\n\tThe farewell started with an electric guitar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tOn Wednesday night at the Hollywood Bowl<\/a>, Pete Townshend kicked off The Who<\/a>\u2019s first of two nights at the venue with \u201cI Can\u2019t Explain,\u201d as Roger Daltrey swung his wired microphone in circles in the air and caught it before singing the opening line of the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tClose to 43 years after the group embarked on its first run of farewell shows back in 1982, The Who returned for one final trek (for now, at least). Daltrey, Townshend, along with guitarist Simon Townshend, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button, drummer Scott Devours (\u201ca very difficult position in this band,\u201d Daltrey joked later on in the show), Jody Linscott, and backing vocalist John Hogg took the stage close to 8:50 p.m. For a farewell show,<\/a> the band sounded like they were just getting started with every energetic passing track right up until the very last note.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWell it\u2019s very nice to be back in this \u2026 Los Angeles\u2019 kitchen sink,\u201d Townshend told the crowd a few songs in. \u201cAnd thank you so much for coming out to see us. We always have such a good time here \u2013 and we wanna know who the fuck you are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tRight on cue, red lights flashed onto the Bowl and the band hit the crowd with \u201cWho Are You,\u201d as old portraits of the members flooded in and out of the screen behind them like splashes of paint on a canvas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThroughout their monumental opening night at the Bowl, the band reminded the crowd why they\u2019re known as one of the greatest rock groups of all time. Daltrey and Townshend and the group kept the crowd on their feet with early hits like \u201cLong Live Rock\u201d and \u201cI Can See for Miles,\u201d before playing the Tommy cut \u201cPinball Wizard,\u201d as a virtual Who-themed pinball machine materialized on screen.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe night continued with Who\u2019s Next tracks like the Townshend love song \u201cLove Ain\u2019t for Keeping,\u201d followed by \u201cBehind Blue Eyes,\u201d as Townshend sat to play his acoustic guitar with a massive projection turning the stage into a blue eyeball. The acoustic moment didn\u2019t last long, as the band moved into the grooving \u201cEminence Front,\u201d complete with almost Tron\u2013 or Matrix-like visuals. Then came a string of Quadrophenia tracks, including \u201cLove Reign O\u2019er Me,\u201d with Daltrey\u2019s vocals sounding powerful as ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tSo much of the band\u2019s farewell show was, of course, about looking back. When the band launched into their Sixties classic \u201cMy Generation,\u201d the crowd was transported back to the London Underground at Goldhawk Road Station for a few rocking minutes, as photos of the band and videos of them performing when they first started out appeared as posters against a brick wall.<\/p>\n