Photo Credit: Bill Kelly
Roger Daltrey’s tour, The Voice of The Who, will commence on June 12. The U.S. outing, which starts tomorrow at the Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., will feature an electric and acoustic band, allowing the esteemed British rocker to perform hit songs as well as deep cuts and offer stories from his 60-year career. Ahead of the jaunt, the artist spoke with Billboard, where he opened up about his dislike for sharing setlists online and more tour thoughts.
Touching on his feeling toward revealing the contents of a performance online, Daltrey asserted, “I’m not gonna talk about songs.” Providing reasoning, he added, “Too many people reveal songs. There’s no surprises left with concerts these days, ’cause everybody wants to see the setlist. I’m f–king sick of it. The Internet’s ruined the live shows for me. Who wants to know what’s coming next? People forget about surprises. I can’t stand it.”
Speaking to the content of each tour stop, Daltrey stayed true to his prior statement, remaining tight-lipped on most details while also percolating an enticing tease, describing the presentation as “a mostly acoustic set of Who gems, rarities, solo nuggets, and other surprises.” Notably, each show will extend the connection between the artist and the audience with a question-and-answer segment.
Daltrey went on to express his own hopes for the tour, telling Billboard, “I just want to branch out and do something different, where I’ve got different instrumentation and I can stop using tape loops. It just creates a whole new sound and allows me the freedom as a singer to put some other people’s songs in I’ve been fond of over the years. It’s gonna be quite interesting. I’m just determined to enjoy myself and explore the freedom I’ve got to do what I want to do on this tour, and let’s see where it ends up.”
Joining the artist on the road are fellow musicians Peter Townshend’s young brother, Simon on guitar, Katie Jacoby on violin, Billy Nicholls on mandolin and vocals, Jody Linscott on percussion, guitarist Doug Boyle, bassist John Hogg, harmonica player Steve Weston, Geraint Watkins on keyboards and Scott Devours, holding down accordion and drums. “To me, a band is more than choosing great musicians; you can sometimes have five great musicians on stage and there’s no chemistry whatsoever and it falls flat on its face. That’s not gonna happen here,” Daltrey added.
Tickets for Daltrey’s The Voice of The Who are on sale now. Notably, the band plays at Port Chester, N.Y.’s The Capitol Theatre on June 18.
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