Daltrey captures The Who's glory

Roger Daltrey has maintained a sporadic solo career away from The Who since 1973, but it's never been in danger of eclipsing his day job.

Daltrey wisely acknowledged that Monday night with a set list weighted heavily in favor of The Who. A supportive Ruth Eckerd Hall crowd of 1,130 cheered "Days of Light" and "Walk on Water," a pair of tunes from Daltrey's 1992 effort, "Rocks in the Head." But the real treat was hearing the voice of The Who singing songs that the band long ago dropped from its live set lists.

Daltrey gave a long introduction to "Pictures of Lily," about Who bassist John Enwistle losing the ability to sing the high harmony parts. Daltrey's rude conclusion tied in with the song's sweetly bawdy storyline.

Daltrey explained that many of the Who songs he chose to perform were based on his touring band's ability to recreate the harmonies. So if it wasn't really The Who performing "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Tattoo," it was glorious nonetheless.

Besides, the band did include a member of The Who's touring band, Simon Townshend, whose vocals sounded more like brother Pete's than Daltrey did like himself at times.

Daltrey's voice, which famously scuttled a Tampa Who concert in 2007 (the show was rescheduled), sounded tight at times, although he was at full roar on a magnificent "Young Man Blues."

Daltrey prefaced several songs with long, sometimes winding anecdotes, primarily to explain the music that influenced him. Besides, he's gathered a few tales over the years, and remembrances of playing with The Chieftains and Sonny Boy Williamson were worth hearing.

Lead guitarist Frank Simes did a fine job of capturing Pete's spare lead guitar, while drummer Scott Devours dove into Keith Moon's trademark drum parts with gleeful abandon.

Daltrey also offered a Johnny Cash medley, a rugged version of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Born on the Bayou" ("The only song I remember from Woodstock," he claimed), and played the ukulele on the lovely "Red, Blue and Grey."

The set could have done without "Squeeze Box," though.

Opening act Paper Zoo was as hirsute musically as it was tonsorially. The quartet's oddball mix of prog-rock, psychedelia and pop was as surprising as it was intriguing.