Giving tonight its full official title of (takes sharp intake of breath) Roger Daltrey performs The Who's 'Tommy' plus Who classics and more (exhales), this debut UK solo tour by none other than The Who's seasoned frontman Roger Daltrey wasn't exactly what you might call high on my list of must attend gigs this year that's for sure.  You see I've never really been a fan of 'Tommy', in fact I don't think I've ever managed to listen to it in its entirety, and please don't get me started on that load of pretentious bollocks that Ken Russell called a film.

Anyway with that off my chest, I am however what you might call a keen admirer of The Who's other music, in particular the eras that book end the year of 1968 when the original 'Tommy' album was recorded, so the lure of the "plus Who classics and more" eventually got the better of me and I plucked up the courage to part with the required £90 plus, for a pair of seated tickets in Newport Leisure Centre's converted sports hall (Mrs H also has a bit of a soft spot for singers from Shepherds Bush it seems). They are bloody good seats mind you as I'm within touching distance of the stage and dead centre to boot, as I rather clumsily discovered clattering my way through the already darkened hall disturbing everyone in my way as tonight's support Paul Freeman was just about to launch into his track 'Last Man Standing'.  How very ironic.

Thankfully Caldicot lad Freeman was himself standing, albeit in a lone spotlight with his trusty acoustic guitar for company and was already well into his stride so some idiot trying to find his seat was not going to distract him from his brand of oddly gothic Americana. There were the usual nods of approval towards Springsteen and Bob Dylan within Freeman's set but the less obvious references to Chris Isaak and rather bizarrely Robin Zander (listen out to 'Tightrope' on his Myspace you'll have to double check you're not on Cheap Trick's page) are what kept me engaged, and I have to say I really quite enjoyed Paul Freeman's set. I'm not about to go out and buy his CD you understand, its all a bit too James Blunt for yours truly, but if Paul could concentrate more on the "tales of youth" part of his repertoire like when he confesses to having pissed in Newport Centre's pool as a youngster, and less on beating himself up at every available opportunity between songs, we could very well have a Welsh Jesse Malin on our hands here.

As the lights returned to the once oh so familiar surroundings of my beloved Newport Centre (I really do love this venue as there is no such thing as a bad view or sound in here) one not so familiar sight greeted me, as I was soon very aware that nearly everyone around me was supping a pint!!!!  Any of you who will have witnessed a gig in this venue will know alcohol is strictly forbidden in the hall, so what's with this sudden change of policy?  The ticket price predicating a sense of moral standing perhaps? Let's wait and see what happens when Judas Priest play the same venue next weekend.

Anyway, with only an acoustic guitar to changeover it wasn't long before the lights were once again dimmed and the silhouettes of five band members plus one Roger Daltrey could be clearly distinguished against the blue hue of the 'Tommy' back projection that would play a huge part in supporting the first half of tonight's performance, which as Roger quite eloquently put it would then be followed by a set of him and the band "fucking around". Speaking quietly and almost showing a sense of nervousness Roger explained the reasoning behind him rediscovering the delights of the 'Tommy' album and then with one final sip from his cup of tea he and the band launched into a full performance of said album exactly as he had always wanted to do it live all those years before, but technology just wouldn't allow it until now.

As the show progressed I was actually quite surprised by how much of 'Tommy' I actually knew, which was also made a lot easier due to the crystal clear sound here tonight and faultless musical reproduction from the band themselves. Hand picked by Roger, and led by Grammy award winning guitarist Frank Simes, it is Simon Townshend on the other guitar who is the near perfect foil for the evergreen frontman (I mean is he really 67?  he certainly doesn't sound it...or look it) as the multi layered story of the deaf dumb and blind kid unfolded in all its musical complexity.  But let's also not forget the guys holding this all together as without them this would not be possible, the quite superb Scott Deavours on drums and Jon Button on bass left you thinking that The Loon and The Ox were still very much alive, just residing in much younger bodies, whilst Loren Gold on keyboards dealt admirably with the technical wizardry underpinning the whole performance with its multitude of twist and turns.

You know for once I was actually glad I was sat down for a gig as 'Tommy' demands you listen to it, and that is something I openly admit I haven't done until tonight, so as the crowd rose as one to the closing strains of 'We're Not Gonna Take It' I for once remained seated, largely due to the fact that I was totally engrossed in it all, and whilst I'm not about to become a devout follower of this album (the rows in front of me were mouthing ever word and visibly ticking each complex time change with a nod of the head) but at least I can now say I've experienced "the concept" in all its live glory.

With no intermission other than another cup of tea, Roger was soon telling us that the next part of the show was going to send all of us home in one way or another with a song in our hearts, and god damn it if he doesn't hit pay dirt straight away as he opens up with one of my all-time favourite Who tracks' I Can See For Miles'. From there on in it was a right musical grab bag of treats I can tell you, with solo tracks such as 'Days of Light' mixed with stadium rockers such as 'Baba O'Reily', there was even time for a Johnny Cash medley mid set that for the second time in four days saw me mouthing the words to the immortal 'Ring Of Fire' and once again counting down the days to the new football season.

Having previously dispatched a full cup of tea over his guitarist for telling him to "get on with it" Roger took up the position of 'mean' harmonica player within the band for a rambunctious version of 'Going Mobile' sung by Simon Townshend, and then I suddenly got the strange impression that the volume had gone up to 11 as the not so subtle guitar interplay of a jammed out 'Young Man Blues' left everyone in the house with ringing ears for days to come.

Closing his second set with the gentler more reflective sounds of 'Without Your Love' from 'McVicar' before standing solo for the introspective ukulele strum of 'Blue, Red & Grey' from the much overlooked 'Who By Number' album, tonight was quite frankly a fantastic celebration of everything that was once and to some degree still is great about British rock music. 

And as Roger says whilst there's breath in his body he'll be around to make sure we all have a smile on our faces.  Thank you Roger, thank you very much indeed.