The Who have announced their final farewell tour, which will take place across the US and Canada this summer with gigs commencing as soon as 16 August, before wrapping up one last time on 28 September in Las Vegas.
At a press conference yesterday at the Iconic Images Gallery in London, Pete Townshend appeared in person, being joined on Zoom by bandmate Roger Daltrey to announce the band's 16 upcoming, probably final dates – following the band hitting headlines due to falling out one last time… – and field a few questions, including if they really do mean ‘farewell’ this time.
At this point one could bring up the issue that the pair had once mutually agreed never to meet in person other than on the stage, but Sturgess was quick to explain that Daltrey wasn't present as he was looking after his wife who’d sustained an injury.
“We’re here to announce a North American tour by arguably one of the greatest bands in music history,” introduced Sturgess. “On the one hand The Who are the quintessential great British band but since 1967, America has embraced them as one of its own,” before neatly filling while Daltrey and team struggled to get his Zoom working.
“You’re on mute…” observed Townshend, visibly rolling his eyes despite wearing large sunglasses.
"I’m not crazy about touring…"
Thus it was left to Townshend to introduce the tour and the fact that he was once hypnotised by his dentist…
“I think everybody in this room knows the truth… So it would be pointless for me to lie… I’m not crazy about touring… I’ve never really been crazy about touring… But performing?… Once I was on a stage… I was hypnotised when I was a little boy – by my dentist who was experimenting with hypnotism – that whenever I was on a stage I would do my best.
“That’s what happens. Whenever I’m on a stage, I remember that post-hypnotic suggestion and I do my best.”
“Everybody’s dream was to make it successfully in America,” elaborated Daltrey, his Zoom link up and running. “That’s where we heard the pulses of rock music coming from. To have America take us to their hearts meant so much. They’ve been so loyal to us.
“It’s got to come to an end one day. It’s great to do it while I can still sing the songs, Pete’s still playing great guitar and the music has still got that vitality that suits it.”
The Song Is Over: The North American Farewell Tour takes in 16 dates (full list below) and will naturally be including all the hits. “I don’t think there’s any way we’re going to be able to do a show without doing Won’t Get Fooled Again, without doing Baba O'Riley or Behind Blue Eyes and the rest is up for grabs,” says Daltrey. “I preferred it back when we didn’t have to have a setlist.”
"I need to rehearse things"
So could the fans have an influence on what’s coming up each night? “Roger does listen to what the fans say, but I don’t,” Townshend admits. “And the reason is that I’m not very good at remembering lyrics, I’m not very good at remembering the songs that I’ve written… I need to rehearse things.”
And what guitars does Townshend currently favour, wondered one fan in the chat. “I’m not the person to talk about guitars… It’s a tool… When they’re old people will pay a huge amount of money for them but they’re still a slab of wood with strings… Recently I bought a Paul Reed Smith and a Jackson, both of those guitars completely blew me away. But on stage I need to go back to something that is proven and isn’t going to fall apart in my hands ‘cos I’m pretty brutal.”
And of course, to wrap, Sturgess had to go there… “Will this really be the final tour? Any plans to play in the UK or Europe?”
“I’ll leave that one for Rog to answer,” batted Townshend… “Let’s see if we survive this one,” replied Daltrey. “I don’t want to say there won’t be… But equally I’m not confident of saying there will be.”
“The door is open to us,” resumed Townshend. “We could do a week at the O2… We could do a couple of weeks at the O2… There are all kinds of things we could do.”
Seems that as a band famous for its final tours, by now they’re old pros at never saying never…
Tickets for The Song Is Over: The North American Farewell Tour will be available during a Citi presale and the Whooligan Fan Club starting from 10am local time 13 May through to 10pm local time 15 May. General on-sale begins at 10am local time 16 May. thewho.com/tour.
Those announced US dates run as follows:
Aug. 16 – Sunrise, FL – Amerant Bank Arena
Aug. 19 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
Aug. 21 – Philadelphia – Wells Fargo Center
Aug. 23 – Atlantic City, NJ – Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall
Aug. 26 – Boston – Fenway Park
Aug. 28 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
Aug. 30 – New York – Madison Square Garden
Sept. 2 – Toronto – Budweiser Stage
Sept. 4 – Toronto – Budweiser Stage
Sept. 7 – Chicago – United Center
Sept. 17 – Los Angeles – Hollywood Bowl
Sept. 19 – Los Angeles – Hollywood Bowl
Sept. 21 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sept. 23 – Vancouver – Rogers Arena
Sept. 25 – Seattle – Climate Pledge Arena
Sept. 28 – Las Vegas – MGM Grand Garden Arena
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