The Who Tour 1975

History

The band had not performed since playing four shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City the previous June, having spent much of 1974 working on the Tommy film and soundtrack. Following the recording of The Who By Numbers in the spring of 1975, the group embarked on a tour of the United Kingdom in October, followed by a series of European dates; a 20-date North American tour followed, with the band finishing the year with three Christmas concerts at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The band’s 1975/76 American part of the tour began in Houston to a crowd of 18,000 at The Summit Arena, and was supported by Toots and the Maytals.

Although The Who By Numbers had just been released, group only played "Squeeze Box", "Dreaming from the Waist", and a few performances of "However Much I Booze" in 1975 ("Slip Kid" would also be played a few times in 1976). Despite being under the guise of a tour for their latest album, 1975–76 was more of a "Tommy revisited" period, with a mini-set of Tommy material featured in the middle of the set, thanks to the success of the film generating more interest in the rock opera; several Tommy pieces were played for the first time since either 1970 or 1971. Meanwhile, less and less Quadrophenia material appeared in the act as the '75 shows wore on – by the North American tour, only "Drowned" was finding its way occasionally into the set, and even that was eventually dropped. The group would settle into a regular setlist by the end of the year, repeating it almost verbatim throughout 1976.

Live Releases

Live material from 1975 has appeared on the following releases:

The entire show of 20 November at The Summit in Houston was recorded from the arena's closed-circuit video broadcast and eventually released in 2012 as The Who: Live in Texas '75.

The versions of "Join Together", "Road Runner", and "My Generation Blues" appearing on The Kids Are Alright and its accompanying soundtrack were recorded at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, on 6 December. This medley was omitted from the first CD release of the soundtrack, but was included in the reissued edition.

The version of "Dreaming from the Waist" from the Thirty Years of Maximum R&B Live video and DVD comes from the show of 9 December at Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland.

Tour band

Roger Daltrey - lead vocals, tambourine, harmonica

Pete Townshend - lead guitar, vocals, tambourine

John Entwistle - bass guitar, vocals

Keith Moon - drums, percussion, vocals

First leg in the United Kingdom

This leg began on 3 October at the New Bingley Hall in Stafford, and ended on 24 October at the Wembley Arena in London. A few songs were resurrected for this tour, but most did not remain in the set. "Join Together" was also played for the first time on this tour, albeit in a bluesy version sounding very different from the studio cut. Here is a fairly typical set list for this leg of the tour (actually from the concert on 4 October in Stafford). All songs written by Pete Townshend unless stated otherwise.

1. "Substitute"
2. "I Can't Explain"
3. "Squeeze Box"
4. "Heaven and Hell" (John Entwistle) (dropped after 16 October)
5. "Tattoo" (dropped after 16 October)
6. "Baba O'Riley"
7. "Behind Blue Eyes"
8. "Amazing Journey"/"Sparks"
9. "Eyesight to the Blind" (Sonny Boy Williamson) (dropped after 15 October)
10. "The Acid Queen"
11. "Fiddle About" (Entwistle)
12. "Pinball Wizard"
13. "I'm Free"
14. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon)
15. "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me, Feel Me"
16. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
17. "Drowned" (dropped after 7 October)
18. "5.15" (dropped after 16 October)
19. "My Generation Blues"
20. "My Generation"
21. "Join Together"
22. "Magic Bus" (only on 4, 7 and 15 October)
23. "Naked Eye" (only on 4, 7 and 15 October)
24. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "I Can't Explain" frequently switched with "Substitute" as the set-opener. "Heaven and Hell", "Tattoo" and "Eyesight to the Blind" were dropped after a series of two concerts at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow on 15 and 16 October, while "However Much I Booze" was introduced during the same series of concerts; "Dreaming from the Waist" was played first at a concert at the Granby Halls in Leicester on either 18 or 19 October. The jam following "My Generation" also changed nightly. Other songs were also played which are not in the above list:

"Bell Boy"

Performed on 3 October.

"The Punk and the Godfather"

Performed on 3 October.

"Let's See Action"

Performed on 7 October.

"However Much I Booze"

Performed on 15, 16, 19, 21, 23 & 24 October.

"Bargain"

Performed on 15, 16, 19, 21 & 24 October.

"Hi-Heel Sneakers" (Robert Higginbotham)

Performed on 19 October.

"Dreaming from the Waist"

Performed on 19, 21, 23 & 24 October.

"Boris the Spider" (Entwistle)

Performed on 21, 23 & 24 October.

"Maybellene" (Chuck Berry)

Performed on 21 October.

"Johnny B. Goode" (Berry)

Performed on 23 October.

European leg

This leg began on 27 October at the Ahoy in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and ended on 7 November at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Ludwigshafen in Germany. By this time, the band was already starting to pare down the set list. Here is a fairly typical set for this leg of the tour (actually from a concert in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 31 October). All songs written by Pete Townshend unless stated otherwise.

