The Who have cancelled their 2021 tour of the U.K. and Ireland. The concerts, scheduled to begin on March 5, had originally been planned for March and April 2020 but were postponed for a year due to the pandemic. Today (February 15, 2021), rather than pushing back the start again, the group finally cancelled the run.
In a statement, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend apologized for waiting so long to make the call. “Please excuse the delay but we wanted to wait as long as possible to see if we could indeed play them. However, as you can see the current situation makes this impossible. Thanks for all your wonderful support and we hope to see you in the future when conditions allow.”
[Update: On Feb. 7, 2022, the tour was rescheduled for 2022.]
Last May 21, the U.S. dates of their 2020 “Moving On” tour were cancelled. At the time, they wrote, “We hope you are all in good health and looking out for each other and we look forward to seeing you at a venue in the very near future.”
The U.S. dates were to include a show in the Cincinnati, OH area – the first time the band would be performing in the city since 11 lives were tragically lost as a crowd waited to get into The Who’s concert on December 3, 1979. The U.S. shows were to conclude with a residency in Las Vegas.
On March 12, 2020, the group announced the U.K. and Ireland dates of their tour had moved to 2021. At the time, they noted “fans’ safety is paramount and given the developing Coronavirus situation, the band felt that they had no option but to postpone the shows.”
In the March 12 statement, Daltrey assured fans that the shows will “definitely happen and it may be the last time we do a tour of this type, so keep those tickets, as the shows will be fantastic.”
Pete Townshend said “if one fan caught Coronavirus at a Who concert it would be one too many.”
The last concerts The Who gave were four acoustic club dates on Feb. 12 and 14, 2020, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their legendary Live at Leeds performance.
The Moving On shows were to have featured The Who’s full live band comprised of guitarist/backup singer Simon Townshend, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button, drummer Zak Starkey and backing vocals by Billy Nicholls, along with orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, lead violinist Katie Jacoby and lead cellist Audrey Q. Snyder. The Who released an acclaimed new album, titled WHO, their first full-length studio LP in 13 years, on Dec. 6, 2019.
Listen to “All This Music Must Fade” from the new album
The Who 2021 Tour Canceled Dates (Tickets to future tours are available at Ticketmaster and here)
Mar 05 – Dublin 3 Arena
Mar 08 – Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mar 10 – Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena
Mar 12 – Newcastle Utilita Arena
Mar 15 – Leeds First Direct Arena
Mar 17 – Birmingham Resorts World Arena
Mar 20 – London Royal Albert Hall (Benefit)
Mar 22 – London SSE Wembley Arena
Mar 24 – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Mar 27 – Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Mar 29 – Manchester Arena
Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours
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