have benefited from the use of a cane or a walker and Roger Daltry seemed winded. Oof. But then they started and they were GREAT! Roger Daltry did get winded, but he saved his voice for when he needed it and it worked fine. When he was supposed to belt, he belted. When it was time for patter between songs Pete Townshend handled that while Roger rested. Their backup band was fantastic and the visuals were good so it all worked. They started with some early stuff, worked their way through Who’s Next, Tommy and Quadrophenia and really just played a nice assortment of songs while hitting all the important ones. I mean, You Better You Bet was a little weird for a dude in his 80’s to be singing given the lyrical content, but otherwise everything flowed. The big finish to the night was Won’t Get Fooled Again followed by Baba O’Riley. The violinist, Katie Jacoby had a look on her face the whole time that said, “OMFG I am playing violin onstage with THE WHO!!!” After Baba O’Riley they introduced the band then wound things down with The Song Is Over and then the band left the stage for a Roger/Pete duet of Tea & Theatre. It was a nice way to end the show and a nice way to end their professional careers, because they should not do this again. They left it all on the stage.
In the end I am really glad I went and I think Julie was too. $30 very, very well spent. Although I am a little sad that I missed the Friday opener – The Offspring.