The Who Announces Orchestra-Backed 2022 North American Tour
Local orchestras will perform with the band at each show
The Who has announced a new, months-long North American tour that will kick off in Florida this April.
The iconic British band will return to the States and Canada for The Who Hits Back! tour, for which some shows were originally meant to take place in 2019. However, frontman Roger Daltrey needed to undergo a throat operation at the time, meaning the gigs had to be postponed.
The new tour, which will take place between April and May, and October and November, will see the band joined by local orchestras at each stop. They will help Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend recreate classic songs from the likes of Tommy, Quadrophenia, and Who’s Next, as well as tracks from the 2019 record Who.
Other personnel that will perform at the shows include drummer Zak Starkey, bassist Jon Button, guitarist-singer Simon Townshend, keyboardist Loren Gold, backing singer Billy Nicholls, orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, lead violinist Katie Jacoby, lead cellist Audrey Snyder, and keyboardist Emily Marshall. Tickets will go on general sale at 10am local time on Friday (February 11) and will be available to purchase here.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Townshend promised the concerts aren’t part of a long goodbye. “Roger is of the opinion that he wants to sing until he drops,” he said. “That’s not my philosophy of life. There are other things that I want to do, still want to do, and will do, I hope. I hope I’ll live long enough to do them.
“But it’s not a farewell tour. Apart from anything else, we still have people who have tickets for the UK 2019 tour. We’re very, very keen to do that tour and we’ll be doing that tour in 2023, I think. But I’m talking about stuff I don’t really know about. I don’t have any guarantees, like everybody else. I don’t really know for sure what’s going to happen next month.”
In other The Who news, a long-discussed biopic about the band’s former drummer Keith Moon is planning to begin shooting in June. The film will be executive-produced by Townshend and Daltrey and is being made under the working title The Real Me.
Listen to the best of The Who on Apple Music and Spotify and view the band’s tour itinerary below.
Apr 22 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live
Apr 24 – Jacksonville, FL – VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Apr 27 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Apr 30 – New Orleans Jazz Festival
May 3 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ATX
May 5 – 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, DC – Capitol One Arena
May 26 – New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden
May 28 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center of the Arts
Oct 2 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Oct 3 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Oct 7 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena
Oct 9 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
Oct 12 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Oct 14 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
Oct 17 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Oct 20 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
Oct 22 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Oct 26 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
Oct 28 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
Nov 1 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
Nov 4 – Las Vegas, NV – Dolby Live
Nov 5 – Las Vegas, NV – Dolby Live
