The Who Tour 2006–2007 was The Who's first worldwide concert tour since 1997, supporting their Endless Wire album.
History
In December 2005, Rolling Stone magazine announced that The Who would be touring in the summer of 2006, visiting Australia, Canada, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In advance of their new Endless Wire album release, the band embarked on a 24-date European tour followed by their first world tour, their first shows since their short 2004 tours and brief performance at Live 8 in 2005. Members of the group's 2002 and 2004 line-up remained, namely Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend but also including keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick (due to the illness of his wife, replaced on 25 shows over two legs of the tour by his keyboard tech, Brian Kehew), bassist Pino Palladino, drummer Zak Starkey and guitarist/backup vocalist Simon Townshend. Opening acts featured on the worldwide tour included The Casbah Club, Peeping Tom, moe., Inward Eye, Rose Hill Drive, The Pretenders, and The Tragically Hip.
It was announced at short notice that the opening gig of the tour would be at the University of Leeds Refectory on 17 June, the same venue at which the band recorded the Live at Leeds album in 1970. Tickets to this particular show were sold in person only from the Leeds University Union, with sales limited to two tickets per person.[1] Before the concert Daltrey and Townshend unveiled a blue plaque to commemorate the recording of Live at Leeds at the same venue 36 years before. The show was so greatly anticipated that the BBC covered the story, both on the day of the concert and the day after, including interviews with audience members as they were leaving the performance.[2][3]
In July, the group played a number of music festivals around the UK, including the second day of Hyde Park Calling, a concert to celebrate the twenty year anniversary of the Hard Rock Cafe, on 2 July, Oxegen in Ireland on 8 July, and T in the Park in Scotland on 9 July. When The Who performed at Hyde Park Calling, they were joined by Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond to test vans. The episode was broadcast on 30 July 2006.
Shows from the entire European tour were broadcast online at the band's website. Video streaming company Streaming Tank were in charge of broadcasting the concerts, headed up by the technical team for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. This was the first attempt by any band to broadcast entire shows via the Internet since the Pixelon-sponsored "Vegas Job" (later released on DVD as The Vegas Job) in October 1999, which had been the band's first attempt at live broadcasting over the internet. Most of the European shows were preceded in the broadcast by an episode of the web TV program, In The Attic, presented by Rachel Fuller and Mikey Cuthbert. At festivals such as the O2 Festival in Leeds, the opening artists for The Who appeared as guests on the show once they came off stage.
On 12 September, The band opened the first leg of the North American tour in Philadelphia at the Wachovia Center, then later appeared at the BBC's Electric Proms and on the Parkinson before returning to the United States. The second North American leg concluded in Columbus, Ohio on 11 December.
The group spent most of the first half of 2007 touring again, starting with a return trip to North America that began on 23 February in Reno, Nevada and ended on 26 March in Hollywood, Florida, followed by the band's Teenage Cancer Trust benefit concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 31 March. An extensive trip through various parts of the United Kingdom and Europe began in Lisbon, Portugal on 16 May and concluded in Helsinki, Finland on 9 July. The band also did a one-off show on 6 October at Messegelände in Hanover, Germany to celebrate the International Volkswagen Minibus Meeting. The band also flew to South Africa to do another 46664 concert to celebrate World AIDS Day.
