As The Who geared up for “Won’t Get Fooled Again” on Saturday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, guitarist Pete Townshend pumped up singer Roger Daltrey’s confidence.
“The last time we played it,” Townshend noted, “Roger forgot pretty much all the words.”
He didn’t forget them Saturday as The Who, augmented by an orchestra, played to a huge crowd at the main Festival Stage. And neither did he forget the primal scream that comes in right after the song’s extended keyboard passage. The 78-year-old Daltrey’s spine-tingling roar earned a different sort of roar from the crowd. From that point on, The Who could do no wrong.
There were many moments to savor under a hot sun Saturday at the Fair Grounds, from Water Seed’s tight R&B/funk and choreography on the Congo Square Stage to the standing ovation that 90-year-old jazz singer Germaine Bazzle earned in a full Jazz Tent.
But The Who was the main attraction.
The band first rocked Jazz Fest in 2015 and was slated to return in 2020, but COVID had other ideas.
On Friday night, Daltrey and several other members of the band caught jazz trumpeter Jeremy Davenport’s act at the Davenport Lounge inside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Townshend endorsed New Orleans jazz from the stage on Saturday.
His father, he said, was a big-band saxophonist who loved New Orleans-born jazzman Sidney Bechet. Townshend’s own first band was a jazz ensemble that played a lot of Louis Armstrong.
“I’d really love to play ‘When the Saints Go Marching In,’” he said, to a big cheer. “But we haven’t got time.”
They did have time to knock out 15 songs, mostly all classics and mostly all augmented by an orchestra.
Townshend was in fine spirits, grinning, windmilling and attacking his guitar solos like he had something to prove. His efforts in “See Me, Feel Me,” especially, went above and beyond, as his brother Simon Townshend provided rhythmic support.
Drummer Zak Starkey downshifted as cello and violin framed “Behind Blue Eyes.” The full orchestra added a final flourish to “Pinball Wizard” and drama to “Eminence Front.”
The band didn’t have a soundcheck prior to its Jazz Fest performance, Townshend said, so there had been some trepidation about how they’d sound. “From where I stand,” he announced, “it sounds f—- great.”
From the opening “Who Are You?” to the final violin hoedown of “Baba O’Reilly,” it did.
Mia X cedes stage to Mac
Mia X had a busy Saturday. In addition to her Jazz Fest show at the Congo Square Stage, she was to take part in the No Limit Reunion show Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center.
Perhaps conserving her energy for later, she turned over most of her Saturday set to special guests, including bounce veterans Katy Red and Lady Red.
But most of her show ended up being a coming-out party for McKinley “Mac” Phipps Jr. Twenty-one years ago, Phipps’ ascendant career – he, too, was signed to No Limit – was cut short when a St. Tammany Parish jury found him guilty of manslaughter. He was convicted of fatally shooting a 19-year-old during a melee at a show at a Slidell nightclub.
Phipps and his family always maintained his innocence. After he served two decades as a model prisoner, Gov. John Bel Edwards granted him clemency in April 2021. Phipps was paroled and released from prison that June.
His unannounced guest turn with Mia X at Jazz Fest was his first formal New Orleans performance since his release. He did not hide his history.
“Don’t judge me,” he said before introducing the song “Murda, Murda, Kill Kill.” He explained that the song referred to competitive battle raps, “where you’re trying to slay the MC on the other side.”
Unfortunately, he continued, the prosecutor who convicted him didn’t consider that context, or that Phipps’ rap nickname, the Camouflage…
Read More: The Who rocked the Jazz Fest as rapper Mac Phipps celebrated his freedom with