It was very cool to see Pete playing a Gibson again in Oberhausen. It lastet for half of WGFA only, so here are some pictures of this historic moment...

Fantastic pictures, Iox, thanks for sharing!

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Happy24
Fantastic pictures, Iox, thanks for sharing!

Thanks a lot Happy24, I was inspired by your excellent shots!!!

Wonderful night in Vienna...great crowd,security was very pleasant,the weather was perfect and my hotel a ten minute walk to the gig......after the show i talked to the sound man for a few minutes and he gave me not one but 4 set-lists!!!!!so my friends got a little gift when we sat down for yet more beers and a photo copy of all the back stages passes in color very nice of him to do.....and what a small world ran into a friend selling posters and t-shirts outside after the gig...a guy i run into every few years or so funny old world.....and got a nice t for only 10 euro with the tour datesand they let you out between bands to have a smoke and let you right back in again very cool......nice to have these little road trips now and again.....if you can make it to Italy go go go....have a good weekend everyone.M

Nice pictures!

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mikey C
Wonderful night in Vienna...great crowd,security was very pleasant,the weather was perfect and my hotel a ten minute walk to the gig......after the show i talked to the sound man for a few minutes and he gave me not one but 4 set-lists!!!!!so my friends got a little gift when we sat down for yet more beers and a photo copy of all the back stages passes in color very nice of him to do.....and what a small world ran into a friend selling posters and t-shirts outside after the gig...a guy i run into every few years or so funny old world.....and got a nice t for only 10 euro with the tour datesand they let you out between bands to have a smoke and let you right back in again very cool......nice to have these little road trips now and again.....if you can make it to Italy go go go....have a good weekend everyone.M

We went to see the Tedeschi Trucks Band last week in the hall that is used mainly for the Seattle Opera & Ballet. It was very nice & they actually treated the fans like they were adults. No over the top security measures, you could go out for a smoke & bring cocktails to the seats. Not the usual concert experience!

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HMS
You gotta listen to live albums featuring Keith Moon and you´ll clearly hear what is missing. Entwistle´s always very audible playing is missing too, just like the two songs he used to sing at every show. They are not The Who anymore.

Townshends endless monologues between songs are attempts to recover and to give Roger´s voice a little time to rest. It´s not because Pete´s in such a good mood, he´s only talking to give them a desperately needed break between songs.

Of course Entwistle's playing is sorely missed. They can't replace him and they didn't really try to. They just got a session pro to fill in the bottom end. Moon is missed as well but Zak does an amazing job of channeling his spirit. The Who are still worth seeing mainly because Townshend is still an amazing musician. I don't really like the way Daltrey sounds these days but overall, they're worth seeing. You've got two living legends backed by a crack band that does a good job honoring The Who's legacy. Sounds like a worthwhile evening to me...Makes one wonder....there's probably a lot of casual fans who would accept Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with an assortment of pro backing players as The Rolling Stones. I wouldn't but it could happen....Hope it never does. If Charlie Watts is ever out of the picture, it's over to me.

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."

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HonkeyTonkFlash

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HMS
You gotta listen to live albums featuring Keith Moon and you´ll clearly hear what is missing. Entwistle´s always very audible playing is missing too, just like the two songs he used to sing at every show. They are not The Who anymore.

Townshends endless monologues between songs are attempts to recover and to give Roger´s voice a little time to rest. It´s not because Pete´s in such a good mood, he´s only talking to give them a desperately needed break between songs.

Of course Entwistle's playing is sorely missed. They can't replace him and they didn't really try to. They just got a session pro to fill in the bottom end. Moon is missed as well but Zak does an amazing job of channeling his spirit. The Who are still worth seeing mainly because Townshend is still an amazing musician. I don't really like the way Daltrey sounds these days but overall, they're worth seeing. You've got two living legends backed by a crack band that does a good job honoring The Who's legacy. Sounds like a worthwhile evening to me...Makes one wonder....there's probably a lot of casual fans who would accept Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with an assortment of pro backing players as The Rolling Stones. I wouldn't but it could happen....Hope it never does. If Charlie Watts is ever out of the picture, it's over to me.

For someone that seems incapable of hearing the bass in any Stones song it sure is trolling weird that HMS hears and knows about Entwistle.

You need to check out your Who-albums again, GLS.
Entwistle is always more present (in the mix) than Wyman ever was. Even I can notice that fact. And imo Entwistle was a better player.

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HMS
You need to check out your Who-albums again, GLS.
Entwistle is always more present (in the mix) than Wyman ever was. Even I can notice that fact. And imo Entwistle was a better player.

Regardless of your pointless opinion it's astounding that you even know what a bass guitar is since you can't figure out who plays what on any Stones albums or tours.

