Neha Patil (Editor)

The Who Tour 2002

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Start date
  
27 January 2002

No. of shows
  
32

Leg
  
4

Legs
  
4

End date
  
September 28, 2002

The Who Tour 2002 was a tour by The Who, partially in support of the DVD The Who & Special Guests: Live at the Royal Albert Hall. It is perhaps known best as the first tour the band did without original bassist John Entwistle, who died the night before the North American tour was to begin; the group decided to complete the tour with the help of bassist Pino Palladino, who has played with them since.

Contents

History

After making a single appearance in 2001 at The Concert for New York City in October, the group began the year with a series of shows in England that culminated with two charity dates at the Royal Albert Hall in London, once again benefiting the Teenage Cancer Trust as in 2000. A full-scale tour of North America was then planned, with the group adding Pete Townshend's brother Simon to the lineup to help with backing vocals and rhythm guitar. After rehearsals in England, the group travelled to Las Vegas for the first scheduled date of the tour, only to have Entwistle's death from a fatal heart attack the night before (27 June) throw the tour and the band itself into question. Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey ultimately concluded that the tour should continue and were able to secure the services of Pino Palladino, a seasoned session and live bassist who had worked with Townshend on past solo projects, after contacting him in Philadelphia just as he was planning to travel back to the United Kingdom. The first two dates were rescheduled and the tour commenced with an emotional show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on 1 July after only two days of rehearsals. The group eventually played 27 dates over four legs, often wearing black and paying tribute to Entwistle during the shows; the tour finished at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on 28 September. The band continued to play with this line-up for several more years.

Live Releases

Live material from 2002 has appeared on the following releases:

  • Four songs ("I'm Free", "I Don't Even Know Myself", "Summertime Blues", and "Young Man Blues") from the 8 February 2002 show at the Royal Albert Hall in London are included as a bonus disc of the Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, which features the band's 27 November 2000 charity show at the same venue.
  • 25 of the group's 27 North American shows were released as The Who Encore Series 2002, a practice that would continue for their 2004 and 2006–2007 tours. Only the first show at the Hollywood Bowl on 1 July and the 1 August date at Madison Square Garden in New York City were omitted from the set.
  • The DVD Live in Boston chronicles the 27 September show at the Tweeter Center, in Mansfield, Massachusetts on 27 September (mistakenly listed as 24 September).

    • Tour band

  • Roger Daltrey - lead vocals, harmonica, tambourine, occasional rhythm and acoustic guitar
  • Pete Townshend - lead guitar, vocals
  • John Entwistle - bass guitar, vocals (through 8 February)

    • Additional Members

  • Zak Starkey - drums
  • John Bundrick - piano, keyboards, backing vocals (backing vocals through 8 February)
  • Simon Townshend – rhythm guitar, vocals (beginning 1 July)
  • Pino Palladino – bass guitar (beginning 1 July)

    • January–February UK Dates

    The set list for the short series of United Kingdom dates early in the year was similar to what was played in 2000, but a longer selection of Tommy material included the first performances of "Amazing Journey", "Sparks", and "I'm Free" since the 1989 tour; the second show in Portsmouth also featured the "Overture" and "It's a Boy". The band also revived cover tunes that had been part of their act years before, namely "Summertime Blues", "Baby Don't You Do It" (not played since 1973), and "Young Man Blues". As these were the last shows the group played with John Entwistle, they were also the last in which they performed "My Wife" and "Boris the Spider".

    Here is a fairly typical set list for these shows (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):

    1. "I Can't Explain"
    2. "Substitute"
    3. "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere"
    4. "Amazing Journey"
    5. "Sparks" (replaced with an instrumental jam on 28 January)
    6. "Pinball Wizard"
    7. "I'm Free"
    8. "My Wife" (John Entwistle) (replaced with "Boris the Spider" (John Entwistle) on 28 January)
    9. "Who Are You"
    10. "Behind Blue Eyes"
    11. "Drowned" (Townshend solo acoustic)
    12. "Baba O'Riley"
    13. "You Better You Bet"
    14. "5.15"
    15. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

    Encores (variations of the following list):

  • "The Kids Are Alright"
  • Performed on 27, 28 and 31 January; and 7 and 8 February.
  • "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
  • Performed on 27, 28 and 31 January; and 7 and 8 February.
  • "Baby Don't You Do It" (Holland-Dozier-Holland)
  • Performed on 27 and 31 January.
  • "My Generation"
  • Performed on 27, 28 and 31 January; and 7 and 8 February.
  • "Magic Bus"
  • Performed on 28 January.
  • "Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison)
  • Performed on 31 January; and 7 and 8 February.
  • "Old Red Wine"
  • Performed on 7 and 8 February.
  • "The Acid Queen"
  • Performed during "My Generation" on 8 February.

    • There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. Some other songs were played which are not in the above lists:

  • "The Relay"
  • Performed on 28 January and 8 February.
  • "I'm One" (Townshend solo acoustic)
  • Performed on 28 January 7 and 8 February.
  • "Overture"
  • Performed on 28 January.
  • "It's a Boy"
  • Performed on 28 January.
  • "The Real Me"
  • Performed on 31 January.
  • "I Don't Even Know Myself"
  • Performed on 31 January 7 and 8 February.
  • "Getting In Tune"
  • Performed on 31 January 7 and 8 February.

    • North American Tour

    The set for the North American tour was modified to include the first performances of "Another Tricky Day" since 1981, along with "Eminence Front" and a Quadrophenia segment now including "Sea and Sand" and "Love, Reign o'er Me". The encore was a Tommy medley, with "See Me, Feel Me" performed regularly for the first time since 1989. The group had rehearsed both "Join Together" and "Music Must Change" before John Entwistle's death, but neither made the set list for the tour. Towards the end of the tour, Townshend further developed the Entwistle tribute song "Old Red Wine" (played at the end of "My Generation"), adding lyrics that would appear when the song was recorded for the Then and Now studio version. There was very little variation in the group's act throughout all four legs of the tour, most likely due to their having a new bass player.

    Here is a fairly typical set list for these shows (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):

    1. "I Can't Explain"
    2. "Substitute"
    3. "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere"
    4. "Who Are You"
    5. "Another Tricky Day"
    6. "The Relay" (not played on 28 August or 23 September)
    7. "Bargain"
    8. "Baba O'Riley"
    9. "Eminence Front"
    10. "Sea and Sand"
    11. "5.15"
    12. "Love, Reign o'er Me" (performed twice on 24 August)
    13. "Behind Blue Eyes"
    14. "You Better You Bet"
    15. "The Kids Are Alright"
    16. "My Generation" (including "Old Red Wine")
    17. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

    Encores (variations of the following list):

    1. "Pinball Wizard"
    2. "Amazing Journey"
    3. "Sparks"
    4. "See Me, Feel Me"

    There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. Some other songs were played which are not in the above lists:

  • "I Can See for Miles"
  • Performed on 26 July.
  • "I'm One"
  • Performed on 1, 3, 4, 30 and 31 August; and 14, 15 and 17 September.
  • "I Don't Even Know Myself"
  • Performed on 23 September.

    • References

    The Who Tour 2002 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA