The Who Tour 1980

History

Aside from six warm-up shows in Europe, the tour focused primarily on the areas of North America not covered in the band's previous tour, which had focused on the northeastern United States. The set list was very similar to what they played on that tour, save the omission of "The Punk and the Godfather", which was only performed once in 1980. "The Relay" was played for the first time since their 1972 European tour, and the group also briefly resurrected "Getting In Tune" for one show during the European warm-up tour, although it did not remain in the act. Yet-unreleased songs "How Can You Do It Alone" and "Dance It Away" returned from the previous tour as well, with the latter having developed into a full song similar to the bonus track on the reissue of Townshend's 1982 solo album All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes. A very early version of "Another Tricky Day" from the band's next album Face Dances also featured in one of the band's jams during "Dance It Away" in Los Angeles.

As in the second half of 1979, the band employed a brass section, which was showcased in numbers such as "Music Must Change", "Drowned", and "5.15", among others. Notable Pink Floyd sideman Dick Parry handled saxophone duties on this tour.

Tour band

Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, tambourine, harmonica

Pete Townshend – lead guitar, vocals, bass guitar

John Entwistle – bass guitar, 8-string bass, vocals

Kenney Jones – drums

Additional musicians

John "Rabbit" Bundrick – keyboards, piano, tambourine, backing vocals

Dick Parry – saxophone

Reg Brooks – trombone

Dave Caswell – trumpet

First European Leg

This short leg started on 26 March 1980 at the Grugahalle in Essen, West Germany and ended on 1 April 1980 at the Festhalle Frankfurt in Frankfurt. Here is a fairly typical set list (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):

1. "Substitute"
2. "I Can't Explain"
3. "Baba O'Riley"
4. "My Wife" (John Entwistle)
5. "Sister Disco"
6. "Behind Blue Eyes" (replaced with "Getting in Tune" on 27 March)
7. "Music Must Change" (replaced with "Dreaming from the Waist" on 1 April)
8. "Drowned"
9. "Who Are You"
10. "5.15"
11. "Pinball Wizard"
12. "See Me, Feel Me"
13. "Long Live Rock"
14. "My Generation"
15. "Sparks" (not played on 26 and 27 March)
16. "I Can See for Miles" (not played on 30 March)
17. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Encores (variations of the following list):

"Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)

Performed on 26 March.

"The Relay"

Performed on 26 (not as encore) and 27 March.

"Dancing in the Street" (Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter)

Performed on 26 and 30 March.

"The Real Me"

Performed on 27, 28 and 30 March; and 1 April.

"Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison)

Performed on 27 and 31 March.

"Shakin' All Over" (Johnny Kidd)

Performed on 30 March.

"Let's See Action"

Performed on 30 March.

"Dance It Away"

Performed on 30 and 31 March.

"Big Boss Man" (Al Smith, Luther Dixon)

Performed on 31 March.

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.

First North American Leg

This leg began on 14 April at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver and ended on 7 May at the Montreal Forum. Here is a fairly typical set list (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):

1. "Substitute"
2. "I Can't Explain"
3. "Baba O'Riley"
4. "My Wife" (John Entwistle)
5. "Sister Disco"
6. "Behind Blue Eyes"
7. "Music Must Change" or "Dreaming from the Waist"
8. "Drowned"
9. "Who Are You"
10. "5.15"
11. "Pinball Wizard"
12. "See Me, Feel Me"
13. "Long Live Rock"
14. "My Generation"
15. "I Can See for Miles"
16. "Sparks"
17. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Encores (variations of the following list):

"The Real Me"

Performed at all shows except 15, 18, 22 (unconfirmed), 24 and 28 April; and 2 and 6 May.

"Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)

Performed on 14, 18, 23 and 29 April; and 5 May.

"Dancing in the Street" (Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter)

Performed on 15, 18, 22, 24 and 28 April; and 2 and 6 May.

"Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison)

Performed on 15, 19, 22 and 23 April; and 2 and 6 May.

"Dance It Away"

Performed on 18, 24 and 28 April; and 2 and 6 May.

"Shakin' All Over" (Johnny Kidd)

Performed on 16 and 26 April.

"Magic Bus"

Performed on 19 (not as encore) and 26 April.

"The Relay"

Performed on 20, 24 and 28 April; and 3 (not as encore), 5 (not as encore) and 7 May.

"How Can You Do It Alone"

Performed on 28 April.

"Let's See Action"

Performed on 28 April.

"Pretty Vacant" (Sex Pistols)

Performed on 28 April.

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "See Me, Feel Me" often followed "Sparks" instead of "Pinball Wizard" and the band frequently rotated "Music Must Change", "Dreaming from the Waist" and "The Relay" as the seventh song of the set. Some other songs were played which are not in the above lists:

"The Punk and the Godfather"

Performed on 28 April.

"Going Down" (Don Nix) (loose version)

Performed on 28 April.

Second North American Leg

The band returned after a six-week break for the second leg of the tour, which began on 18 June at the San Diego Sports Arena. This leg included two shows at the The Forum in Inglewood, California and five more at the Los Angeles Sports Arena and ended before a huge crowd at Toronto's CNE Stadium on 16 July, the group's last performance until the following January. At the invitation of Pete Townshend, Willie Nile accompanied the Who on their summer of 1980 - Second North American Leg as an opening act. Here is a fairly typical set list (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):

1. "Substitute"
2. "I Can't Explain"
3. "Baba O'Riley"
4. "My Wife" (John Entwistle)
5. "Sister Disco"
6. "Behind Blue Eyes"
7. "Music Must Change"
8. "Drowned"
9. "Who Are You"
10. "5.15"
11. "Pinball Wizard"
12. "See Me, Feel Me"
13. "Long Live Rock"
14. "My Generation"
15. "I Can See for Miles" (not played at every show)
16. "Sparks" (dropped after 7 July)
17. "Naked Eye" (not played at every show)
18. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Encores (variations of the following list):

"Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)

Performed on 18, 23, 27, 28 and 30 June; and 2, 3, 7, 9, 11 and 16 July.

"Dance It Away"

Performed on 18, 20 and 24 June; and 16 July.

"Dancing in the Street" (Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter)

Performed on 20 and 24 June; and 16 July.

"Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison)

Performed on 20 June and 10 July.

"Another Tricky Day"

Performed on 20 June.

"Shakin' All Over" (Johnny Kidd)

Performed on 21 June.

"The Relay"

Performed on 21 and 24 June; and 13 July.

"You Belong To Us"

Performed on 23 June.

"Twist and Shout" (Phil Medley, Bert Russell)

Performed on 23 and 28 June; and 7, 9, 14 and 16 July.

"Magic Bus"

Performed on 24 June.

"The Real Me"

Performed at all shows except 24 and 26 (unconfirmed) June; and 5 (unconfirmed) and 10 (confirmed) July.

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "Dreaming from the Waist" was played in place of "Music Must Change" in the first two shows of this leg and "See Me, Feel Me" occasionally followed "Sparks" instead of "Pinball Wizard".