Unaired Olympics Performances from The Who and Ray Davies Emerge Via Internet
As we reported earlier, fans of the Who and the Kinks‘ Ray Davies were quite disappointed to find out they’d sat through two and a half hours of the pomp that was the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony, only to be denied the chance to watch their heroes perform at the big event.
Well, luckily, gratification is rarely delayed for very long in today’s internet age, and thanks to some enterprising websites, you can watch both performances right here and now. On the shorter of the two clips, Davies thrills the crowd by emerging from one of London’s famous black taxis before launching into a performance of his former band’s 1967 single ‘Waterloo Sunset.’
The Who’s complete four-song set is also here for the taking, with ‘Baba O’ Riley,’ ‘See Me, Feel Me,’ ‘Listening to You’ and the great big “everybody on the stage” finale ‘My Generation.’ One interesting thing to note is how Daltrey changes the words on ‘Baba O’ Riley’ into something more hopeful than the original version — ‘Don’t cry / Just raise your eyes / There’s more than teenage wasteland.”
Watch the Who Perform at the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony
Watch Ray Davies Perform at the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony