The Kids Are Alright – Duo Session
They’re Alright …
The Who. And that’s quite the understatement. They actually hold a very special place in our hearts. Not only were they the first band the two of us went to see live on our own in Australia (a big adventure for us teenagers!), their music has also been ingrained in our DNA from very early on, and they make up a big part of our life’s soundtrack.
We both remember hearing “The Kids Are Alright” for the first time as kids – it was the video they had filmed by that lake – and thinking it was literally the coolest thing ever. And when the legend himself, Pete Townshend, got in touch with us last year simply to speak some encouraging words to us, it felt like some harmonious circle was closing and real life got elevated to some surreal fairy tale. 🙂
We’ve gone on at length at various Q&A’s in the forum and in interviews about our love for The Who, their quirky humour, Keith Moon’s drumming and their music.
Now we hope you’ll enjoy our Duo Session of a song by one of our favourite bands.
Stay groovy,
Mona & Lisa
I wish I could play a board as good as Mona. A great Duo Sessions tune and I love the high harmonies and guitar strumming Lisa.
These vocals are so good.
Sitting in my high school classroom during a free period listening to MLT and grading Accounting exams. Not bad…they did good a good job.
Today is our first high school baseball game as well; it has stopped raining. Thank goodness for Astroturf. Our players are ready, walking through school wearing their jerseys.
Yes…”The Kids Are Alright”.
Great Rendition, especially Mona’s drumming!!!
Wow! Love the vocals, the harmonies, the guitar, and I love Mona’s percussion work. Wow! again.
I just really really enjoyed that performance. Love the rhythm and percussion, and the vocals just blow me away. Sweet performance!! I love it. Great cover. You two far exceed “alright!” You are groovy, exceptionally talented, fantastic, amazingly awesome performers!!!
I was just listening to “It’s a Wild World” by the “MonaLisa-Twins and Band” and it gives me that same feeling in the pit of my stomach. 🙂
Your voices sound so great on this song. Wow.
Really really enjoyed your version.
One guitar, one cajon (or something similar) and two voices that blend together as well as any voices have ever blended! I makes for wonderful music. It just shows how talented you ladies are! I love the song and the video! You are amazing! I’m so glad to have found all the videos of your duo sessions. Please keep them coming. Belated Happy Valentines Day!
Pure perfection! Wow!
Mona got her Cardio in that day on this one.
What a romp! And then it went black, and I just had to laugh—one of those, wow! what was THAT? kind of laughs. I marvel at how you keep coming up with new ways of doing things.
Rick,
Just saw this and praying for your Maddie my friend! Prayers are so powerful! God bless
Well this proves my point. and waiting it worth it! What a great song and video. My goodness Mona is amazing on the percussion , so cool and as a drummer? I appreciate how good Mona is! I am tapping right along with her on this song. Lisa just keeps the drive going with her guitar work and singing. So as I always say, MLT are second to none with their talent. Love it ladies and keep it coming and stay groovy!
love it
Bill and Maddie Isenberg huge fans from Pittsburgh Pa USA
Rick. I’m prayng for Maddie ! ??
Rick. Just read this and will be praying for little Maddie’s health as well as comfort for her parents.
The Who. What a great band! And your rendition of “The Kids Are Alright” is such a fitting tribute to their genious. Things again for sharing these classics with a new generation , and keeping the spirit alive with your original compositions. Don’t know how you do it, but please don’t stop!
Rick, my best wishes and prayers for little Maddie. Hope she’s able to come home soon.
Thoughts and prayers for little Maddie, Rick!
Great unplugged performance done with a lot of verve and precision. Good to see South Australia mentioned in your comments. So near yet so far, thankfully we have the MLT Fan Club!
Wow! Nailed it!
WOW! The girls are BETTER than alright! Another gem from our twins! The Hi-Hat was a nice touch too! BRAVO ladies!
Nice!
“The Kids are Alright”, that’s quite the understatement! These kids are phenomenal! I love that I got to hear this one before seeing the video. Mona’s on the cajon like it’s the end of the world and doesn’t even hint of breaking a sweat. Like it’s oh so easy to slap-a-box and make it sound magical, let alone singing lead like Roger Daltrey at the same time.
Pete reaching out to you is another confirmation that you are achieving greatness. Congratulations!
FAB, FAB, FAB!
Tomás
I love to read everyone’s posts before watching these new videos. I have been looking forward to this release. Love this track on the Sessions CD.
I like your story of your first concert on your own. A true milestone in every music lover’s life. Mine was Foreigner and The Doobie Brothers with my older brother. I was 15.
In 1989 The Who announced a show in my town only a short time before the show. It was a rehearsal for an upcoming Tommy tour. Our hockey arena had about 4,000 seats. We nabbed floor seats 10th row. I remember we loved it, but it was loud. Ears rang for a long time after, not that the arena’s poor acoustics didn’t contribute to this, but The Who were loud.
