Roger Daltrey has been forced to push his upcoming UK solo tour set for next month until the Spring of 2022.
A note to fans was posted on TheWho.com website, which reads:
Due to ongoing concerns about the uncertainty of the Covid-19 situation as it could affect his band, crew and audience, Roger Daltrey has decided to move his WHO WAS I solo UK Tour to summer 2022. All rescheduled dates are listed below. If you already have tickets for the autumn dates, please hold on to them as they will be honored for the new summer 2022 dates.
While chatting with England’s Express And Star, the Who frontman explained he’s eager to connect more closely with fans when he hits the road next, “On this tour I want to take the audience on a musical journey through my career as a singer, with a show of songs and sounds that explores and surprises. I look forward to having closer contact with my audience than festivals and arenas allow. Leaving time to chat.”
He went on to explain how the upcoming dates will be different than any of his recent solo shows: “I’m going to take questions from the audience, if they want to drop one in a hat. We’ll pull them out when we’re on stage to see what they come up with and if they are answerable. . . It’s going to be great to be playing places that aren’t stadiums or arenas. I’m looking forward to making contact with the audience.”
Daltrey went on to reveal that there will be plenty of surprises and deep cuts during the upcoming gigs: “I started playing back my old catalogue from my very first solo albums. That started as a hobby, something to do while the Who weren’t working. And that led to me thinking I’d go out and do a tour. It can’t be the Who without Pete (Townshend), it’d never be quite the same. But I thought I’d go out and do some Who songs differently, so that people feel they are hearing things for the first time.”
Roger Daltrey told us that touring behind such an extensive back catalogue is an incredible link to share and celebrate with the Who’s legion of fans: “They’re old songs and it’s a nostalgia trip, because you’ll go back to the time that you first heard them. I kind of accept all that now and I’m very happy with the fact that we’ve been around this long and can still do it and still do it well.”
Hardcore Who fans have been upset at Daltrey for mainly ignoring the bulk of his solo catalogue — especially tracks off his critically acclaimed 1973 solo debut, Daltrey. We asked him if Daltrey was also his favorite: “It is really — and the second one, Ride A Rock Horse. I had a purpose with them. I had friends who were songwriters and I was hearing stuff and they couldn’t get their. . . Leo Sayer couldn’t get a record deal. And he wrote me that album and the rest is history. He turned into a different artist than I thought he would. He turned into much more of a pop artist than I thought that he would, ’cause his music is so original. And I just thought, ‘If I record their songs, people notice them.’”
RESCHEDULED: Roger Daltrey UK tour dates (subject to change):
June 20 – Bournemouth, England – Bournemouth International Centre
June 22 – Brighton, England – Brighton Centre
June 24 – Oxford, England – New Theatre
June 27 – Portsmouth, England – Guildhall
June 29 – Nottingham, England – Royal Concert Hall
July 1 – Southend-on-sea, England – Southend Cliffs Pavilion
July 4 – Birmingham, England – Symphony Hall
July 6 – Glasgow, Scotland – Armadillo
July 9 – Manchester, England – 02 Apollo
July 11 – Liverpool, England – Empire
July 13 – Newcastle, England – City Hall
July 17 – London, England – The London Palladium