The Who gives live debut of two new songs at intimate London shows

m_thewhopetetownshendrogerdaltrey630_publicityshot5_121019-2

Rick Guest/Interscope RecordsThe Who played a pair of intimate acoustic shows Wednesday night at the Pryzm nightclub in the London suburb of Kingston upon Thames in honor of the 50th anniversary of the band’s classic concert album Live at Leeds. During the gigs, the U.K. rock legends also played two songs from their 2019 studio album, WHO, live for the very first time: “Break the News” and “She Rocked My World.”

You can check out fan-shot video of both performances on YouTube.

“Break the News” was written by longtime Who touring guitarist Simon Townshend, the younger brother of lead guitarist and main songwriter, Pete Townshend.

While introducing the tune, frontman Roger Daltrey told the crowd, “Simon is such a great songwriter. For years he’s done his songs at my solo shows, but it’s great to find a song that actually fits on a Who album.”

Since Roger still isn’t that familiar with the tune, he used lyric sheets to sing it, but flubbed it anyway; the band ended up having to start it a second time.

“She Rocked My World” was written by Pete, who explained hat it begins with the same flamenco-style chords he used for the 1967 Who song “Tattoo.”

The band will play two more shows at the Pryzm club on Friday, February 14, which marks the 50th anniversary to the day of Live at Leeds‘ U.K. release.

The Who then will have about a month off before launching a 2020 U.K. tour leg that kicks off March 16 in Manchester and runs through an April 8 concert in London. A U.S. trek follows, beginning with an April 21 show in Hollywood, Florida.

Check out the band’s full itinerary at TheWho.com.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.