The Who The Vegas Job
December 2006 Reviewed by: Joseph Taylor Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The Who are on tour again, and you’ll have to forgive me for feeling a little sad about that fact. The Who, as we know and love them, died with Keith Moon. John Entwistle followed him in 2002, so we now have the prospect of paying up to 250 bucks to see two guys do an approximation of what was once great and vital. At least Entwistle played on this 1999 date with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry. The DVD was originally titled 20th Anniversary Reunion Concert until someone realized there was no anniversary to celebrate. Now titled The Vegas Job, it contains a filmed performance of the band playing 14 of its best known songs at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

The story of how the Who came to be booked for this Vegas date is worth recounting. An Internet company called Pixelon claimed to have discovered a way to deliver live images through the web that were as clear as television broadcasts. The company threw a party at the MGM Grand Hotel to the tune of $16 million and the Who were among the musicians they featured. After the concert, it turned out that Pixelon had no such technology and the only people to see the Who’s performance, which was to have been broadcast around the world, were those at the MGM Grand.

The Who may have had better nights, but overall they are in good form on The Vegas Job. There are no horns or fancy stage effects for the concert, just the three original band members, accompanied by Zak Starkey on drums and John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards. The Who hadn’t played some of the songs on the set list for years. The concert opens with "I Can’t Explain," "Substitute," and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and closes with "The Kids are Alright" and "My Generation." Daltry’s voice strains a bit on the high notes, but he sings with conviction. Pete stretches out on a few tunes, such as "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere," and reminds us how much sheer power he can generate with a few well-placed chords. Who fans will feel a pang of grief upon hearing Entwistle’s bold melodic lines and remember how integral he was to the band’s sound.

The filming of The Vegas Job is adequate, although the color seems a little dull and Entwistle should have been on camera more. The sound is merely acceptable, especially in the 5.1 mix, which puts crowd noise in the rear speakers -- I’m willing to bet it’s canned. Bonuses include interviews with Daltry and Entwistle that you can safely skip. The interviewer asks obvious questions and gets the answers he deserves. A third bonus features a Vegas smoothie talking to folks in the audience before the show. Awful, just awful. The Vegas Job gives us an enjoyable, though not essential night of a great band on a good night. Buy it for that and forget about the rest of the disc.

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