The Who, one of the all-time great live bands, is coming to Dublin!
Following their triumphant return to Wembley Stadium in July, The Who will embark on a full Irish and UK Arena Tour arriving at 3Arena on March 18 2020. Tickets go on sale 10am Friday 20th September.
Fifty-five years after they made their first recordings, The Who is also back with their first new album in thirteen years entitled WHO due for release on 22nd November 2019 and is preceded by BALL AND CHAIN, which is available on all streaming services now.
The eleven-track album was mostly recorded in London and Los Angeles during Spring and Summer 2019 and was co-produced by Pete Townshend & D. Sardy (who has worked with Noel Gallagher, Oasis, LCD Soundsystem, Gorillaz) with vocal production by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, Roger Daltrey, Wilko Johnson).
Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend are joined on the album by long-time Who drummer Zak Starkey, bassist Pino Palladino along with contributions from Simon Townshend, Benmont Tench, Carla Azar, Joey Waronker and Gordon Giltrap.
The artwork for WHO was unveiled last night in New York at the opening of the brand new eight-storey Pace contemporary art gallery where the band also performed a short acoustic set. The album cover has been created by famed pop artist, Sir Peter Blake who first met the band in 1964 at a taping of the legendary TV show Ready Steady Go. Sir Peter designed and contributed a painting to the sleeve of The Who’s album Face Dances in 1981.
The songs on WHO cover a myriad of subjects including the Grenfell Tower fire, musical theft, spirituality, reincarnation, the power of memory and ‘an old rock star that has lost his marbles’. Singer Roger Daltrey rates it amongst their strongest “I think we’ve made our best album since Quadrophenia in 1973, Pete hasn’t lost it, he’s still a fabulous songwriter, and he’s still got that cutting edge”.
Pete Townshend says, "This album is almost all new songs written last year, with just two exceptions. There is no theme, no concept, no story, just a set of songs that I (and my brother Simon) wrote to give Roger Daltrey some inspiration, challenges and scope for his newly revived singing voice. Roger and I are both old men now, by any measure, so I’ve tried to stay away from romance, but also from nostalgia if I can. I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Memories are OK, and some of the songs refer to the explosive state of things today. I made new home studio demos of all these songs in the summer of 2018 using a wide collection of instruments old and new. We started recording as The Who in March 2019, and have finished now in late August just in time to make some vinyl………maybe even some cassettes……ready for release in November”.
Photo Credit: Rick Guest
Two songs on the record the epic ‘Ball And Chain’ and string-laden ‘Hero Ground Zero’ recently got their world premiere when the band played with a 40-piece orchestra to a packed Wembley Stadium. Spring 2020 will see the band embarking on an Irish and UK tour featuring an orchestra.
The Who has one of the greatest rock legacies in music history, they’re one of the all-time great live bands, have sold over 100 million records world including 9 US & 10 UK top ten albums and 14 UK top ten singles in a career spanning six decades.
They have played over well over 2000 gigs in a career spanning over 50 years including venues such as Woodstock, Monterey Pop, Glastonbury (twice), Hyde Park (four times), The Isle Of Wight (three times), Desert Trip, Shea Stadium, The Superbowl half time show and Live Aid to name but a very few.
The band is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the UK Music Hall Of Fame and has lifetime achievement awards from The Brits and The Grammys and in 2008 were the first rock band ever to be awarded the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors.
THE WHO ‘WHO’ TRACKLISTING
THE WHO UK TOUR 2020
Tickets go on sale 10am Friday 20th September
From Ticketmaster: In person: From Ticketmaster Outlets Nationwide
By Telephone (24 Hour): ROI: 0818 719 300, Northern Ireland: 0844 277 4455
Book On Line: www.ticketmaster.ie