Both excellant players just different styles. Entwistle being the most recognizable of the two - at least to my ears.

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swimtothemoon
Both excellant players just different styles. Entwistle being the most recognizable of the two - at least to my ears.

Entwistle and Wyman were both absolutely perfect for their respective bands. Entwistle was probably technically more skilled, could play faster and flashier than Wyman, but that style would not have suited the Stones anyway, just as Moon was perfect in the Who but would've been a terrible fit for the Stones.

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."

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HonkeyTonkFlash

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swimtothemoon
Both excellant players just different styles. Entwistle being the most recognizable of the two - at least to my ears.

Entwistle and Wyman were both absolutely perfect for their respective bands. Entwistle was probably technically more skilled, could play faster and flashier than Wyman, but that style would not have suited the Stones anyway, just as Moon was perfect in the Who but would've been a terrible fit for the Stones.

Agree completely!

I was at the gig in Bologna on Saturday night. They were absolutely rocking and the super-enthusiastic Italian fans made it special. It was just mental in the mosh pit for 'My Generation' after Pete read out a message in Italian beforehand saying 'Let's go crazy'. They needed no encouragement The clock rolled back 50 years with everyone pogo-ing up and down.

Pete takes over vocals for a couple of songs mid set + a long instrumental to give Roger a 'Keith's 2 songs' type break. It's helped him a lot. He seemed rejuvenated and sounds a lot better. He drank a hell of a lot of water and came on stage with a mug of tea! Great night. At the end, the whole band hung around for several minutes to lap up the applause, clearly taken aback by the wild crowd. Big smiles from Rog and Pete. Loads of Stones T shirts on view including mine. So many Stones fans love the Who too.

The Support Band, the Slydigs (from Warrington), stayed in the same place as me. I had a couple of beers with their guitar technician and roadie after the show. He said Rog and Pete are both having lots of fun, are loving playing live and plan to tour Japan and Australia next year so for any IORRians in those countries, I urge you to go and see them - they know how to put on a show! He also said that they are so approachable and down to Earth and have time for everyone on the tour including all crew of their own and Support Bands, every sngle one of whom they are on 1st name terms with.

Look Who's talking: Pete Townshend on solo re-releases and what the future holds for The Who

British rock icon Pete Townshend has spoken exclusively to Music Week about his plans to re-release his solo back catalogue, new material and why he is “optimistic” about the possibility of new Who music in the future.

Earlier this week, we revealed that the legendary guitarist is planning to re-release his back catalogue of solo recordings with long-time friend and former Universal Music Group International chairman and CEO Max Hole onboard for the project as non-executive producer.

Townshend’s solo material is currently with Universal and, while a release schedule has yet to be confirmed, Music Week understands that his catalogue will be re-released and repackaged over the course of 2017.

“When we met back in the ‘80s we became immediate friends; it was clear that he was more than a record chief who would work well for me,” Townshend explained. “He’s a fan, he knew all of my music. He was an aficionado of not just my solo work but also of The Who history.

“There are three areas I can see where he’s going to have a role. One is new music (solo), the other is the old music and then the unreleased demos from the archive.”

At present, there is no date in sight for a new solo record, although Townshend does reveal that he is working on a large-scale, multi-faceted project.

“I have been working on a song cycle, but I can’t say much about it because I don’t know what the time frame is going to be. I’ve been working on something since 2008, which is a massive project involving an art installation.“

A new addition to Townshend’s Scoop series of unreleased demos and rarities is also in the offing.

He added: “What I’m most excited about working on with Max is the new Scoop. We might get that out in the last quarter of this year or the first quarter of next. That’s a pot boiler record that just sells to fans, really. I’ve got so much stuff and it’s always fun to wade through it. And it’s also fun for me to have someone listen to everything I’ve got and make choices.”

As for the possibility of a new Who album somewhere down the line, Townshend says he “optimistic”.

“The Who’s future with recording is still in the air,” he stated. “We’ve tried a lot to make records together, very much like the Stones. They did their blues album [Blue & Lonesome], which has done very well. So now everyone’s suggesting The Who should do the same! Roger and I have had a few occasions where we’ve tried to write and record together but we are more optimistic than ever before, because Roger has grown such a lot; he’s developed creatively, hugely. We’re optimistic we might be able to do something.

“People like The Stones, The Who, AC/DC, who are at a point where they are hugely successful not only with their old fans, but are now playing to people under 30. It’s a bit of a dilemma when we go into the studio whether or not to produce new music to compete with new music that’s out there at the moment - whether we should try to sound like Justin Bieber! Or whether we can be so arrogant as to imagine we can recreate the excitement of our early days, creatively. I used to sit in a studio 24 hours a day – I was hard-working, audacious and I was brilliant. And although I work very hard today I’m not the same person, so it’s quite difficult to imagine how I might pull that off. However, that dilemma is one that really needs to be looked at.”

