Scene and Heard

ROGER DALTREY recently premiered his spectacular performance of The Who’s legendary rock opera TOMMY at The Royal Albert Hall, London, in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust and is now taking it on the road, performing TOMMY in its entirety from start to finish. (The Who never actually played the complete Tommy.)

Tickets go on sale Thursday, May 19 (Canada) and Friday, May 20 at (U.S.). See below for full list of on sales. A special American Express card member pre-sale begins Monday, May 16 at 10AM local via www.aeglive.com (ending May 18 in Canada and May 19 in the U.S.). In addition, a variety of VIP packages will be available including options for artist meet-and-greets, reserved seating, collectible memorabilia and more. Keep an eye on TheWho.comfor more details. 

Employing the use of striking visuals to accompany the music, every show will be an unforgettable concert experience for lifelong fans and newcomers alike, who will be treated not only to the full majesty of TOMMY, but also to a variety of Who classics and more. 

Inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, the 20 million-selling double album of TOMMY defined the genre of rock opera. It also spawned a successful 1975 film of the same name–with DALTREY playing the title role–which re-underlined its place in the cultural firmament. 

Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee DALTREY is pulling out all the stops with a full band that will bring the rock opera’s wide-ranging sounds and textures to life vibrantly on stage every evening. Joining DALTREY will be Frank Simes (guitar), Scott Deavours (drums), Jon Button (bass), Loren Gold (keyboards) and, also on guitar, SIMON (younger brother of Pete) TOWNSHEND.

Commenting on the tour, Pete Townshend says “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.” 

After the recent Royal Albert Hall performance, the Who blogosphere was alight with comments from long standing fans, such as “Roger really nailed Tommy” and “Last night’s concert was the best I’ve ever seen – what a great band!”

“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,” says DALTREY. “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. What my band and I are doing now is a Tommy Show for today’s audience from a different perspective.”

The much-anticipated six-week tour launches September 13 in Hollywood, FL and concludes November 2 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, MB. 

DATE CITY VENUE

Sept. 13 Hollywood, FL Seminole Hard Rock

Sept. 15 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Pavilion

Sept. 17 Boston, MA Agganis Arena

Sept. 18 Newark, NJ Prudential Center

Sept. 21 Philadelphia, PA MANN Center

Sept. 23 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum

Sept. 24 Hartford, CT XL Center

**Sept. 27 Montreal, QC Place Des Arts

**Sept. 28 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place

**Sept. 30 Toronto, ON Sony Centre For The Performing Arts

Oct. 1 Windsor, ON The Coliseum at Caesars Windsor

Oct. 5 Minneapolis, MN U.S. Bank Theater at Target Center

Oct. 7 Hammond, IN Venue at Horseshoe Casino

Oct. 8 St. Louis, MO Peabody Opera House

Oct. 11 Cedar Park, TX Cedar Park Center

Oct. 12 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theatre

Oct. 14 Kansas City, MO The Midland by AMC

Oct. 16 Broomfield, CO 1STBANK Center

Oct. 19 Los Angeles, CA NOKIA Theatre

Oct. 21 San Jose, CA San Jose Civic 

Oct. 22 Las Vegas, NV The Joint

Oct. 24 Portland, OR Rose Quarter-Theatre of the Clouds

Oct. 25 Seattle, WA KeyArena at Seattle Center

**Oct. 27 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena

**Oct. 29 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place

**Oct. 30 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome

**Oct. 1 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre

**Oct. 2 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre

**Shows on sale Thursday, May 19. All other shows go on sale Friday, May 20. Tickets for the U.S. shows are available atwww.aeglive.com.