UNITED KINGDOM: Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend announce the 2007 European tour of Rock legends "The Who"

Record ID: 784131

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend announce the 2007 European tour of Rock legends "The Who"
  • Date: 15th February 2007
  • Summary: 'THE WHO' PERFORM 'MIKE POST THEME'
  • Embargoed: 2nd March 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAEBFHK5OU4L60CR2UDG3UKAO5Y
  • Story Text: 'The Who' announce world tour and reveal they will be headlining this year's legendary Glastonbury Festival.
    What many consider to be one of the most influential rock bands ever, 'The Who', are set to tour Europe. Making the announcement at a press conference in London - and live on the internet - on Thursday (February 8), the two surviving members of the original band, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, said 'The Who' will play in 14 countries and 28 cities throughout Europe.
    The play dates will mark the first tour gigs in the UK and Europe since the 2006 release of The Who's Endless Wire album. That recording was their first studio release in more than twenty years.
    The two performed an acoustic mix of some of their classic and most recent songs at the press conference, which were broadcast live over the internet. Afterwards they took questions from fans in Australia, Sweden, and the U.S. via the web, as well as from reporters in the London studio.
    While 'The Who' have embraced the developing broadcasting technology of the internet - particularly for live performances - they spoke of how important festivals were for them to find new audiences.
    "You can see the potential of the internet, whether it's actually there or not for individual bands, I don't know, Pete would know more about that. But festivals are incredibly important for reaching a young audience. And that's what keep our music alive, is when young people pick up on it," said Daltrey.
    Daltrey and Townshend revealed at the conference that they would be headlining at Glastonbury - the music festival that has become as legendary as 'The Who' itself.
    Townshend explained that, for personal reasons, Glastonbury in particular will be a thrill for him to play.
    "One of the things I'm really so happy to be able to, y'know, accept that has happened is that I've got a 17 year old son and this year we're headlining at Glastonbury," he said. "You know, it's just the coolest fucking thing that could have happened to me at 61 years old to be able to say to him, 'Yeah, come, bring your caravan, bring your mates', you know? It's so fantastic and I'm so thrilled just to be out here doing this tour with Roger."
    Since the band formed more than 4 decades ago, songwriter/guitarist Townshend and singer Daltrey's volatile relationship has seen several several ups and downs - but Daltrey told reporters it is now on an even keel.
    "Loving it, absolutely loving it. Our relationship is back in the middle... It's not up or down, it's just there in the middle. We're working on making it go down," he joked
    After their European dates, 'The Who' said they plan to continue on with a World tour
    The tour kicks of in Lisbon in May, with tickets going on sale from Monday (February 12).
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