So, while a studio-based reunion with Daltrey seems unlikely to materialise in the near future, Townshend is more than content to be working alongside Hole on those aforementioned solo releases throughout 2017 and beyond.

“It’s unusual for me to have a friend like Max in the business,” Townshend concluded. “You see lots of industry people in passing; you see them at concerts and you feel like you know them, but rarely do you go fishing for crabs with someone that is the chief of your record label, which is what he was until his illness. It’s been terrifying what he’s had to go through, but it’s been great that he and I can do this work together. I can’t think of anyone better. He’ll tell me the truth. And that’s what I need to hear.“

[www.musicweek.com]

Pete sounds a lot like Jimmy Page these days. Talking endlessly about new projects that never materialize while endlessly remastering and repackaging the old stuff. Where they differ is that Pete still gets off his ass occasionally and actually goes out and plays the old stuff.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-01-20 14:39 by tatters.

Pete speaks so honestly about the 'dilemma' of older artists competing with their younger selves.

Interesting, though, his comments about trying to work on creating new material with Roger - they've never really worked together on songwriting before (basically Roger would just sing Pete's words), Strange him talking about Roger growing creatively... Never seemed like a necessary factor for the last 50 years...

Bill Curbishley spoke to BBC's Gary Crowley last saturday and mentioned that they might play some concerts in South America this year.

[www.bbc.co.uk]

I'm told Pete Townsend remarried in December of last year.

Saw the Who on this tour and they were fantastic. Would love some new music but also would like to see a Live concert archive effort like The Stones and other bands have done. Live at Leeds is fantastic but it would be cool if they would release live shows from the 60's and 70's while working on new material.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-02-04 16:46 by oldschool.

"According to Curbishley, they are putting together a tour that includes North American dates in August and September, followed by 5 shows in Brazil, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina in September.

It is likely that they will appear at the popular Rock in Rio festival that will be held September 15 – 24. Other possible cities include Sao Paolo and Porto Alegre in Brazil, and Santiago de Chile. These have yet to be confirmed."

[petetownshend.net]

Yes, please!!!

the never ending farewell tour continues

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fyp933
the never ending farewell tour continues

Yeah, isn't it great? How many people who couldn't seen them will now be able to do that?

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Cristiano Radtke

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fyp933
the never ending farewell tour continues

Yeah, isn't it great? How many people who couldn't seen them will now be able to do that?

Amen. They're on fire at the moment, and I'm quite happy for them to continue as long as they'd like, even with roughly the same show.

The Who's Pete Townshend writes new song for rock opera Tommy
By Tim Masters

Move over, Pinball Wizard. The Who's rock opera Tommy is getting a new song.

Guitarist Pete Townshend has written the "torch song" for a new touring production of his musical, which opens at the end of this month.

The show, based on The Who's 1969 concept album, tells the story of a young boy who is so traumatised by his father's murder that he chooses to stop communicating with the outside world.

This latest version, directed by Kerry Michael, features a reworked opening with Townsend's new song Acid Queen 2 in the second act.

It will be performed by Peter Straker, who plays prostitute and drug dealer the Acid Queen.

"I'm quite elated about," Straker told the BBC during a break in rehearsals. "To have a new song in it is a great honour - I hope I can do it well."

The actor and singer appeared in the original West End production of Tommy back in 1979, in the role of the narrator.

"The Acid Queen is a shaman-like character, a very powerful figure," Straker explained.

"But in Act Two she hasn't healed Tommy and the song deals with how you deal with fame when it's faded."

In the 1975 film version of Tommy, the Acid Queen was played by Tina Turner, with Elton John as the Pinball Wizard and The Who's Roger Daltrey in the lead role.

'FEEL the music'

The Tommy tour features a cast of deaf, disabled and non-disabled actors from the Ramps on the Moon theatre project.

Townshend said: "When I heard that there was a new planned production of Tommy, I was pleased of course.

"But when I heard they planned to do a production featuring actors with disabilities of various kinds, that will actually throw new light on the original story, I became very excited.

"This is a totally new adventure, and really does refer back to my original story in which a young man, disabled by extreme trauma, finds his way to some kind of spiritual place because he can FEEL music. I can't wait to see it."

Straker said he'd been keen to revisit Tommy almost 40 years after its London premiere.

"I remember people at the Queen's Theatre complaining that it was too loud. But it is a rock opera - that's the idea of it!"

The UK tour begins on 30 March at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.

