Roger Daltrey has officially announced the dates for his U.K. tour performing the Who rock opera Tommy in its entirety.
Daltrey performed the opera on March 25 at London's Royal Albert Hall during a benefit for the Teenage Cancer Trust and was happy enough with the results to take the show on tour. Along with the performance, the show employs striking visuals to help tell the story. Plans also call for Daltrey to perform a number of other Who classics during the program.
Joining Roger will be Frank Simes (guitar), Scott Deavours (drums), Jon Button (bass), Loren Gold (Keyboards) and Simon Townshend (guitar), younger brother of Pete Townshend.
Daltrey described the production as "A Tommy Show for today's audience from a different perspective. Tommy, an album that tells a story about a “deaf, dumb, and blind boy” who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, will always be seen as a turning point for the band. Within it, I found the new voice of The Who and the band found its stride in making that music, adjusting it, using all that knowledge that we had from jazz and the blues into making it work in a rock way."
While Pete Townshend will not be on the tour, he did comment "Great to see Roger performing Tommy with his band in 2011. I will be there in spirit and Roger has my complete and most loving support. Roger is touring his unique concert version of Tommy using his faithful presentation of the original work as the backbone for a set of wider material. It is wonderful to hear the way Roger and his new band re-interpret the old Who songs."
The dates:
07/03 - Alchester - Ragley Hall
07/04 - Gateshead - Sage
07/06 - Glasgow - Clyde Auditorium
07/07 - Manchester - Bridgewater Hall
07/09 - Nottingham - Royal Centre
07/10 - Newport - Centre
07/12 - Bristol - Colston Hall
07/13 - Southend - Cliffs Pavillion
07/15 - Guildford - Guilfest
07/16 - Hampshire - Broadlands
07/17 - Harrogate - Ripley House
07/19 - Hull - City Hall
07/21 - London - Indigo O2
07/22 - Norwich - Blicking Hall
07/24 - Exeter - Powderham Castle
At this point, there are no announced shows for other parts of the world.
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