Tommy Tour

The Tommy Tour was a concert tour by the English rock band the Who. It was in support of their fourth album, the rock opera Tommy (1969), and consisted of concerts split between North America and Europe. Following a press reception gig, the tour officially began on 9 May 1969 and ended on 20 December 1970. The set list featured the majority of the songs from Tommy, as well as originals and covers.

Tommy Tour
Tour by The Who
A tour book for the band's December 1969 English shows, featuring lyrics from "Welcome".
Associated albumTommy
Start date9 May 1969 (1969-05-09)[lower-alpha 1]
End date20 December 1970 (1970-12-20)
Legs6
No. of shows91 in North America
73 in Europe[lower-alpha 1]
187 in total
The Who concert chronology

After multiple rehearsals and warm-up gigs, the band did a private show at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London in early May 1969 intended to preview Tommy to the press. Subsequently, the band did a North American tour playing the new album, which was well received by audiences. Following a UK tour, the band played the Tanglewood Music Shed and the Woodstock festival. After Woodstock, the band headlined the second Isle of Wight festival and played Tommy at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one of the world's forefront opera houses. The band continued to tour North America, emphasized by eight shows done over the course of six days at the Fillmore East in New York City. The Who ended 1969 with tour of Europe that continued into 1970, including a show at the London Coliseum on 14 December, which was filmed for a possible future Tommy film.

1970 began with the group bringing Tommy to various European opera houses. During their tour, the critically acclaimed live album Live at Leeds was recorded during a show at the University of Leeds Refectory, Leeds. After the European tour wrapped up, the band returned to the United States for a tour, starting with two shows at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City in June. Following the tour, the band played several concerts in Europe, including a headlining appearance at the third Isle of Wight festival in August. The band ended the Tommy Tour with a benefit concert at the Roundhouse in London.

History

1969 was a transitional year for the band, due almost entirely to Pete Townshend's rock opera Tommy, which they had begun recording the previous autumn.[2] After a series of rehearsals and warm-up gigs, the band gave a preview concert to the press at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club on 1 May.[3] Realising the opera's narrative was too difficult to comprehend, Townshend explained a synopsis of the story, before the Who played Tommy at roaring volume.[4] The next day, the band flew to New York to start the North American tour, commencing on 9 May at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.[3] On 29 May, the band began a three-night residency at Chicago's Kinetic Playground. They noticed the audience would all stand up at the same time, and stay standing, indicating that live performances of Tommy had a positive reaction from audiences.[5] After finishing a series of tour dates in San Francisco during June,[5] the Who flew to London to do two shows for the Royal Albert Hall's Pop Proms concert series. The first show resulted into a fracas involving Teddy Boys who attempted to prevent the band from coming on stage, but the second show went smoothly as the Teds were satisfied with renditions of "Summertime Blues" and "Shakin' All Over".[6] On 10 August, the band suspended their UK tour to do two contracted appearances at the Tanglewood Music Shed and the Woodstock festival.[7]

Tommy's supposed "world premiere" took place at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

After playing a show at Tanglewood on 12 August, the band flew to New York to play a set at Woodstock. Due to a fourteen-hour delay, the band became reluctant to play and demanded their $12,500 fee.[8] The Who were scheduled to perform the previous day, 16 August, but the festival ran late and they did not take to the stage until the early hours of the 17th. After playing "Pinball Wizard", Yippie founder Abbie Hoffman interrupted the show to protest the arrest of John Sinclair before getting kicked offstage by Townshend, and the sun rose almost as if on cue during "See Me, Feel Me".[9][10] After returning to England, the band headlined the second Isle of Wight festival on 30 August. Though most media attention focused on Bob Dylan making his first British appearance in three years, the Who stole the show. Townshend later said, "We know that the stage act we had, with Tommy in it, would work under any circumstances, because it had worked many times on tour."[11]

The "world premiere" of Tommy took place on 29 September at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world. During the band's entrance, drummer Keith Moon suffered an injury after knocking down two speaker cabinets.[11] The show later became a bootleg recording.[12] The band started another North American tour on 10 October at the Commonwealth Armory in Boston, emphasized by a six-night stand at the Fillmore East in New York City. One show at the Fillmore was attended by Leonard Bernstein, who praised the band for their new music.[13] The Who ended 1969 with a tour of Europe that continued into 1970, including a show at the London Coliseum on 14 December, which was filmed for a possible future Tommy feature.[14]

