The extraordinary recording below was performed in Toronto, Canada, on March 1st, 2016. It was Roger Daltrey’s 72nd birthday, and he sang ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ from The Who’s landmark album, Quadrophenia. I was in the crowd and listened to this song unfold in dumbstruck awe. It was sublime, largely because of Roger. It would have been staggering performance coming from a much younger man, much less a man in his 70s. I was fortunate that The Who sold ‘digital concert downloads’ after each show that tour and I’ve listened to this recording many times since (skip to 2:10 if you’re in a hurry):
So what’d you think? Yes, Roger fumbled a high note or two. I’m pretty sure the screams at the end were done without production wizardry, although I’m not completely certain. Pete is a touch subdued when he could be shining brightly, largely due to some issues with his guitar that night. It is not flawless work. But it is remarkable. Admittedly, I have a lukewarm fondness for the original song. It is haunting and brilliant, but for the longest time, I saw it as merely a strong song among a greatest hits collection I picked up in 2008 or so. It was this performance that made me see the song for what it is, and I consider this performance in Toronto the definitive version of this song. So here I am, putting it on the internet so more people could hear an approximation of what I heard.
Warts and all, I hold this performance in extremely high regard. Sometimes, when I absolutely knock something out of the part, I’ll tell myself I ‘Love Reign O’er Me’d’ it in reference to this recording, because I notched a resounding victory. You know, when I really knock a conference presentation on climate change (See? I can always bring this back to climate change) or a client meeting out of the park. Because I could never perform a passible version of Love Reign O’er Me, but I can aspire achieve the level of excellence heard in Roger Daltrey’s performance in my own work. Say what you will about the man, I have, he works incredibly hard. To me, this recording a lesson in excellence to be studied and applied in key moments. The lesson of these 8 minutes, to me, is to put an extraordinary amount of effort into moments that matter, before key audiences, and if only for a handful of minutes, put the absolute best of your abilities into what you’re doing.
And these bursts of extraordinary effort are never flawless and they cannot be constantly maintained. To try and perform ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ every second of every day would drive you mad and send you to an early grave. But for the moments that count, putting in an enormous amount of work with a clear purpose, message, and vision, pays off enormously. It’s a lesson I grappled with in a satirical story about ‘The How’ in my second book, and I reflect on this recording and the lesson I took from it whenever I face a momentous moment or an important crowd. Love Reign O’er Me.
Anyways, thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Alex Colvin 