The Who have announced that all 50 dates of their 50th Anniversary American tour, which was scheduled to begin this week (with a Seattle date Sunday Sept 27 at Key Arena), will be postponed until next year, because Roger Daltrey, the band’s 71-year-old lead singer, has contracted viral meningitis. The band’s website published a statement: “The band apologise to fans and realise that the postponement will cause an inconvenience for ticket holders. It wasn’t a decision taken lightly – the Who always give their fans 100% and were never going to compromise the show, but ultimately we had no alternative but to postpone.” The new Seattle date is set for Thursday, August 4, 2016, if all goes well.
That 100% figure might be debatable. Daltrey and guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend are the last two original members of the band. Drummer Keith Moon died in 1978, and bassist John Entwistle died in 2002 (on the eve of an American tour). Which made the image accompanying the announcement of the delay that arrived in my inbox over the weekend just a little macabre:
