| The Who Tour 2002 | ||||
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| Tour by The Who | ||||
| Start date | January 27, 2002 | |||
| End date | September 28, 2002 | |||
| Legs | 4 | |||
| Shows | 32 | |||
| The Who tour chronology | ||||
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The Who Tour 2002 was a tour by The Who, partially in support of the DVD The Who & Special Guests: Live at the Royal Albert Hall. It is perhaps known best as the first tour the band did without original bassist John Entwistle, who died the night before the North American tour was to begin; the group decided to complete the tour with the help of bassist Pino Palladino, who has played with them since.
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After making a single appearance in 2001, at The Concert for New York City in October, the group began the year with a series of shows in England that culminated with two charity dates at the Royal Albert Hall in London, once again benefiting the Teenage Cancer Trust as in 2000. A full-scale tour of North America was then planned, with the group adding Pete Townshend's brother Simon to the lineup to help with backing vocals and rhythm guitar. After rehearsals in England, the group traveled to Las Vegas for the first scheduled date of the tour, only to have Entwistle's death from a fatal heart attack the night before (June 27) throw the tour and the band itself into question. Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey ultimately concluded that the tour should continue and were able to secure the services of Pino Palladino, a seasoned session and live bassist who had worked with Townshend on past solo projects, after contacting him in Philadelphia just as he was planning to travel back to the United Kingdom. The first two dates were rescheduled and the tour commenced with an emotional show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on July 1st after only two days of rehearsals. The group eventually played 27 dates over four legs, often wearing black and paying tribute to Entwistle during the shows; the tour finished at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on September 28th. The band continues to play with this lineup.
Live material from 2002 has appeared on the following releases:
The set list for the short series of United Kingdom dates early in the year was similar to what was played in 2000, but a longer selection of Tommy material included the first performances of "Amazing Journey", "Sparks", and "I'm Free" since the 1989 tour; the second show in Portsmouth also featured the "Overture" and "It's a Boy". The band also revived cover tunes that had been part of their act years before, namely "Summertime Blues", "Baby Don't You Do It" (not played since 1973), and "Young Man Blues". As these were the last shows the group played with John Entwistle, they were also the last in which they performed "My Wife" and "Boris the Spider".
Here is a fairly typical set list for these shows (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):
Encores (variations of the following list):
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. Some other songs were played which are not in the above lists:
The set for the North American tour was modified to include the first performances of "Another Tricky Day" since 1981, along with "Eminence Front" and a Quadrophenia segment now including "Sea and Sand" and "Love, Reign o'er Me". The encore was a Tommy medley, with "See Me, Feel Me" performed regularly for the first time since 1989. The group had rehearsed both "Join Together" and "Music Must Change" before John Entwistle’s death, but neither made the set list for the tour. Towards the end of the tour, Townshend further developed the Entwistle tribute song "Old Red Wine" (played at the end of "My Generation"), adding lyrics that would appear when the song was recorded for the Then and Now studio version. There was very little variation in the group’s act throughout all four legs of the tour, most likely due to their having a new bass player.
Here is a fairly typical set list for these shows (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):
Encores (variations of the following list):
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. Some other songs were played which are not in the above lists: