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Music News!>
Danny Thompson and Roger Daltrey-The Albert Hall
April 11, 2008
ROGER DALTREY WOWS 150 GUESTS IN PRIVATE GIG UPSTAIRS AT THE ALBERT HALL
Composer Edward Elgar has a restaurant named after him on the 3rd floor of the Royal Albert Hall, London. His ghost was probably doing quite a lot of muttering last night (10th April) between 8 and 11pm, with his Edwardian tastes challenged by the sounds of Welsh soulbard Duffy and Modfather Paul Weller wafting in from the main arena. He was unprepared, though, at what was to happen next.
In return for a fabulous donation by Deutschebank to the Teenage Cancer Trust, rock legend Roger Daltrey laid on a private gig to 150 invited guests in said Elgar Restaurant. After a short auction of luxury items which successfully emptied many a well-fleeced pocket for the TCT, Roger took to the stage at 1130pm with his band – Simon Townshend (guitar/mandolin/backing vocals), Danny Thompson (bass), John Rabbit Bundrick (keyboards) and Billy Nichols (guitar/backing vocals). Roger announced that they could only play for 30 minutes. But this didn’t matter. What the gig lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality. The half hour set was as follows:
The Kids are Alright
Behind Blue Eyes
A Reason to Believe (by Tim Hardin)
2,000 Years
Without Your Love (by Roger Daltrey, produced by Jeff Wayne and featured in the movie ‘McVicar’)
Pinball Wizard
Naked Eye
Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)
The highpoints were ‘Without Your Love’, ‘Naked Eye’ and ‘Ring of Fire’. The band clearly enjoyed the fact that they’d had minimal rehearsals and looked slightly dazed at how it all came together. Billy Nichols’ and Simon T’s backing vocals were as warm as a Persian cat and Danny Thompson’s double bass playing was a rare treat. And the great Rabbit knitted the sound sweetly throughout with some tasty licks. It was an inspired choice by Roger to invite him to participate. As for Roger, he rose to the occasion by delivering a truly intimate performance that I’m sure made even the ghost of Edward Elgar smile. 150 people went home knowing they’d just witnessed something special.
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