The Who is one the most legendary and celebrated bands in rock n' roll. Their new tour started in Barcelona on June 14th and will take Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and their musicians to Italy, Germany, France, and back to their home country of England for the final dates in August. What happens after that is really anyone's guess, but if Daltrey and Townshend are to be believed, a new album seems to be out of the question.
The Who Hits Back! is the latest tour by legendary English rockers The Who. Like its American and English legs, this trek will see Pete, Rog and their backing band (including drummer Zak Starkey) backed by local symphony orchestras at every stop, to put a new spin on old classics. If you're curious as to what it sounds like, check out their latest album The Who with orchestra: Live At Wembley, recorded in London in 2021 and released last March.
Click HERE to check all of The Who Hits Back! dates
The tour will stop by Paris (well, Nanterre to be precise) on June 23rd and you can get your tickets at the link below:
Since the band was a pioneer in multimedia and film projects (look no further than their classic movies Tommy and Quadrophenia for proof), we thought we'd shine a light on a couple of their concert movies in preparation for their first Paris show since a memorable summer night in 2015. We have provided the iTunes links to these films so you can download and watch them at convenience.
(Full disclosure: we get a tiny commission every time you buy these products using our links. So treat yo'selves!)
The first one we want to feature is The Who Live at the Isle of Wight Festival. As far as we're concerned, this is the epitome of The Who's live career. It even bests their Woodstock set, and the Live at Leeds album. The band took the stage around 2 in the morning on August 29, 1970 and delivered one of the best sets in rock history. The setlist is very similar to those two other shows, because they were touring behind their seminal Rock Opera Tommy. Between 1968 and 1971, The Who was unrivaled on stage, but the Isle of Wight performance is off the charts, even by their impossibly high standards. Although bootleg copies were in circulation among collectors, the original tapes would remain in the vaults until 1996 when they finally released a double CD version and the DVD of the movie.
This is The Who at the height of there, back when their only serious competition was Led Zeppelin. Filmed in Houston, Texas on opening night of their 1975 U.S. tour in support of their then current album By Numbers. By then, the elegant rhythm n' blues and the quintessentially English pop of earlier albums had given way to a simpler, more muscular proto-hard rock that was tailored for stadiums. Daltrey emerges as the ultimate rock frontman, full of grit and machismo. Unfortunately, contrary to the previous entry, the camera work and editing is pretty mediocre, never rising above bootleg quality. But the band's performance thankfully more than makes up for it.
This is a recent example of The Who's power and a perfect summation of their career and the irrevocable proof that even at that late stage, supposedly decades past their prime, they remain one of the most vibrant live acts in rock n' roll.
If you're not familiar with their discography, or only have a passing knowledge of their catalogue, it's time to remedy that now.
Click on the banner above to listen to sign up for Apple Music and get one month of streaming for free For more information of the band, we can also recommend the following:  A terrible cover and a sensationalistic title, but the book is actually very good. If you're a fan, you're unlikely to learn anything new but it's a great summary of The Who's entire career, and it features a very detailed discography as well as insightful critical analyses of the band's output. |