[www.bbc.com]

Hello,

I saw a couple of shows by this shower recently: the one in Manchester on Tues 4th and then Sheffield on Monday 10th April. As per, there are a ton of photos (thanks BV for hosting etc.) and a review of sorts in between the two shows...























I had booked the Sheffield show about a month ago when I was lucky enough to get a 4th row aisle seat: the Manchester show from last Tuesday was a last-minute number.
In the event I was able to grab a position on the rail: what a thrill...I was beaming and chuffed at how things had turned-out for what will probably be my last Who show. Twenty-eight shows is a pretty fair run, right?

As per the script, they strode out at 8.45pm to a healthy ovation, although you don't know how the rest of the 12000 seats (probably 75% full) are reacting. PT did half-jokingly comment that we all looked knackered because of the great weekend weather and that it was a Monday. He said that these five make-up shows* were a blast to do because the short run allowed the band to go for it a little, and that he had loved taking the time to explore The Lakes and North Yorkshire before this show.

This led into him waxing lyrical into how he loved the strong theatrical tradition in Sheffield (who knew?) at which point Rog tried to come in with some old nonsense about Sheffield being the Steel City, but before he could start banging on about miners or similar, Zak counted-off the start to the next number right over the top of him, hah-hah! Rog shook his head and raised his eyes to the heavens and we were away again!

I did have a bit of sympathy for the old devil as there were a couple of moments of eye-contact between Rog and me or the bloke beside me, and RD seemed to be shaking his head and making an apologetic expression, as though he thought he wasn't going full-bore. We let him know that he was doing fine, hah-hah! Late in the show he did confess to suffering from indigestion: Pete offered to burp him...Rog declined that kind offer though. Genuinely he sounded as fine as in Manchester, and being close allowed you to see the effort that he puts in. What was that line in TKAA? "The singer wants it all to be a big laugh, and when it isn't he thinks it's all going wrong...terribly wrong."

The set-list was identical to the Manchester show I think, except the always welcome '5.15' was tacked on after 'WGFA', which itself contained an ill-advised knee slide/drop. Ouch! Two hours onstage and no dicking around with encores. Boom!

We could argue about which songs should be in or out until the cows come home and PT did say that they would have to play for four hours like Bruce Springsteen in order to please everyone! There are certain numbers or sections within songs that still press PT's (and therefore the band's) buttons: think of the 'Cry If You Want' segue or 'The Rock' instrumental. Diminished as a performer in terms of physicality for sure, but when he let's it rip there is no other guitarist that I love to see. He just can't help himself!

I know that I've said it before and it ain't rocket science, but Simon and Zak make this band fly. Just as an aside, does anyone know if the cherry red SG that Si uses is a PT original from back in the day and perhaps used on old recordings? No? Just thought I'd ask since we're here...

The time fairly flew by and I never stopped singing or smiling. Yeah, they may only be recycling trash but there is still a fair amount of magic in there too. Safe travels fellas.

(*The disconnect between the principals, their management and the fans is the one major disappointment. They postponed two shows at the start of this tour in November 2014 in order to score a big payday playing at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That meant some fans that had already bought air fares and accommodation were left high and dry. Artists can can get sick or cancel/postpone for slightly more noble reasons than "We've had a better offer elsewhere, thanks."
Then cut to 2016 and postpone five UK shows that you have already put on sale and you shaft a load more fans again. Whether he was being entirely serious is 100% difficult to say, but during the Sheffield show Pete said that these shows were postponed because they put the tickets on sale during the week that the Brexit Referendum was announced and because of folks' uncertainty, ticket sales were dire.
I take absolutely zero pleasure in writing this, but it's better not to be oblivious...unlike the band it seems.)




























Cheers,

Simon.

Who's on bass? That's not Pino.

Hi MHRs,

It is a chap called Jon Button [jonbutton.nubook.com] , as Pino had already committed to tour with John Mayer...I ain't sure but I think Steve Jordan is in for the trek too. Wouldn't mind seeing that lot!

Cheers,

Simon.

AWWW Thank you!

I've seen this mob 4 times in the last 2 years. Such fun live they are too. Stones fans very easily become Who fans too. I toyed with the idea of going to the final night of this UK mini tour in Birmingham but gave it a miss in the end as I saw them just 7 months ago in Bologna, where they rocked the house down in a great performance. How did John Button do btw? Pino's been with them pretty much constantly since John died. Top bass player as he is, I don't think he's ever quite nailed the bass on My Generation but then who ever will - it was John Entwistle's signature track.

I've a feeling they'll carry on for a few years yet as they look like they're enjoying it and Roger's voice seems to have a new lease of life, especially with long instrumentals like the Rock in the set and Pete doing the odd song. A few mini tours like the one they've just done seems likely.