1970 began with the group bringing Tommy to various European opera houses, a trend they had begun in December 1969 when they performed at the London Coliseum. Included were January stops at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, and three opera houses in Germany.[15] The band then focused again on recording a live album. While performances on 14 February at the University of Leeds Refectory and 15 February at Hull City Hall were both recorded, only the Leeds recording was deemed suitable for release, as the bass track was inadvertently not captured during the first few songs at the Hull show. The result was the legendary Live at Leeds, which became a hallmark live rock album.[16]

After beginning recording sessions for a planned new album, the group returned to the United States for a 30-day tour in June and July to support Tommy. In the year since the release of Tommy, the group had become rock superstars and now commanded considerably larger venues than on previous stints in the country, when they played mostly in theatres and colleges. The tour began with the band's final opera house date, as they performed two shows at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House.[17] Following the American tour, the band was one of the headlining acts at the third Isle of Wight festival and embarked on a short European tour shortly afterward.[18] A series of concerts in the United Kingdom followed, the last being a Christmas benefit concert at the Roundhouse in London where they included what was intended to be the last complete performance of Tommy, although it would be played again a few times in 1989.[19] Townshend would lead the group into his Lifehouse vision when they began performing in 1971.

Personnel

Repertoire

The band performed the entirety of Tommy, with the exception of "Cousin Kevin", "Underture", "Sensation" and "Welcome" because they weren't considered suitable for live performance.[20] Aside from the new material, songs such as "Happy Jack", "A Quick One, While He's Away", "Young Man Blues", "Summertime Blues", "My Generation", and "Magic Bus" were featured heavily in the group's stage show, among others.[21] In the autumn, they elected to expand the stage presentation of Tommy further, adding songs like "Overture" and "Sally Simpson" that had been skipped in earlier performances;[22] additionally, show-ending performances of "My Generation" were stretched out to reprise certain parts of the rock opera along with other instrumental passages, such as the chord progression that eventually evolved into "Naked Eye".[21]

While the rock opera remained the focal point of the set into 1970, the band also featured their latest single, "The Seeker" on the 1970 U.S. tour, although it was dropped after two weeks. They also added some material from their in-progress album (eventually abandoned in favour of Townshend's Lifehouse project), performing "Water" and "I Don't Even Know Myself" regularly;[14][23] "Naked Eye", although unfinished in the studio, was performed in various arrangements on the tour as well, generally during the long show-ending jams during "My Generation".[21]

During the final leg, the set list was the same as on the previous leg, with the exception of "Shakin' All Over" now segueing into the rock standard "Twist and Shout";[24] the band also stopped including Tommy themes in their long versions of "My Generation" and often moved it into "Naked Eye" and "Magic Bus". They continued to play the same basic set as in August and September, occasionally adding loose versions of Free's "All Right Now" towards the end of the show.[25]

Films and albums

Over the years, several films and albums have been released of the band's concert performances during the Tommy Tour (all are albums, except where noted).

Additionally, songs recorded during the tour have been released along with other live and/or studio material:

Tour dates

Preview concert in the U.K. and North American leg (1 May – 19 June 1969)
List of tour dates with date, city, country, venue, references
Date City Country Venue Ref(s)
1 May 1969[lower-alpha 1] London England Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club [4]
9 May 1969 Detroit United States Grande Ballroom [36]
10 May 1969 [36]
11 May 1969 [3]
13 May 1969 Boston Boston Tea Party [37]
14 May 1969 [3]
15 May 1969 [3]
16 May 1969 New York City Fillmore East [3]
17 May 1969
(2 shows)		 [37]
18 May 1969
(2 shows)		 [37]
19 May 1969
(2 shows)		 Toronto Canada The Rockpile [37]
23 May 1969 Philadelphia United States Electric Factory [37]
24 May 1969 [38]
25 May 1969 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion [38]
29 May 1969 Chicago Kinetic Playground [5]
30 May 1969 [5]
31 May 1969 [5]
1 June 1969 St. Louis Kiel Auditorium [5]
5 June 1969
(2 shows)		 New York City Fillmore East [38]
6 June 1969
(2 shows)		 [38]
7 June 1969 Lake Geneva Majestic Hills Theater [38]
8 June 1969
(2 shows)		 Minneapolis Guthrie Theater [38]
13 June 1969[lower-alpha 3] Los Angeles Hollywood Palladium [5]
17 June 1969
(2 shows)		 San Francisco Fillmore West [22]
18 June 1969
(2 shows)		 [22]
19 June 1969 [22]

