During the encore during his show in Wolverhampton, England on April 25th, The Who’s Roger Daltrey had a bit of a tete-a-tete with one fan before performing a shortened version of “Days” by The Kinks.
Returning to the stage for the encore, Daltrey set down a stool close to the edge of the stage and began talking with fans, some of whom shouted out requests for Who classics like “Magic Bus” and “Pinball Wizard.” Introducing a cover of “Days,” Daltrey said, “I’m gonna do this … ’cause it’s a band that we forget how good they were and how great they are.”
However, one fan, located at the edge of the stage was less than thrilled, repeatedly calling out for “Pinball Wizard.”At first Daltrey responded to her request, “I’m fed up with that, I’ve done it too much.” He then began the song, which she interrupted again, to which Daltrey stopped singing and kindly requested that she “shut the fuck up.” There was then a back-and-forth between the two, which, really, didn’t amount to much, apart from one audience member trying to dictate what a performer should sing, while other audience members (judging by other voices later singing along) seemed to want to enjoy his performance.
Given that Robyn Hitchcock hails from a day where content may not always match the label, his succinctness of title is here pitch perfect. 1967: Vacations in the Past is a set of songs, all of which came to fruition during the (first) summer of love. Hitchcock formulated the selection to bookend his memoir 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left. The jacket copy states, “In January 1966, Robyn Hitchcock is still a boy pining for his green Dalek sponge and his family’s comforting au pair, Teresa. By December 1967, he’s mutated into a 6 ft 2-inch rabid Bob Dylan fan, whose two ambitions in life are to get really stoned and move to Nashville.”
