Heritage Live 2023: The Who

Heritage Live:

Heritage Live marked the end of their 2023 concert series with their biggest line-up to date, being headlined by one of the all-time great bands The Who. The line-up was completed by extremely special guests Richard Ashcroft, and The Lightning Seeds, both of whom received 75-minute sets, making it feel like you'd seen three headline sets in one evening. The entire evening was packed full of era-defining hits spanning over six decades, drawing a crowd of all ages.

The set-up of Heritage Live concerts really are something special. You have enough food options to feed the 5000 several times over, You have a full-on fairground providing entertainment for the whole family. If you decide to venture into the VIP area you were greeted with a string quartet and Britain's Got Talent winner Jon Courtenay, and the main attraction is obviously seeing some of the best artists of all time, performing in the grounds of stunning stately homes. Swipe to read our thoughts on all the evening's acts..

The Who: 

When you think of iconic rock bands, there won't be many, if any, that come to mind before The Who. A legendary band that defined a generation, still led by the ever- present Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have re-defined their sound on this recent tour by performing songs with the backing of the most brilliant orchestra.

'The Who Hits Back! Tour' has seen them play a host of dates across America, Europe, before finishing the tour with a string of UK date, finishing up tonight at Sandringham. It is not clear what the future holds for The Who, but if this was to be the band's last gig then boy did they go out on the highest of highs. 

The 20,000 strong crowd were treated to over 2 hours of non-stop hits, a number of which redefined with orchestral arrangements from the legendary David Campbell. The band's overture was enough to bring goosebumps out of you, and as Daltrey's voice bellowed out at the start of '1921' you couldn't help but be taken back that musicians nearly 6 decades into their career could sound this good.

Daltrey was at his absolute best with the most incredible vocal performances, but also never shying away from flexing his signature mic tricks. Pete Townshend will forever be remembered as a guitar legend, creating some of the most memorable riffs of all time, but even his vocal display was mind-blowing, as he took the lead on songs like 'The Acid Queen' and 'Eminence Front'. The latter of which was preceded by Townshend having to leave the stage in order to sort out is phone-controlled hearing aid, something he didn't shy away from poking fun at, joking he can Bluetooth anything he wants through his hearing aid, and may well listen to the New Testament if the songs get too boring.

The new orchestral renditions of the songs give already timeless classics like 'Who Are You' and 'Pinball Wizard' a brilliant new depth; however, the non-orchestral section of the concert allowed their authentically raw hits like ' My Generation' and 'Substitute' to be played in full force, providing the perfect blend of both sounds. The non-orchestral section of the set seemed to also result in The Who becoming hilariously loose tongued. Before playing 'You Better You Bet' Pete Townshend took a moment to tell the audience that he and Roger Daltrey had each planted a tree earlier that day (as part of Sandringham Estate's plan to become more 'green', joking that we all need to "stop f**king worrying about climate change, we have fixed it". The hilarity continued as Townshend uttered how " f**king hard" all these "old songs" are to play before lawlessly performing 'I Can't Explain'

'Won't Get Fooled Again' gave the whole band a real opportunity to show their pedigree, and why they have been recruited to play for such a legendary band. Simon Townshend (brother of Pete) has been playing guitar for The Who since 2002 (after a year stint between 1996-97), and was on the top of his game and this was combined with a stand-out drum solo from Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr and The Who drummer since 1997 closing out in style

Before the full orchestra came back on stage The Who were joined by violinist Katie Jacoby, and celloist Audrey Q. Snyder to help perform the most stunning rendition of 'Behind Blue Eyes'. These world class musicians took an already emotional ballad and added a whole new level that led to this easily being song of the night

As conductor Keith Levenson led the rest of his orchestra back on stage, it was time for the final section of the concert. Mammoth
performances of 'The Real Me', 'I'm One' and '5:15' kept every person in the audience fully engaged, but it was the orchestral performance of The Rock' that really took everyone's breath away. The instrumental masterpiece was accompanied by images showing the highs and lows of humanity that have occurred since The Who began, creating several poignant moments,

'Love, Reign o'er Me' was the penultimate song, giving Daltry a chance to put in the vocal performance of the night, an impressive feet some 2 hours into the concert, before a huge rendition of 'Baba O'Riley' brought an end to the concert, and potentially an end to a legendary career

Richard Ashcroft:

What a singer, what a stage presence, what a man...I could easily end the review there; Richard Ashcroft delivered a career spanning set masterfully inter twining solo hits with classics from "The Verve' deliver a set that will live long in the memory of all
in attendance.

Richard and his band opened their set with one of The Verve's biggest and best songs 'Sonnet', a timeless classic that shows off Ashcroft vocal prowess, delivering his poetic lyrics in fine tune. This was followed by a mammoth version of The Verve's 'Space and Time', which has new life breathed into by a top-tier live band.

After an epic opening of The Verve classics, Richard began showcasing his solo hits, showing just why his career has had such deserved longevity. A passionate speech about moving above haters seamlessly brought in 'A Song for the Lovers'. An extended version of 'Break the Night With Colour' came next giving his band another chance to flaunt their musical brilliance. This was followed by my personal favourite of Ashcroft's solo work 'They Don't Own Me'. The song tells a story of pushing through adversity which sums up a huge part of Ashcroft's life and career. 'Hold On' and 'Music Is Power' closed the section of Ashcroft's solo hits, before a triad of The Verve's biggest hits closed the set out. 

'Lucky Man' opened this trio of musical excellence, leading to a huge singalong from the capacity crowd who lapped up every word that left the lyrical genius' mouth. An emotional rendition of The Drugs Don't Work' came next. This is a song that could pull on the heart strings of even the most stubborn man, and 20,000 people sing back every word like their lives depended on it took the emotional impact to the next level.

The set closed with a rousing rendition of 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', but with the surprise rendition of Richard Ashcroft's son playing guitar on the closing track. This brought an end to a set that encapsulated the full range of human emotions, just as Ashcroft's songwriting does

The Lightning Seeds:

In the bright sun of Sandringham Estate Liverpudlian legends The Lightning Seeds took to the stage and delivered a set of feel- good indie anthems to start the day off right. The band, headed up by the formidable Ian Broudie, opened their set with timeless hits 'Change' and 'Ready or Not', instantly proving why they have had such longevity Riley Broudie, Ian's son brings a youthful energy to the band, whilst original full- band member Martyn Campbell ensure the bands signature sound is maintained. The current line-up is completed by some insanely talented musicians in the form of Adele Emmas, Jim Sharrock and Tim Cunningham.

'What If...' and 'Marvellous' really got the crowd moving, with the group encouraging all arms to be in the air clapping along, further enforcing the feel-good sense of community that The Lightning Seeds create. 

When you have as many hits as The Lightning Seeds do, it becomes so easy to throw some out mid-set, and they don't come much better than 'Sense' or ' Sugar Coated Iceberg'. The songs are played with all the joy and conviction of a band that are having the time of their life playing together.

The middle section of The Lightning Seeds' set saw them mix new and old. 'Great To Be Alive' and 'Losing You from 2022's 'See You in the Stars' album went down an absolute treat, intertwined amongst classics like 'Perfect' and 'Lucky You'. However, the loudest reception of any song so far came from the bands cover of The Byrds' 'You Showed Me', which saw an outro medley that featured snippets from 'Imagine' and 'All You Need is Love'

The closing of The Lightning Seeds' set was as high energy as they come, a tour de force of 90's brilliance. 'The Life of Riley' and 'Pure' are two of the bands most beloved songs, with everyone in attendance going wild, before a somewhat surprising rendition of Three Lions' meant the crowd finished the set in great voice