The good news for fans of The Who is that they will have many, many opportunities to see the band over the next couple of years. The (maybe) not-so-good news is that the Who are not playing anywhere near you—unless you happen to live near, or can get to, Las Vegas.
According to an article published by The Mirror in the U.K., Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and company are set to sign a deal to play an ongoing residency at the Colosseum Theatre at Caesars Palace that will last at least two years. Elton John, who has had a residency at the venue for 13 years—and has performed some 450 shows there in that time—will play his final shows at the theater next May, after which the Who will set up shop. (Read our review of one of Elton’s shows here.)
[Update: Tickets to see The Who are available at Ticketmaster and here.]
The article says that the band will launch its residency next July and will earn more than $325,000 per show, or roughly between $15-45 million in total for the extended run.
Related: Our review of the Who at the 2017 Outside Lands festival
The British news source quotes an “insider” as saying, “Elton is leaving, so the promoters and resort wanted to bring in an act of equal stature.”
In recent years (and, to be honest, many times before) the Who have talked about possibly calling it quits, but their recent spate of shows seems to have changed their minds. “They enjoyed the gigs and unique opportunity of a residency and were open to repeating it for a longer run,” the anonymous source told The Mirror. “The talks have been going well and there is a genuine hope that a deal will be done. The issues are simply the volume of shows and total length of the run.”
Related: A look back, 50 years ago, at the Who’s first U.S. shows
The Who are not strangers to the Colosseum Theatre at Caesars Palace. They performed a string of shows there this past summer, the first rock band to take residency at the 4,300-seat venue since it opened in 2003.
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Watch the Who play “Won’t Get Fooled Again” at Caesars Palace in August 2017