Pete reached out to you? Mind blowing! Talk about full circle?!
Oh , I just found this. The band filmed the show. I don’t remember the cameras on stage, but that was a long time ago. https://youtu.be/YyAj1K9iKMU
Prayers for Maddie
Fantastic, and the fact that you are having such a great time with it makes it that much more of a great time for us.
Praying for her.
Hi girls…I’ve been waiting for this video…I always try to figure out which one is singing lead when there’s no video… your voices are so similar that one has to listen to every sound to determine the ever so slight differences….I had determined that it was Mona but I was thinking No it can’t be because beating on the cajon and singing with perfection would be a very difficult thing to do…then after watching the video I felt like a dummy…you girls take something that’s difficult and make it look so easy..GREAT JOB….now onto ESP…my brothers son (my nephew) lives in Tyler, Tx and has a newborn baby girl with heart problems…yesterday her little heart started pumping at 300 beats / minute and she was ambulanced approximately 100 miles to Children’s hospital in Dallas…i found out about this about 9:00 this morning…I received your email with The Kids Are Alright at 7:21am and I text my brother, sister, and my two daughters letting them know that the MonaLisa Twins had just released this video this morning and that it’s a sign ….the kid is alright !!❤️❤️❤️little baby Maddie will be 5 months old on October 5 … a prayer from those who read this would be greatly appreciated…THANK YOU
Hi Rick!
We really hope that Maddie is doing well, are there any updates on her situation? We are sending her all our love and then some! We are with you and your family in thought and are hoping for good news and a quick recovery! ♥ ♥ ♥
Hi Mona..here we are 3 years later and little Maddie is doing great…no further complications at this point although because she was born with half a heart she will require further surgery throughout her adolescence …and she just became a “big” sister this past month…how time flies by…it seems like it was just yesterday that Maddie was born.
❤️
Brilliant as always.
Hey Mona and Lisa, I found the set list from that Adelaide show on The Who’s website. This might trigger even more memories 🙂
“26 Mar 2009
ADELAIDE GETS THE WHO TREATMENT
The Who’s tour of Australia is gathering momentum as, even after a 40 year gap, audiences recognise the power of one of the greatest bands in the rock pantheon.
The setlist was much the same as at the Brisbane show, but SISTER DISCO was replaced with RELAY and Roger Daltrey sang the Johnny Cash classic RING OF FIRE.
The full set list was:
I Can’t Explain
The Seeker
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Fragments
Who Are You
Behind Blue Eyes
Relay
Baba O’Riley
Eminence Front
5:15
Love, Reign O’er Me
You Better You Bet
My Generation
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Ring of Fire
The Kids Are Alright
Substitute
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey/Sparks
See Me Feel Me/Listening To You
Tea & Theatre”
Haha, thanks for digging that out, Darryl! It left a huge impression on 14-year-old us and definitely strengthened our love for the Who. Did you see the Brisbane show of that tour?
No I’m in Adelaide, although I didn’t go to the Adelaide show either. I can only assume it was because I was heading over to the UK in May 2009 and I was saving my sheckels.
Wow… THE WHO by Mona and Lisa !!! Amazing … I don’t know how to praise you, there are no word s left to do that… more a perfect Duo Session and I ask “what you can’t do?” There is nothing more to say about your talent and musical ability.. the more I see MLT more I Love MLT. I can only say thanks dear girls and Stay groovy.
Possibly my favorite of all your covers, and probably my favorite Who song as well. As others have said, your ability to remain true to the original in essence while making it all your own is absolutely brilliant. The vocals just give me goosebumps and Mona on that cajón! But to get to see it on video…priceless.
Thanks, Roger! As far as “fun to cover” goes, this one was on top of the list for Duo Sessions. We love everything about this song!
Wow what a great fantastic version of this classic song your voices go together so well this is your best cover yet
Wow, enjoyed reading your first Who concert experience in Adelaide! I got to see the Who live once, sort of. The massive 60,000 seat stadium in Vancouver just opened, and I was 19 or so and was one of a few thousand kids hired to man the fast food kiosks. That opening summer I remember David Bowie played, as well as the Who. Got to listen to them live through the vibrations of the concrete slabs and snuck out occasionally to catch them in the aisles.
Was not familiar with this particular Who song, but love your version. Your singing and harmonies are brilliant, especially towards the end there where you are both harmonizing, wow really awesome. Superb skill on the Cajon there Mona, and again Lisa your harmonizing with Mona, while ringing out those beautiful guitar sounds, loved it! 🙂
Now that’s a cool summer job for a teenager and what a treat that you got to hear/feel all those amazing acts! This song is off their debut album “My Generation”, which we highly recommend if you have never heard it in full 🙂
Thanks for the kind words ♥
Hi Mona! Thanks for the album recommendation, will definitely check out My Generation. I had a greatest hits Who album once, but never listened through one of their full albums. Wow, liking the enhanced page features here. 🙂
Edited to add: Just listened to the whole album, wow it’s awesome Mona! Every song on there is great. Especially dug “Goods Gone”, niiiice! Got to add to my short list of albums on vinyls to get.
