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The Who Tour 1979

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The Who Tour 1979
Tour by The Who
Start dateMay 2, 1979
End dateDecember 28, 1979
Legs3
No. of shows35
The Who concert chronology

The Who Tour 1979 was The Who's first concert tour since the death of original drummer Keith Moon, supporting their 1978 album Who Are You.

History

This tour was the first without Keith Moon and also the first to feature new drummer Kenney Jones and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick.

Midway through the tour, a horn section was introduced to the band's act for the first time, starting with the concert at Wembley Stadium in London on August 18, 1979. The horn section would be retained through 1980.

This tour is known among Who fans for the new songs that guitarist Pete Townshend was introducing some nights, most of which have not been released until now. Some of the notable songs which evolved out of those jams are "Cat's in the Cupboard" and "I Am an Animal" from Townshend's 1980 album Empty Glass, "How Can You Do It Alone" from The Who's 1981 album Face Dances, and "Dance It Away", a bonus track on the reissued edition of Townshend's 1982 album All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.

Unfortunately, the second US leg of the tour was marred by tragedy. Before a concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 3, 1979, 11 fans were killed while 26 others were injured at a crowd crush outside the Coliseum. This led to the banning of festival seating in Cincinnati and many other cities and states around the United States for a long time. A scheduled concert for December 17 in Providence, Rhode Island was also cancelled, and a second concert in Landover, Maryland (the first was on 13th December) was scheduled instead.

The tour ended with a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London on December 28, 1979 as part of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea.

Band members

Additional musicians

Typical set lists

First UK/Europe Leg

This leg started from May 2, 1979 at the Rainbow Theatre in London and went on until September 1, 1979 at the Zeppelinfeld in Nuremberg. Here is a fairly typical set list for this leg (actually taken from a concert at the Arenes de Frejus in Frejus on May 12, 1979). This leg featured the first performances of four songs from the band's last album, Who Are You: "Who Are You", "Trick of the Light", "Sister Disco" and "Music Must Change". All songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified.

  1. "Substitute"
  2. "I Can't Explain"
  3. "Baba O'Riley"
  4. "The Punk and the Godfather"
  5. "Boris the Spider" (John Entwistle)
  6. "Sister Disco"
  7. "Music Must Change"
  8. "Behind Blue Eyes"
  9. "Dreaming from the Waist" (dropped after August 18th)
  10. "Pinball Wizard"
  11. "See Me, Feel Me"
  12. "Long Live Rock" (not played on September 1st)
  13. "Bargain" (dropped after June 8th)
  14. "Who Are You"
  15. "My Generation"
  16. "Join Together"
  17. "My Generation Blues" (dropped after June 9th)
  18. "Magic Bus"
  19. "Keyboard Bridge" (Townshend and John Bundrick; dropped after August 18th)
  20. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Encores (variations of the following list):

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "Behind Blue Eyes" switched places with "Music Must Change" after the second concert. "Bargain" was dropped after a concert in Glasgow, Scotland on June 8, 1979. Also, some other songs were played which are not in the above lists:

  • "Trick of the Light" (Entwistle)
    • Performed on August 18th; and September 1st.
  • "5.15"
    • Performed on August 18th; and September 1st.
  • "Drowned" (Townshend on vocals instead of Daltrey)
    • Performed on August 18th; and September 1st.
  • "Blue Black White" (unreleased Who song)
    • Performed on September 1st.

First US Leg

This leg was one of the shorter ones of the tour, only lasting from September 10 to September 18 (two nights at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ and five nights at the Madison Square Garden in New York, NY), but it was also the one with the most set list variations. Nearly nightly, Townshend was improvising and incorporating new songs into the set list, such as "Dance It Away", "That's Rock And Roll", "I'm London", "Cat's in the Cupboard" and others. This particular set list is taken from the second show in New York, September 14, 1979. All songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified.

  1. "Substitute"
  2. "I Can't Explain"
  3. "Baba O'Riley"
  4. "The Punk and the Godfather"
  5. "Boris the Spider" (John Entwistle)
  6. "Sister Disco"
  7. "Behind Blue Eyes"
  8. "Music Must Change"
  9. "Drowned"
  10. "Who Are You"
  11. "5.15"
  12. "Pinball Wizard"
  13. "See Me, Feel Me"
  14. "Long Live Rock"
  15. "My Generation"
  16. "Let's See Action" (only on September 14th)
  17. "Blue Black White" (dropped after September 16th)
  18. "Join Together" (dropped after September 14th)
  19. "Magic Bus"
  20. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Encores (variations of the following list):

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "My Wife" was played on September 17 and took the place of "Boris the Spider" on September 18. Some of the songs in the encore list also made appearances in the regular set, and vice-versa. Also, some other songs were played which are not in the above lists:

Second UK/US Leg

This leg featured the second leg of the US tour, as well as its four warm-up shows from November 10 to November 17 in Brighton, England and Stafford, England. The US tour started on November 30, 1979 at the Masonic Temple Auditorium in Detroit, MI and ended on December 17, 1979 at the Capital Centre in Landover, MD. The concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on December 28 for the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea could also be included here. Sadly, a disaster occurred at the infamous Cincinnati concert on December 3, leading to the death of 11 fans and the cancellation of one scheduled concert. This particular set list is taken from a concert in New Haven, CT on December 15, 1979.

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

Encores (variations of the following list):

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "Boris the Spider" was played in the first half of this leg, being dropped after December 7. Some of the songs in the encore list also made appearances in the regular set, and vice-versa. Also, some other songs were played which are not in the above lists:

  • "Boris the Spider" (Entwistle)
    • Performed on November 10th, 11th, 16th & 30th; and December 2nd, 4th, 6th & 7th.
  • "Dreaming from the Waist"
    • Performed on November 11th.
  • "I'm London"
    • Performed on December 2nd.
  • "I Sent You a Letter"
    • Performed on December 2nd.
  • "Slip Kid"
    • Performed on December 4th, as a snippet.
  • "The Relay"
    • Performed on December 8th, as a snippet.
  • "I Don't Want To Be an Old Man" (a.k.a. "Fuck All Blues")
    • Performed on December 28th.

Tour dates

First UK/Europe Leg

First US Leg

Warm-up dates

Main tour

Second UK/US Leg

UK Warm-up dates

Main US tour

Concert For Kampuchea

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