U.K. leg, U.S. contracted appearances, and European tour (5 July – 29 September 1969)
List of tour dates with date, city, country, venue, references
Date City Country Venue Ref(s)
5 July 1969
(2 shows)[lower-alpha 4]		 London England Royal Albert Hall [6]
19 July 1969 Birmingham Mothers [7]
20 July 1969 Hastings Pier Ballroom [22]
27 July 1969 Redcar Redcar Jazz Club [22]
28 July 1969 Sunderland Fillmore North [7]
2 August 1969 Eastbourne Winter Garden [7]
3 August 1969 Carlisle Cosmopolitan [22]
4 August 1969 Bath Bath Pavilion [7]
7 August 1969 Worthing Assembly Hall [22]
9 August 1969[lower-alpha 5] Plumpton Plumpton Racecourse [7]
12 August 1969 Lenox United States Tanglewood Music Shed [7]
17 August 1969[lower-alpha 6] Bethel Yasgur Farms [10]
22 August 1969 Shrewsbury England Music Hall [10]
29 August 1969 Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre [11]
30 August 1969[lower-alpha 7] Isle of Wight Woodside Bay [11]
6 September 1969 Dunfermline Scotland Kinema Ballroom [11]
7 September 1969 Carlisle England Cosmopolitan [11]
13 September 1969 Sutton Coldfield The Belfry [11]
21 September 1969 Croydon Fairfield Halls [22]
29 September 1969 Amsterdam Netherlands Concertgebouw [11]

North American leg (10 October – 16 November 1969)
List of tour dates with date, city, country, venue, references
Date City Country Venue Ref(s)
10 October 1969 Boston United States Commonwealth Armory [11]
11 October 1969 Detroit Grande Ballroom [11]
12 October 1969 [11]
14 October 1969 Toronto Canada CNE Coliseum [13]
15 October 1969 Ottawa Capitol Theatre [39]
17 October 1969 Worcester United States Holy Cross Field House [39]
18 October 1969 Stony Brook Pritchard Gymnasium [13]
19 October 1969
(2 shows)		 Philadelphia Electric Factory [39]
20 October 1969 New York City Fillmore East [13]
21 October 1969 [40]
22 October 1969 [40]
23 October 1969 [40]
24 October 1969
(2 shows)		 [40]
25 October 1969
(2 shows)		 [40]
26 October 1969 Pittsburgh Syria Mosque [40]
31 October 1969 Chicago Kinetic Playground [13]
1 November 1969 Columbus Veterans Memorial Auditorium [41]
2 November 1969 Washington, D.C. McDonough Gymnasium [41]
3 November 1969 White Plains Westchester County Center [41]
4 November 1969 Hartford Bushnell Memorial Hall [41]
6 November 1969[lower-alpha 8] Granville Livingston Gymnasium Indoor Track [13]
7 November 1969 Athens Convocation Center [41]
8 November 1969 St. Louis Kiel Opera House [41]
10 November 1969 Albany Palace Theatre [41]
11 November 1969 Boston Boston Tea Party [13]
12 November 1969 [13]
13 November 1969 New Paltz Elting Gymnasium [41]
14 November 1969 Cleveland Music Hall [41]
15 November 1969 Buffalo Kleinhans Music Hall [26]
16 November 1969 Syracuse Onondaga County War Memorial [26]

