Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend during “Baba O’Riley” at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla., April 22, 2022
The Who opened their first tour in two-and-a-half years on Friday night (April 22, 2022). And though the beards have all grown longer overnight, one thing didn’t change. “The Who Hits Back!,” as this edition is called, brings Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend with their band and a full orchestra back to U.S. venues with essentially the identical setlist as their acclaimed 2019 “Moving On!” tour.
The 24-song set started with half a dozen numbers from 1969’s Tommy rock opera performed with the orchestra, beginning with the familiar Overture.
The evening continued with “Who Are You” and “Eminence Front.”
The spring leg continues through May. They return in the fall on Oct. 2 with dates through early November.
Midway through the performance, the band played six songs without the orchestra.
Watch them do “I Can See For Miles”
“The Who Hits Back!” tour features The Who’s full live band comprised of guitarist/backup singer Simon Townshend, keyboardist Loren Gold, second keyboardist Emily Marshall, bassist Jon Button, drummer Zak Starkey and backing vocals by Billy Nicholls, along with orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, lead violinist Katie Jacoby and lead cellist Audrey Snyder.
Townshend and Daltrey perform “Won’t Get Fooled Again” alone, acoustically. At one point, “the Guv’nor” forget the words. “In another year’s time, we might be a really tight band,” he laughed.
The band-only portion concluded with “Behind Blue Eyes.”
Daltrey turned 78 on March 1. Townshend hits 76 on May 19.
The orchestra returned for the final seven songs. Here’s “5:15” from 1973’s Quadrophenia.
Since their last tour ended on Oct. 24, 2019, The Who have done just a handful of shows, largely due to the pandemic. Most recently, they gave an acoustic concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall on March 25, to benefit their Teenage Cancer Trust.
Before that, the last concerts The Who gave were four acoustic club dates on Feb. 12 and 14, 2020, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their legendary Live at Leeds performance.
Watch them perform the instrumental, “The Rock,” from Quadrophenia, on opening night
The Who are hitting most of the cities they were set to play in 2020 with multiple new stops, including a previously announced show in New Orleans, LA, at Jazz Fest on April 30.
Later this year, The Who will be releasing an expanded edition of 1971’s Who’s Next which grew out of Townshend’s Lifehouse project for the album’s belated 50th anniversary.
The night concluded with “Baba O’Riley.”
Thanks to Moving Picture Videos and aonvision6 for the great clips.
The Who Hits Back! 2022 Tour (Tickets are available at Ticketmaster and here)
Apr 24 / VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena / Jacksonville, FL
Apr 27 / Amalie Arena / Tampa, FL
Apr 30 / New Orleans Jazz Festival
May 03 / Moody Center ATX / Austin, TX
May 05 / American Airlines Center / Dallas, TX
May 08 / Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion / The Woodlands, TX
May 10 / Paycom Center / Oklahoma City, OK
May 13 / FedEx Forum / Memphis, TN
May 15 / TQL Stadium / Cincinnati, OH
May 18 / TD Garden / Boston, MA
May 20 / Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia, PA
May 23 / Capital One Arena / Washington, D.C.
May 26 / Madison Square Garden / New York City, NY
May 28 / Bethel Woods Center of the Arts / Bethel, NY
Oct 02 / Scotiabank Arena / Toronto, ON
Oct 04 / Little Caesars Arena / Detroit, MI
Oct 07 / UBS Arena / Belmont Park, NY
Oct 09 / Schottenstein Center / Columbus, OH
Oct 12 / United Center / Chicago, IL
Oct 14 / Enterprise Center / St. Louis, MO
Oct 17 / Ball Arena / Denver, CO
Oct 20 / Moda Center / Portland, OR
Oct 22 / Climate Pledge Arena / Seattle, WA
Oct 26 / Golden 1 Center / Sacramento, CA
Oct 28 / Honda Center / Anaheim, CA
Nov 01 / Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles, CA
Nov 04 / Dolby Live at Park MGM / Las Vegas, NV
Nov 05 / Dolby Live at Park MGM / Las Vegas, NV
Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationZak is a beast on the kit. He does Keith proud! Cheers.