To celebrate the 100th show performed for Teenage Cancer Trust at The Royal Albert Hall, raising vital money for young people with cancer, The Who will play a new acoustic presentation of Pete Townshend’s Rock Opera Tommy.
Two shows have been announced at the legendary London venue on Thursday March 30th and Saturday April 1st 2017 where the band will play the opera in full followed by a selection of other great Who songs.
The band have also announced that the five UK dates scheduled for August /September 2016, originally billed as ‘Greatest Hits’ shows, will be moved to 2017 to coincide with the Royal Albert Hall dates.
For the rescheduled Greatest Hits shows Roger and Pete will play the hits as well as some lesser known Who songs and also include a new focused presentation of Tommy drawn from the Royal Albert Hall concerts including a brand new video programme specially produced for these shows.
This UK set will emulate the historic period around Live At Leeds and Woodstock when the central pivot of The Who’s show was always their performance of Tommy. For Who fans new and old this is something special that hasn’t been done by the band or seen by their audience since 1970.
Tickets for the shows originally scheduled for late August and September will be valid for the new shows. Any customers who cannot make the new dates are entitled to a full refund from their point of purchase. Deadline for refunds is 5pm August 12. The band’s European dates in Germany, Austria and Italy will still take place as scheduled.
Longstanding Teenage Cancer Trust Honorary Patron, Roger Daltrey CBE is a passionate champion of young people with cancer in the UK through his tireless work with Teenage Cancer Trust, and now in the US through the new charity he has helped to establish, Teen Cancer America. Roger and Pete Townshend have been supporters of Teenage Cancer Trust for over 22 years and The Who headlined the very first show for them at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000.
2017 will be the 17th year that Roger has been the driving force behind Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall, the shows are the charity’s flagship annual fundraiser raising millions to provide specialist care for young people with cancer.
The line-ups for the 16 years of Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert hall read like a who’s who of rock and comedy, including the likes of Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Noel Gallagher, The Who, Oasis, Damon Albarn, Arctic Monkeys, Paul Weller, The Cure, Sir Paul McCartney, Florence And The Machine, Johnny Marr, Them Crooked Vultures, and so many more. It’s fitting that The Who are to play the 100th night in the 17th year!
For every young person with cancer Teenage Cancer Trust supports, there is another the charity can’t currently reach. This must change. Teenage Cancer Trust needs to raise £20 million a year by 2020 to make sure every young person with cancer in the UK has access to the specialist care they provide. Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall will continue to play a pivotal role in achieving this ambitious goal.
THE WHO TOUR 2017 ‘TOMMY AND MORE:
March
30th Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall, London
April
1st Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall, London
Tickets from on sale at 9am on Friday 23 September.
3rd Liverpool Echo Arena
5th Manchester Arena
7th Glasgow SSE Hydro
10th Sheffield Arena
12th Birmingham Barclaycard Arena (note change of venue)