European leg (4 December 1969 – 16 May 1970)
List of tour dates with date, city, country, venue, references
Date City Country Venue Ref(s)
4 December 1969 Bristol England Bristol Hippodrome [26]
5 December 1969 Manchester Palace Theatre [26]
12 December 1969 Liverpool Liverpool Empire Theatre [26]
14 December 1969 London London Coliseum [14]
19 December 1969 Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle City Hall [26]
16 January 1970 Paris France Théâtre des Champs-Élysées [15]
17 January 1970 [15]
24 January 1970 Copenhagen Denmark Royal Danish Theatre [15]
26 January 1970 Cologne Germany Opernhaus [15]
27 January 1970 Hamburg Opernhaus [15]
28 January 1970 Berlin Deutschland Stadt Opera House [15]
30 January 1970 Amsterdam Netherlands Concertgebouw [15]
14 February 1970 Leeds England University of Leeds Refectory [42]
15 February 1970 Kingston upon Hull Hull City Hall [42]
18 April 1970 Leicester University of Leicester [43]
25 April 1970 Nottingham Portland Building [43]
27 April 1970 Dunstable Dunstable Civic Hall [43]
1 May 1970 Exeter Great Hall [43]
2 May 1970 Sheffield University of Sheffield [43]
8 May 1970 Kent Eliot College [43]
9 May 1970 Manchester Manchester University [43]
15 May 1970 Lancaster Lancaster University [43]
16 May 1970 York Derwent College [43]

U.S. leg (7 June – 7 July 1970)
List of tour dates with date, city, country, venue, references
Date City Country Venue Ref(s)
7 June 1970
(2 shows)		 New York City United States Metropolitan Opera House [17]
9 June 1970 Denver Mammoth Gardens [23]
10 June 1970 [23]
13 June 1970 San Diego Golden Hall [23]
14 June 1970 Anaheim Anaheim Stadium [23]
15 June 1970 Berkeley Berkeley Community Theatre [23]
16 June 1970 [23]
19 June 1970 Dallas Dallas Memorial Auditorium [23]
20 June 1970 Houston Hofheinz Pavilion [23]
21 June 1970 Memphis Ellis Auditorium [23]
22 June 1970 Atlanta Municipal Auditorium [44]
24 June 1970 Philadelphia Spectrum [44]
25 June 1970 Cincinnati Cincinnati Music Hall [44]
26 June 1970 [44]
27 June 1970 Cleveland Public Auditorium [44]
29 June 1970 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion [44]
1 July 1970 Chicago Auditorium Theatre [44]
2 July 1970 Kansas City Freedom Palace [44]
3 July 1970 Minneapolis Minneapolis Auditorium [44]
4 July 1970 Chicago Auditorium Theatre [44]
5 July 1970 Detroit Cobo Arena [44]
7 July 1970 Lenox Tanglewood Music Shed [44]

European leg (25 July – 20 December 1970)
List of tour dates with date, city, country, venue, references
Date City Country Venue Ref(s)
25 July 1970 Dunstable England Dunstable Civic Hall [44]
8 August 1970 Sutton Coldfield The Belfry [44]
24 August 1970 Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Civic Hall [33]
29 August 1970[lower-alpha 9] Isle of Wight East Afton Farm [33]
12 September 1970 Münster Germany Halle Münsterland [33]
13 September 1970 Offenbach am Main Stadthalle Offenbach [33]
16 September 1970 Rotterdam Netherlands De Doelen [33]
17 September 1970 Amsterdam Concertgebouw [33]
18 September 1970 Rotterdam De Doelen [45]
20 August 1970 Copenhagen Denmark Falkoner Teatret [45]
21 August 1970 Aarhus Vejlby-Risskov Hallen [45]
6 October 1970 Cardiff Wales Sophia Gardens Pavilion [45]
7 October 1970 Manchester England Free Trade Hall [46]
8 October 1970 London Orchid Ballroom [46]
10 October 1970 Brighton Old Refectory [46]
11 October 1970 Birmingham Birmingham Odeon [46]
13 October 1970 Leeds Locarno Ballroom [33]
18 October 1970 London Lewisham Odeon [47]
22 October 1970 Stockton-on-Tees ABC Cinemas [47]
23 October 1970 Glasgow Scotland Green's Playhouse [47]
24 October 1970 Sheffield England University of Sheffield [47]
25 October 1970 Liverpool Liverpool Empire Theatre [47]
26 October 1970 Stoke-on-Trent Trentham Ballroom [47]
27 October 1970 Norwich University of East Anglia [25]
29 October 1970 London Hammersmith Palais [47]
21 November 1970 Leeds University of Leeds Refectory [25]
28 November 1970 Coventry Lanchester Polytechnic [25]
5 December 1970 Norwich Lads' Club [48]
15 December 1970 Newcastle upon Tyne Mayfair Ballroom [48]
16 December 1970 Scarborough Futurist Theatre [48]
20 December 1970 London Roundhouse [19]

See also

Notes
  1. The concert on 1 May 1969 was a private event intended to preview Tommy to the press and is not included in the total number of shows for the tour.[1]
  2. The "Abbie Hoffman Incident" is dialogue of Townshend removing Hoffman from the stage when he attempted an impromptu speech during the middle of the band's set.[22]
  3. The concert on 13 June 1969 was a part of Magic Circus.[5]
  4. The concerts on 5 July 1969 were a part of Pop Proms.[6]
  5. The concert on 9 August 1969 was a part of the National Jazz and Blues Festival.[22]
  6. The concert on 17 August 1969 was a part of the Woodstock festival. The band was scheduled to perform Saturday night, 16 August. However, due to the festival running late, they actually performed Sunday morning, 17 August.[10]
  7. The concert on 30 August 1969 was a part of the Isle of Wight Festival 1969.[11]
  8. The concert on 6 November 1969 was a part of the Raccoon Creek Rock Festival.[13]
  9. The concert on 29 August 1970 was a part of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970.[33]

Footnotes
  1. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 156–157
  2. Neill & Kent 2002, p. 135
  3. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 160–161
  4. Marsh 1983, p. 340
  5. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 163–164
  6. Neill & Kent 2002, p. 165
  7. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 166–167
  8. Marsh 1983, p. 348
  9. Marsh 1983, p. 350
  10. Neill & Kent 2002, p. 168
  11. Neill & Kent 2002, p. 169
  12. Erlewine
  13. Neill & Kent 2002, p. 170
  14. McMichael & Lyons 1997, pp. 96–97
  15. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 176–178
  16. Neill & Kent 2002, p. 179
  17. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 101
  18. Neill & Kent 2002, p. 174
  19. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 110
  20. Atkins 2000, p. 136
  21. McMichael & Lyons 1997, pp. 82–83
  22. McMichael & Lyons 1997, pp. 88–92
  23. McMichael & Lyons 1997, pp. 102–103
  24. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 106
  25. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 109
  26. Neill & Kent 2002, p. 171
  27. Marshall, Townshend & Daltrey 2015, p. 314
  28. The Story of The Who (liner notes)
  29. The Kids Are Alright (liner notes)
  30. Hooligans (liner notes)
  31. Thirty Years of Maximum R&B (liner notes)
  32. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 186
  33. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 187–188
  34. View from a Backstage Pass (liner notes)
  35. Marshall, Townshend & Daltrey 2015, p. 315
  36. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 85
  37. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 86
  38. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 87
  39. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 93
  40. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 94
  41. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 95
  42. McMichael & Lyons 1997, pp. 98–99
  43. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 100
  44. McMichael & Lyons 1997, pp. 104–105
  45. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 107
  46. McMichael & Lyons 1997, p. 108
  47. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 189
  48. Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 191

References
  • Neill, Andy; Kent, Matt (2002). Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The Who 1958–1978. Barnes & Noble. ISBN 978-1-40276-691-6.
  • Marsh, Dave (1983). Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who. Plexus. ISBN 978-0-8596-5083-0.
  • Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Live in Amsterdam – The Who". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  • McMichael, Joe; Lyons, "Irish" Jack (1997). The Who Concert File. Omnibus. ISBN 0-7119-6316-9.
  • Atkins, John (2000). The Who on Record: A Critical History, 1963–1998. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0609-8.
  • Marshall, Ben; Townshend, Pete; Daltrey, Roger (2015). The Who: 50 Years: The Official History. Harper Design. ISBN 978-0-06-239636-5.
  • The Story of The Who (liner notes). The Who. Polydor. 1976.CS1 maint: others (link)
  • The Kids Are Alright (liner notes). The Who. Polydor. 1979.CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Hooligans (liner notes). The Who. MCA. 1981.CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Thirty Years of Maximum R&B (liner notes). The Who. 1994.CS1 maint: others (link)
  • View from a Backstage Pass (liner notes). The Who. 2007.CS1 maint: others (link)
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