My absolute favorite “early” Who song!!
With The Who, it’s impossible to to pick one’s favorite song because their style & approach changed as they progressed – much like another group from the UK that we all know & love!
And yes, that black & white video by the lake with the boaters is a trip!
I love the smiles and enthusiasm in this recording – well done, ladies!
FABulous! I’ve heard Pete do this as an acoustic and yours is better. The harmonies were perfect, the guitar was spot on, and the rhythm section was as good as Zak’s drumming.
I remember in my earlier days singing along with the album and having a great time doing it over and over but it gives me more pleasure to watch what you do girls just did with that song. As usual you do this cover better than the original artists to thank you so much for this street.
Looking forward to the next one and many more after that.
Great job?
Enjoy?!! Are you kidding?!! Watching you perform this is just so amazing. Together, you are a musical force of nature. It’s unbelievable how you can seemingly just sit down and create what is truly a phenomenal musical event with just the two of you live. This really rocks!!!
Oh genial cómo tocan!!!❤️?
Whoa…and that indeed is Alright, Fab Friday Groovy in fact…I loved it, Mona, how I wished to have handwhacked along with you on your boardbox thing ( I’m sorry , proper name escapes me for it at the moment)… Quite ethusiastically performed, heartfelt… Pete knew a good thing when he heard, likewise John and all others whom you’ve left lasting first impressions upon, rightfully so… very glad to hear and see this as the latest addition to the Duo Sessions…Kudos???
Hey MONA from a drummer nice chops on your CAJON. Hey LISA great guitar work,and to both of you
ladies your vocals are right on as usual.
It’s an indication of how talented you are that superstars like Pete Townsand and John Sebastion have noticed you and reached out to you with help and encouragement! Proof that you are true superstars yourselves! Love your joy and the fun you have performing! I agree with Jerry that watching you is amazing! I’m a fan forever!
Thanks for sharing. Love your version of this song. Even though we are several generations apart, the Who was one of the first groups I saw as a teenager. The strange difference was that they performed at my high school in Overland Park, Kansas (Shawnee Mission South High School) in 1967. Apparently they weren’t earning much from their recording contract and had to take on additional gigs to earn a little money. Please keep up the good work. Hope you enjoy writing and recording as much as I enjoy listening.
As they say in Texas, stay groovy All Y’All!
Wow, that must have been quite the experience seeing them at your own high school with Keith on drums! Isn’t it great though – that we shared a similar experience …. 42 years apart! (we saw them in ‘09) And they were still rocking!
Another excellent Duo Session to start the weekend on a high. A great early song from the Who and a great rendition from Mona and Lisa. As always, thanks for sharing your passion and enthusiasm for my favourite music. ?❤️
Thanks for recording this. It’s one of my favorite WHO songs and has great sentimental value for me. Glad to hear that Pete recognizes your talent, and gave you encouragement. As a side note, a good friend of mine was John Enttwistle’s photographer the last few years of his life and John shared a few interesting stories with him. They were a great band and made a significant contribution to the music world. As usual, you both do an awesome job!
Wow! That’s another awesome, mind blowing performance! Lisa’s fast, Richie Havens’ kind of guitar strumming, and Mona’s comparable quick hands on her cajon along with brilliant harmonies just created an astounding performance! I am just blown away!! Fantastic?❤
Smashingly Brilliant!. You’ve kept the song true to its roots, while making it your own.
The Who’s longevity, in part, is because they have stayed in tune with their audience.
The MonaLisa Twins success is also based by staying in touch with their fans on a personal note, and releasing a Huge album during all the uncertainty.
Mona And Lisa you are the nicest and most sincere act in the music business. It shows in all that you do.
Thanks Ladies?❤?
I loved it. Gave me chills. I loved reading that Pete Townshend reached out to you two. I love your Beatle covers, but please do some more WHO, or solo Townshend songs. Again you guys did a great job on this one.
Thanks, Stephen! We will take you up on that request very soon (more news on that later today ;-))
Pete is the absolute best and for him to be so selfless and supporting of our music means the world to us. We have the utmost respect and admiration for his life’s work, what a cool cat.
Love the version from the Duo Sessions album already, but watching my favorites in full live excellence is fantastic.I love how fast and precise your movements are – I can’t imagine doing what Mona is doing! Great rhythm by Lisa sounds like multiple guitars at once. So nice of Pete to contact you – just another huge testimony to your talent. And a new original album in the works – can hardly wait!