The 2006–2007 tours were financially successful and well received by fans and critics alike, with only a couple of minor setbacks. One incident occurred on 8 December 2006 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, when Daltrey's voice gave out near the end of a performance. Daltrey had apologised to the audience earlier in the concert, saying that he was suffering from bronchitis.[4] On 13 March 2007 the band came on stage as usual in Tampa, Florida but abruptly ended the show moments into the opening number when it became painfully clear that Daltrey was unable to sing at all. Townshend stopped the band and apologised, saying they wanted to at least "give it a go" despite Daltrey being seriously ill with an upper respiratory infection. The band's manager Bill Curbishley quickly rescheduled the show, which was successfully performed on 25 March. Dates in Mexico City and San Antonio, Texas were also postponed, but the band ultimately chose to cancel them instead.[5]
Another incident occurred in Verona, Italy, on 11 June 2007 when a massive rainstorm forced the band to stop the concert after only five songs, and when they came back on stage over an hour later, Daltrey found himself unable to sing.[6] Townshend announced the show was cancelled, but ferocious booing from the rain-soaked crowd persuaded the band to return to the stage 40 minutes later to play the rest of the set, this time with Pete doing most of the vocals and a raucous and visibly frustrated Daltrey singing just a verse here and there when his voice permitted, giving all he could in the final "Won't Get Fooled Again".[7]
Live releases
Live material from 2006–2007 has appeared on the following releases:
Every performance from 2006–2007 was recorded on both CD and DVD, and (except for the Leeds concert) is available as part of the Encore Series 2006 and 2007 scheme of releases.
Parts of the band's show of 17 July 2006 at Théâtre Antique in Vienne, Isère, France (near Lyon) were included on CD and DVD in the expanded edition of the Endless Wire album:
This particular leg of the tour lasted from 7 June 2006 in Hertfordshire until 29 July 2006 in Zaragoza, Spain. This leg featured the first live performances of certain songs from Endless Wire, such as the mini-opera "Wire & Glass" and "Mike Post Theme". The typical setlist consisted of ( All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted)
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "Old Red Wine" was not performed at all the shows, and was sometimes attached to the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again" or "See Me, Feel Me". Three of the first four shows had the Tommy medley played as the regular set ender with "Won't Get Fooled Again" moving to the encore. Other songs occasionally played were:
"Let's See Action" (Performed on 17 and 28 June and 5, 11, 12, 15, and 23 July).
"Old Red Wine" (Performed on 25 and 30 June and 15, 17, 18, 22, and 27 July)
"Greyhound Girl" (Pete Townshend solo song) (Performed on 14 and 17 July)
"Drowned" (acoustic) (Performed on 18 and 25 June and 2, 6, 18, 27, and 29 July)
2006 US/Canada leg
This particular leg of the tour lasted from 12 September 2006 in Philadelphia until 11 December 2006 in Columbus, Ohio. Here is the typical setlist of the first leg, all songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.
By the time the band reached the second leg of this tour, on November, they switched the order of a few songs, added some and dropped some as well. Here is the typical setlist for the second US leg, All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "Black Widow's Eyes" was sometimes inserted between "A Man in a Purple Dress" and "Mike Post Theme". Also, at a concert in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the traditional encore was skipped and a medley of "My Generation", "Cry If You Want" and "Naked Eye" was played because singer Roger Daltrey left the stage due to voice problems. Here is a list of the rest of the songs performed on the tour but not on the above lists:
"Naked Eye" (Performed on 25 September and 8 and 11 December)
"Unholy Trinity" (Performed on 12 and 13 September and 5 October)
This particular leg of the tour lasted from 23 February 2007 in Reno, Nevada until 26 March 2007 in Hollywood, Florida. Here is a typical setlist for the leg of the tour, All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "Mike Post Theme" was played at the first concert in Reno on 23 February 2007. At the same concert, "The Relay" was substituted for "You Better You Bet", the only occurrence of that on this particular leg of the tour. Also, at three concerts (23, 25 and 26 March), a combination of "The Kids Are Alright" and "Substitute" was performed instead of the mini-opera. Here is a list of the rest of the songs performed on the tour but not on the above list:
This particular leg of the tour lasted from 16 May 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal until 9 July 2007 in Helsinki, Finland (with an additional concert on 6 October 2007 in Hanover, Germany for a VW Bus Convention). This particular set is taken from a concert at the Atlántico Pavilion in Lisbon, Portugal on 16 May 2007. All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. The third song slot alternated between "Substitute", "The Relay" and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere". At certain shows, the mini-opera was dropped as well. Here is a list of the rest of the songs performed on the tour but not on the above list:
