The spirit of Uncle Keith: Why Zak Starkey is the only drummer who can pull off The Who’s farewell tour
“We are more determined than ever to carry on, and we want the spirit of the group to which Keith contributed so much to go on, although no human being can ever take his place.” – Pete Townshend, 1978.
On September 7th, 1978, Keith Moon was found dead in his Mayfair apartment. An overdose of alcohol withdrawal tablets had extinguished one of the brightest flames in rock and roll history, but The Who gallantly carried on, with the apparent aim of honouring the memory of their fallen comrade. In doing so, however, the band seem to have underestimated just how essential the otherworldly nature of Moon’s drumming was to the sound and appeal of The Who.
Right from the beginning of The Who’s story, nobody captured the energy, anarchy, and rock and roll spirit of the group quite like Keith Moon. There are pages and pages of tales surrounding the drummer’s wild antics over the years, but it was his distinctive skill as a percussionist which always shone throughout the band’s celebrated discography. If you look at the band’s post-Moon output, with Kenny Jones behind the sticks, the steep decline in quality is plain to see.
It is not that Jones was a bad drummer – far from it – but he simply couldn’t replicate the energy and style of Moon, which was key to the fabric of The Who’s success. The rest of the band seemed aware of this, too, and performed their first ‘farewell tour’ in 1982, recognising the difficulty in carrying on without that core pillar of their existence.
So, when Zak Starkey began performing with the group during the mid-1990s, his presence came as a kind of salvation to The Who, allowing them to continue on for many more years.
Starkey has always had a deep connection with Keith Moon. Despite being the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, it was ‘Uncle Keith’ who gifted Starkey with his first drum kit and offered guidance throughout his journey as a young musician. Although he was only 12 years old when the drummer passed away, Starkey has always honoured Moon’s life and memory through his playing, which is one of the reasons why he was such a natural fit for The Who.
Having performed with the band for almost 30 years and worked alongside frontman Roger Daltrey for even longer, Starkey’s drumming has been essential in carving out The Who’s modern era. For the countless fans who have been following the harbingers of 1960s mod rock around during that time, Starkey’s drumming has become almost as essential to the sound and essence of the band as Townshend’s windmill strumming or the enigmatic tones of Daltrey (the remaining members of the band’s original line-up).
So, for the band to unceremoniously fire, re-hire, and re-fire Starkey at the same time as announcing their final farewell tour earlier this year, is an insult – not just to Starkey himself, but also to The Who’s fans and the spirit of Keith Moon.
For those who haven’t been following the news, Starkey was initially fired from the band following what Daltrey claimed to be a dismal performance at the Royal Albert Hall in March of this year. Townshend then posted a statement claiming Starkey was still a part of the band, before another statement was issued saying that The Who had parted ways with the drummer so that Starkey could focus on his other projects, something Starkey himself has since refuted.
There have been many insults, bizarre statements, and, I’m sure, private discussions between the two camps in the past few months, but the upshot is that Scott Devours will be the band’s drummer for their farewell tour of North America next year, offering a depressing final chapter to one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
Much like Kenney Jones, I’m sure Devours is an incredibly capable drummer. However, aside from Zak Starkey, nobody has come remotely close to recreating the style and spirit of Keith Moon since his tragic passing in 1978. Without the 30 years of experience that Starkey has with the band, it is unlikely that Devours will be able to rival his performance or deep-rooted knowledge of the band.
Starkey is the only living drummer capable of pulling off The Who’s final farewell tour, which already seems plagued by difficulties and uncertainty. Without him, and particularly with the loss of John Entwistle, who died in 2002, the current iteration of The Who is far removed from its past self’s original sound and energy.
As the public spat rages on, it seems as though The Who are writing a pretty depressing final chapter for one of the greatest rock bands of all time, but, ultimately, they only have themselves to blame.
