June

Leeds Performance

With news of a new album in the offing, The Who embarked on a year-long tour across Europe and the US. An initial show, in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, was held at Knebworth House, and the second was the eagerly awaited return to Leeds University, their first visit since recording the seminal live album Live At Leeds in 1970. Prior to the show, Daltrey and Townshend unveiled a commemorative plaque in honour of the band’s performance there. This was just the beginning of an intense period of live activity for the band, which saw them play 110 concerts in 12 months.

June–July

Festivals Of Europe

The Who had generally shied away from playing festivals since the Seventies, mainly due to Townshend’s indifference at the time and his feelings of separation from the audience. In fact, after the tragedy at Cincinnati they rarely played non-seated shows. They had, of course, played a few festival-type shows but 2006 saw them embrace the festival circuit wholeheartedly, playing most of the major European gigs throughout the year, before returning to the arenas of North America. There were proposals to take the tour to South America and the Far East – including China – but these plans never came to fruition.

September–October

Concerts In America

The American fans had been stalwart supporters of The Who since the late Sixties, and the band toured coast to coast during October 2006 and March 2007 to rapturous receptions. The marked difference between these shows and those on previous tours was the inclusion of new material. With songs from the album Endless Wire (released in October) as well as the single ‘Wire & Glass’ to call on, The Who finally gave fans what they had hoped for as they changed their standard repertoire to incorporate the new material.

October

Endless Wire

It took 24 years, but The Who did finally release an album of new material on 30 October. Preceded a few months earlier by a new Townshend mini-opera entitled Wire & Glass, the new disc was based on a novella, The Boy Who Heard Music, which Townshend had been working on for a number of years and a large part of the album was based on a song cycle entitled ‘The Glass Household’. It was released in various formats, including bonus CDs and DVDs. Endless Wire charted at No. 9 in the UK and No. 7 in the US.

Personalities | Introducing The Who
Personalities | The Who | Reunited & Revitalized (2007) | Key Events