The Who Plan All-Star Acoustic Tommy Shows

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They may say that they’re retiring from touring but they (thankfully) always find a reason to change their minds. The Who have announced a series of 2017 U.K. concerts celebrating Pete Townshend’s Tommy including two acoustic performances of the rock opera featuring an all-star lineup at London’s Royal Albert Hall, to benefit Teenage Cancer Trust. Among the artists scheduled to join them are Paul McCartney, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Noel Gallagher, Oasis, Damon Albarn of Blur, Arctic Monkeys, Paul Weller, The Cure, Florence And The Machine, Johnny Marr, Them Crooked Vultures, and more.

The concerts at the legendary venue will be on March 30 and April 1 where the band – including their guests – will play the opera in full for the first time since 1989. A selection of other Who songs will follow. Roger Daltrey and Townshend have been supporters of Teenage Cancer Trust for over 22 years and The Who headlined the very first show for them at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000. These represent the 100th performances to benefit the Trust.

The band also announced that their five U.K. dates scheduled for August and September 2016, originally billed as greatest hits shows, are being moved to 2017 to coincide with the Royal Albert Hall dates.

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For those shows The Who will play their hits as well as some lesser known Who songs and also include a new focused presentation of Tommy drawn from the Royal Albert Hall concerts including a brand new video program specially produced for these shows.

This U.K. set will emulate the historic period around their legendary Live At Leeds and Woodstock performances when the central focus of a Who’s concert was always their performance of Tommy, something they haven’t been done since 1970.

Tickets for the shows originally scheduled for late August and September will be valid for the new shows. Those who cannot make the new dates are entitled to a full refund from their point of purchase. (Deadline for refunds is August 12.) The band’s 2016 European dates in Germany, Austria and Italy will take place as scheduled.

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Tickets for the Royal Albert Hall performances will go on sale at 9am on September 23.

The Who 2017 Dates:

March 30 – London, UK – Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at Royal Albert Hall
April 01 – London, UK – Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at Royal Albert Hall
April 03 – Liverpool, UK – Echo Arena
April 05 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Arena
April 07 – Glasgow, UK – SSE Hydro
April 10 – Sheffield, UK – Sheffield Arena
April 12 – Birmingham, UK – Birmingham Barclaycard Arena