1. "Substitute"
2. "I Can't Explain"
3. "Squeeze Box"
4. "Boris the Spider" (John Entwistle)
5. "Baba O'Riley"
6. "Behind Blue Eyes" (not on 2 November)
7. "Dreaming from the Waist"
8. "Amazing Journey"/"Sparks"
9. "The Acid Queen"
10. "Fiddle About" (Entwistle)
11. "Pinball Wizard"
12. "I'm Free"
13. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon)
14. "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me, Feel Me"
15. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
16. "Bargain" (dropped after 3 November)
17. "My Generation"
18. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Encores (variations of the following list):

"5.15"

Performed on 3 November.

"Magic Bus"

Performed on 7 November.

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "I Can't Explain" sometimes switched with "Substitute" as the set-opener. "Bargain" and "5.15" were both dropped after the concert at the Messehalle in Stuttgart, Germany, on 3 November. "Boris the Spider" frequently exchanged between the fourth and eighth slot. The jam following "My Generation" also changed nightly. Other songs were also played which are not in the above list:

"However Much I Booze"

Performed on 27 & 30 October and 7 November.

"Join Together"

Performed on 27 October; and 2, 3 & 7 November.

"My Generation Blues"

Performed on 27 October; and 7 November.

"All Right Now" (Andy Fraser, Paul Rodgers)

Performed on 2 November.

"Naked Eye"

Performed on 3 & 7 November

"Drowned"

Performed on 7 November.

"Road Runner" (Ellas McDaniel)

Performed on 7 November.

US leg

This US tour began on 20 November at The Summit in Houston, Texas, and ended on 15 December at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Here is a fairly typical set list for the earlier part of the tour (actually from a concert in Memphis, Tennessee, on 23 November). The jam following "My Generation" changed nightly. All songs written by Pete Townshend unless stated otherwise.

1. "I Can't Explain"
2. "Substitute"
3. "Squeeze Box"
4. "Baba O'Riley"
5. "Boris the Spider" (John Entwistle)
6. "Drowned"
7. "However Much I Booze" (dropped after 23 November)
8. "Dreaming from the Waist"
9. "Behind Blue Eyes"
10. "Amazing Journey"/"Sparks"
11. "The Acid Queen"
12. "Fiddle About" (Entwistle)
13. "Pinball Wizard"
14. "I'm Free"
15. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon)
16. "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me, Feel Me"
17. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
18. "My Generation"
19. "Join Together" (not on 24 and 25 November)
20. "Road Runner" (Ellas McDaniel) (not on 25 November)
21. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Encores (variations of the following list):

"Magic Bus"

Performed on 20 & 24 November

"My Generation Blues"

Performed on 20, 21 November (not as encore), 24 (not as encore), 25 (not as encore) & 27 (not as encore).

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches. "Substitute" once switched with "I Can't Explain" as the set-opener and the jam following "My Generation" changed nightly. Other songs were also played which are not in the above list:

"Tattoo"

Performed on 24 & 27 November

Here is a fairly typical set list for the later part of the tour (actually from a concert in Providence, Rhode Island, on 13 December). All songs written by Pete Townshend unless stated otherwise.

1. "I Can't Explain"
2. "Substitute"
3. "My Wife" (John Entwistle)
4. "Baba O'Riley"
5. "Squeeze Box"
6. "Behind Blue Eyes"
7. "Dreaming from the Waist"
8. "Boris the Spider" (Entwistle)
9. "Magic Bus"
10. "Amazing Journey"/"Sparks"
11. "The Acid Queen"
12. "Fiddle About" (Entwistle)
13. "Pinball Wizard"
14. "I'm Free"
15. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon)
16. "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me, Feel Me"
17. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
18. "My Generation"
19. "Join Together"
20. "My Generation Blues" (not on 14 and 15 December)
21. "Road Runner" (Ellas McDaniel) (not on 15 December)
22. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Encores (variations of the following list):

"Drowned"

Performed on 4 December.

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour, and the jam following "My Generation" changed nightly. Other songs were also played which are not in the above list:

"Spoonful" (Willie Dixon)

Performed on 9 & 11 December

Second leg in the United Kingdom

This leg lasted from 21 December at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and ended on 23 December at the same venue. Not much is known about this mini-leg, as the only known setlist is from the December 22nd show. All songs written by Pete Townshend unless stated otherwise.

1. "I Can't Explain"
2. "Substitute"
3. "My Wife" (John Entwistle)
4. "Baba O'Riley"
5. "Squeeze Box"
6. "Behind Blue Eyes"
7. "Dreaming from the Waist"
8. "Boris the Spider" (Entwistle)
9. "Magic Bus"
10. "Amazing Journey"/"Sparks"
11. "The Acid Queen"
12. "Fiddle About" (Entwistle)
13. "Pinball Wizard"
14. "I'm Free"
15. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon)
16. "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me, Feel Me"
17. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
18. "My Generation"
19. "Join Together"
20. "My Generation Blues"
21. "Road Runner" (Ellas McDaniel)
22. "Spoonful" (Willie Dixon)
23. "Won't Get Fooled Again"