The Who doing orchestral tour in 2019, including Madison Square Garden
UPDATE: TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED.
Pete Townshend recently did an orchestral Quadrophenia tour and Roger Daltrey recently did an orchestral Tommy tour, and now the pair are reuniting to do a symphonic tour together in 2019 with The Who. It’ll include 31 North American dates with local symphony orchestras joining the band in each city. Exact dates aren’t announced yet, but Townshend says the tour will begin at NYC’s Madison Square Garden in April, and then hit other Northeast cities, Chicago and Detroit. They’re also promising to return in September/October to play Canada and the western US. Most shows will be at arenas, but Townshend says it’s possible that one or two will be in stadiums.
UPDATE: TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED (and the MSG show is in May, not April).
They’re also planning to release the first new Who album since 2006’s Endless Wire. “I said I was not going to sign any contracts unless we have new material,” Townshend told Rolling Stone. “This has nothing to do with wanting a hit album. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Who need a new album. It’s purely personal. It’s about my pride, my sense of self-worth and self-dignity as a writer.” Townshend says he has 15 demos for the album that he recorded in five studios around England, and he’s hoping Roger Daltrey will record vocals this year and that the album will come out in 2019.
As many artists around The Who’s age have been doing farewell tours recently, Daltrey was asked about that and said “I think it is always a mistake to ever say ‘farewell,’ but this will possibly be my last tour. I’m just being realistic about going through the 75th year of my life. I have to be realistic that this is the age I am and voices start to go after a while. I don’t want to be not as good as I was two years ago.”
They also confirmed in the interview that they are not playing Woodstock 50. “What would be the point? I can’t work outside in the heat anymore like that in August. It’ll kill me,” said Daltrey. “And they couldn’t afford us anyway!”
You can read more about the new album and the upcoming tour at Rolling Stone and stay tuned for tour dates.
Watch videos of Roger Daltrey’s orchestral Tommy tour and Pete Townshend’s orchestral Quadrophenia tour:
