Courtesy of The WhoThe Who kicks off their first-ever Las Vegas residency this Saturday, July 29, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The six-show engagement also features performances on August 1, 4, 7, 9 and 11.
Founding Who guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend tells ABC Radio that the Vegas concerts will basically be “an extension of what we’re doing on the road,” that is, a set of the band’s most popular songs, including selections from classic albums such as Tommy, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia.
Townshend says a positive aspect of playing the residency is that, because the group won’t have to travel, he and band mate Roger Daltrey will be fully rested and will “be able to maintain a very, very high standard.”
“We’ve set the bar pretty high for ourselves, Roger and I. You know, we’re 70-year-old guys, but we kind of like to give like…we used to,” Pete explains, “and that gets harder and harder.”
Meanwhile, Townshend reports that he’d one day like to develop a Who-themed Las Vegas production that would be “the rock ‘n’ roll musical equivalent to Cirque du Soleil.” He imagines that the show would be even more spectacular than Cirque du Soleil’s The Beatles: LOVE production. Although he admits not having seen yet, he says, “I’m sure it’s fabulous.”
Following the Vegas engagement, The Who will wind down their North American summer tour with an August 13 headlining set at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival and an August 16 concert in Stateline, Nevada. After the trek, Townshend will take part in five U.S. performances of Classic Quadrophenia, an orchestral version of The Who’s 1973 rock opera.
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