The Who, those legendary titans of British rock, have just announced their “The Song Is Over” farewell tour. But here’s the kicker: it’s exclusively in North America. That’s right—no UK dates. No European dates. Just the U.S. and Canada.
The band that gave us “My Generation” and “Baba O’Riley” is saying goodbye without a proper send-off in their homeland. They will play their final gigs in the US and Canada throughout August and September. However, the question looms as to whether or not they’ll say their goodbyes on home turf and in Europe with a further tour.
Roger Daltrey, the voice behind those iconic screams, opened up on the matter. Well, that’s a bit of disappointing news for British fans who’ve supported them for over six decades.
“Let’s see if we survive this one,” replied frontman Roger Daltrey, speaking at a London press conference today. “I’ve just finished a solo tour of the UK. I’ve got to say that touring America is a damn site easier than touring the UK. For some reason, the UK has made it as difficult as possible to go from A to B. In America, you seem to want to make it as easy as possible – but we are in the land of ‘no’.
“I don’t want to say it won’t happen, but equally I’m not confident in saying that there will be.”
Guitarist Pete Townshend continued: “I would agree completely. I really enjoyed the last tour that we did [in 2023], but it was a strange one. We played a lot of open air gigs, but we had an insurance problem, which meant we couldn’t play some of the more classic places that one plays on a UK tour.
“The door is open to us. We could do a week at The O2, a couple of weeks at the Royal Albert Hall, but we don’t do consecutive shows. We like to do a show and take a break.”
The 81-year-old Daltrey then referred to his health issues, saying: “I can’t do consecutive shows. In the middle of a tour, I might be able to do two back to back, but I’ve been ordered by my throat and voice specialist who said I had to have a day off after every gig, and after every two gigs I need to have three days off. Otherwise I’ll wreck my voice and will not be able to sing.”
Townshend then jokingly interrupted: “We’re out of time, Rog!”
