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Danny Thompson and Roger Daltrey-The Albert Hall

April 11, 2008

ROGER DALTREY WOWS 150 GUESTS IN PRIVATE GIG UPSTAIRS AT 
THE ALBERT HALL 
 
Composer Edward Elgar has a restaurant named after him on 
the 3rd floor of the Royal Albert Hall, London. His ghost 
was probably doing quite a lot of muttering last night 
(10th April) between 8 and 11pm, with his Edwardian tastes 
challenged by the sounds of Welsh soulbard Duffy and 
Modfather Paul Weller wafting in from the main arena. He 
was unprepared, though, at what was to happen next. 
 
In return for a fabulous donation by Deutschebank to the 
Teenage Cancer Trust, rock legend Roger Daltrey laid on a 
private gig to 150 invited guests in said Elgar Restaurant. 
After a short auction of luxury items which successfully 
emptied many a well-fleeced pocket for the TCT, Roger took 
to the stage at 1130pm with his band – Simon Townshend 
(guitar/mandolin/backing vocals), Danny Thompson (bass), 
John Rabbit Bundrick (keyboards) and Billy Nichols 
(guitar/backing vocals). Roger announced that they could 
only play for 30 minutes. But this didn’t matter. What the 
gig lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality. The half 
hour set was as follows: 
 
The Kids are Alright 
Behind Blue Eyes 
A Reason to Believe (by Tim Hardin) 
2,000 Years 
Without Your Love (by Roger Daltrey, produced by Jeff Wayne 
and featured in the movie ‘McVicar’) 
Pinball Wizard 
Naked Eye 
Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash) 
 
The highpoints were ‘Without Your Love’, ‘Naked Eye’ and 
‘Ring of Fire’. The band clearly enjoyed the fact that 
they’d had minimal rehearsals and looked slightly dazed at 
how it all came together. Billy Nichols’ and Simon T’s 
backing vocals were as warm as a Persian cat and Danny 
Thompson’s double bass playing was a rare treat. And the 
great Rabbit knitted the sound sweetly throughout with some 
tasty licks. It was an inspired choice by Roger to invite 
him to participate. As for Roger, he rose to the occasion 
by delivering a truly intimate performance that I’m sure 
made even the ghost of Edward Elgar smile. 150 people went 
home knowing they’d just witnessed something special.

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