“You’re a long way away, but we will fuckin’ reach you!” bellows Pete Townshend at the outset of the band’s 50th-birthday mega-bash in London last June.
It’s a nod to the group’s unique connection with their audience, and one which this artfully constructed DVD is at pains to point out. So we get lingering footage of chrome-laden scooters and Mod-ish geezers massing in Hyde Park, a mid-gig interview in which Townshend muses on the power of the crowd, and a hit-loaded set-list designed to win over even the most ardent ’Oo refusenik.
While the visuals are eye-popping and the performances faultless (at 71, Daltrey’s blood-curdling scream during Won’t Get Fooled Again is priceless), it’s the sense of a band finally at peace with themselves that really resonates. The result is the best kind of mid-life party, a major knees-up that also captures a moment in time.
