Bill Murray gets all the heat when it comes to celebrity party crashing, but this weekend The Who’s lead singer Roger Daltrey crashed a wedding at a resort in Scotland and stuck around to play a song with the band. Simultaneously proving that he too can bust through society’s walls of economic and social division to mingle with the common man.
Obviously, this thrilled the happy couple, but the members of The Milestone band are the ones that got the real prize in the form of a compliment from the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
Here are a few words on the experience from Graeme Allan, the band’s lead guitarist, and the man who had a chance to play next to Daltrey and hopefully resist the urge to windmill while in his presence.
“I remember looking over to the side of the dance floor and a wedding guest was actually walking with Roger [Daltrey], coming towards the band.”
Sidebar: I love that they’re on a first name basis now. Back to the quote.
He said the wedding band was “so gobsmacked” to see The Who front man that they stopped playing.
“Roger came up and he took the mike and he congratulated the bride and groom,” he said.
“Because the groom had served in the parachute regiment he also mentioned them as well. Then he turned to the band and he said, ‘I was through next door and I heard the band and they’re brilliant, so I had to come through’.”
Although flattered after receiving a compliment from the superstar, Mr Allan said: “He [Roger] turned to us and went ‘Do you wanna do a song?’
“I could’nae comprehend what was happening. At first I was like – ‘He’s wanting to do a song with us?’ I was looking at the bass player saying ‘What’s is going on here?’.”
He did not have to ask the rock legend ‘Who Are You’?
“I recognised him straight away”, Mr Allan said. “The band are massive Who fans.”
I imagine they’re even bigger fans now. I also bet that the band was thrilled that they spent so much time “Getting in Tune” before their “Amazing Journey” with Daltrey as he “Joined Together with the Band” to the delight of “The Punk and the Godfather” while playing “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.
Those last two got away from me a little bit, but the point is, I can also type in Who song titles and lyrics. A skill that will serve me well should Daltrey continue to follow Murray’s path and crash a kickball game in Hempstead Heath at some point.