But for me, I wasn’t going to take such chances with not being able to see my favorite band and their announced final tour. I heard about the Hollywood Bowl show just before the Vegas show and since I had never even seen a rock show at the Hollywood Bowl I was going to make sure I made both shows!

I traded 4 guitar picks for a ticket to The Bowl and I was off! It was quite an adventure taking the Bus from the L.A. Zoo parking lot to the venue. It was fun with many Who fans excited to see the show. The girl I was sitting with said she had never seen The Who so this was her chance. She said when she was very young she told her mother she wanted tickets to see The Who and the mother came home with tickets for The Guess Who! Big difference! The ticket I had was way up top and I am afraid of heights. I had no idea the Hollywood Bowl was so huge! I started to walk down so I could see The Joe Perry Project a little better who were in full rock mode. Slash was onstage with Joe for what I could see and then Steven Tyler came onstage with Joe and the crowd went wild! Not a bad start for my first Hollywood Bowl experience! I was so far from the stage that I wasn’t able to really capture any good photos or video but running into people I knew in the crowd like Chas West added to the experience. I guess I was spoiled because my last two shows for the Who I had great seats and was up in the pit close to my heroes taking photos.

When I saw The Who in 2022 Penny Guyon from Firefly Media contacted me to cover the show. I was more than up for it to say the least! So when The Who was going to play here in Vegas I contacted her and requested media passes. Lucky for me she was kind enough and included me and I got to go!

      Billy Idol opened the show before the legends Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend themselves took the stage with “I Can’t Explain”. I was hoping to be right up close to my heroes to take photos like last time but all the media was stationed back at the soundboard. But I was happy because the media seats I was given were great! Pete and Roger and the guys gave it all they had with just what all the fans wanted to hear. The hits came right after the other with “Pinball Wizard”, “Substitute “My Generation”, “The Real Me”, “Reign on Me” (which Pete complimented Roger on his powerful vocal performance on in Hollywood). And of course my two favorite songs “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled again” where Roger belted out the screams as powerful as ever!

When I was very young I heard a radio D.J. say Pete Townshend was a musical genius for his creation of “Quadrophenia”. And I have to agree with such magic with “Tommy” soundtrack and all these amazing songs that Pete surely must have summoned some spiritual beings up above to have him surround us with some of the most amazing music of our time. Music this great will never be created again with such brilliance and creativity. And how lucky we have all been to be a part of such legendary music and to see them live! The union between Roger and Pete is absolutely magical and thank heavens they found each other!

     The only thing that I felt was missing with these two shows was the absence of Zak Starkey. Not many people know that Keith Moon, the monster legendary original drummer for the Who was Zak’s baby sitter and taught him how to play drums when his dad Ringo Starr went on tour! So Zak was an exact natural fit for The Who! He was born and destined to be in the band! But as we know there were differences with him and Roger that was reported this tour and Roger fired him and they brought him back and then fired him again. Roger said he over played… but so did Keith! That was what made their sound! I loved Keith Moon. I will never forget watching “Midnight Special” and “In Concert” when I was 12 years old and seeing Keith beat these transparent drums to death with goldfish in them! How I wish I could go back in time and see them perform John Entwistle with Keith!

I mentioned on the bus in Hollywood after the show to the person sitting next to me that I didn’t like the drummer because he was so sterile and technical. And he told me that he was Zak Starkey’s drum tech! Now I get it. And my favorite part of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” was played different at both shows where Roger screams AFTER the beat instead of on it. They just couldn’t get it to work like Zak played it so it was different but not better in my opinion. I miss you Zak and Keith!

     But nothing against Roger who in my opinion is the best rock male vocalist around. He is as beautiful as he is talented inside and out. And at 81 years old he is a national treasure who can still come up against any other singers or frontmen younger or his age and come out the clear winner. He was so sweet to me the two times I was lucky enough to meet him.

I first saw The Who live in 2006 when someone had given me a fake pass. I went backstage trying to blend in with the employees of the hotel scared to death I would be discovered and tried my best to keep a low profile. When Roger came in I went up and took a few photos of him. I can’t remember how it happened but I think I asked Pete if I could get a photo of him and Roger together. A little bit later I saw Pete pointing at me to his roadie. I was caught! I felt like I had been discovered and would be thrown out! But as it turned out they were getting ready to go onstage and Pete got next to Roger so I could take a photo right before they hit the stage! It was a magical moment and I went out front to see the show and cheered the entire time to every song!

But as the years wore on I regretted so much that I didn’t get a photo WITH Roger. I guess I was too scared to ask! But luckily when I went to their show in 2022 Penny set up an interview with me and their opening band “The Wild Things.” After the interview I caught wind that Roger and the band were coming in for a sound check since they didn’t get one the day before. So I just kind of hung around in hopes to grab Roger for a quick photo. When Roger came in he was walking really fast. I was really nervous as I caught up to him. I was trying to get my cell phone ready but I told him my selfies don’t come out very good but there was no one around to take a photo. But just then Roger motioned to his crew guy and said very sweetly: “Oh, here comes my man… would you be so kind to take a photo of us?” I was such a fan girl that day! I was deliriously happy and the show was absolutely spectacular!

Thank you again to Penny Guyon from Firefly Media for credentialing me for the final show here in Vegas again!

-Sally Steele

 

Photos: Sally Steele

Photos: 2025 Vegas Show: Powers Imagery for MGM Resorts International