Roger Daltrey is adamant that fans do not want to miss the Who on tour during its upcoming “Who Hits Back” trek. Daltrey, Pete Townshend and their band are currently Stateside rehearsing for the jaunt, which kicks off on Friday night (April 22nd) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida at the Hard Rock. Daltrey told The Palm Beach Post, “You must try to see Townshend once in your life. He’s fantastic — the best I’ve ever heard in my life. And I’ve heard some pretty decent music.”
In addition to Daltrey and Townshend — and the local orchestra backing them at every gig — the Who’s 2022 lineup features longtime touring members Zak Starkey on drums and Pete Townshend’s younger brother, Simon Townshend on rhythm guitar. Rounding out the band are Who and Daltrey veterans Loren Gold on keyboards and bassist Jon Button. Also returning is longtime Who associate and background vocalist Billy Nicholls, orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, lead violinist Katie Jacoby, and lead cellist Audrey Snyder. Joining the group this time out will be additional keyboardist Emily Marshall.
Daltrey went on to talk about the power of performing with a full orchestra: “It leads to a sound that literally takes your head off. Even I was astonished at the power of it. You live with the sound of synthesizers making string noises and orchestral noises, which you can do, very simply, on a few keyboards. But then, you hear a real orchestra and a real violin, viola and cello and a couple basses going — it touches the human body, it touches our senses in a different way. It’s a big experience.”
2022 marks the 55th anniversary of the Who’s first U.S. dates. Daltrey went on to reflect on what it was like for the band at the start: “In the old days it was just the four of us. We didn’t have the equipment, the hotels were Holiday Inns, which we got banned from continuously (laughs). But we had so much fun. It is really, really, really weird. We had so much fun in those days, I can’t tell you. It was such a wonderful world to be in in those days. Everything was possible.”
- The Who tour dates (subject to change):
April 22 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Hard Rock
April 24 – Jacksonville, FL – VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
April 27 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
April 20 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz Festival
May 3 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ATX
May 2 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
May 8 – The Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
May 10 – Oklahoma City, TX – Paycom Center
May 13 – Memphis, TN – FedEx Forum
May 15 – Cincinnati, OH – TQL Stadium
May 18 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
May 20 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
May 23 – Washington, D.C. – Capital One Arena
May 26 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
May 28 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center of the Arts
October 2 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
October 4 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
October 7 – Elmont, NY – UBS Arena
October 9 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
October 12 – Chicago, IL – United Center
October 14 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
October 17 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
October 20 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
October 22 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
October 26 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
October 28 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
November 1 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
November 4, 5 – Las Vegas, NV – Dolby Live
SIDE NOTES
- The Who‘s long-awaited Keith Moon biopic, tentatively titled The Real Me, will begin filming in June, according to Variety.
- The film, which is being executive produced by Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and the Who’s longtime manager Bill Curbishley, will be directed by Paul Whittington — best known for The Crown and White House Farm, with the script by noted British screenwriter Jeff Pope, who snagged an Oscar-nom for Philomena.
- White Horse Pictures, led by Nigel Sinclair and Guy East, will produce the feature, following their work on such acclaimed recent rock docs as Martin Scorsese‘s George Harrison: Living In The Material World, and Ron Howard’s Beatles documentary Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years.
CHECK IT OUT: The Who on May 13th, 2019 performing “5:15” live at MSG: