The Who Tour 1982


The Who Tour 1982 was The Who's last with drummer Kenney Jones. While the tour was originally intended to support their 1982 album It's Hard, the band later announced it would be their final tour, though they would eventually reunite twice and then tour again in 1989.

History

Aside from two warm-up shows in Birmingham, the tour took place entirely in the United States and Canada. During the first Birmingham show, Pete Townshend announced the group's intention to do a proper British tour the following year, but they later decided against this and to make the 1982 tour their last. Though this ultimately would not be the case, it would be their last tour until 1989.
The set list included a number of new songs from It's Hard. "Dangerous", "It's Hard", "Eminence Front", and "Cry If You Want" were performed nightly, while "Athena" and "A Man Is a Man" were also played several times each. "Cooks County", which Townshend had written after seeing a television documentary on Chicago's Cook County Hospital, was fittingly played during one of the band's October shows in Rosemont, Illinois. Meanwhile, only "The Quiet One" was retained from Face Dances, though they had played a number of other songs from that album on the previous tour. Besides "Eminence Front", which has been featured in the band's act off and on since 1982, "Cry If You Want" is the only It's Hard track the band has played since these tours, having appeared a few times in the group's first shows of 2006 and as part of a medley following "My Generation" from 2006 to 2009; it was also briefly included at the start of The Who Hits 50! tour in late 2014.
"My Generation", a staple in the group's live act since 1965, did not appear until the 14th show of the year, and did not lead into long jams as it had since the late 1960s; it also served as the show-opener for the first time in the band's career. Meanwhile, a number of songs were reintroduced to the act after long absences, such as "Love Reign O'er Me", "Squeeze Box", "Love Ain't for Keeping", and "Doctor Jimmy".
After letting keyboard player John "Rabbit" Bundrick go following the 1981 tour, the group filled this role with Tim Gorman, who had also played on It's Hard. Despite this, Bundrick would again join the band when they reunited for Live Aid in 1985 and remained their keyboard player until 2011.

Live releases

Live material from 1982 has appeared on a number of different releases:
with

UK warm-up shows

The band played two warm-up shows at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England shortly before travelling to North America. While Townshend's announcement during the first show that they planned to do "a proper British tour next year" was met with loud cheers, this ultimately did not occur. The following is the set list from both dates. All songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified.
  1. "Substitute"
  2. "I Can't Explain"
  3. "Dangerous"
  4. "Sister Disco"
  5. "The Quiet One"
  6. "It's Hard"
  7. "Eminence Front"
  8. "Behind Blue Eyes"
  9. "Baba O'Riley"
  10. "I'm One"
  11. "The Punk and the Godfather"
  12. "Drowned"
  13. "A Man Is a Man"
  14. "Cry If You Want"
  15. "Who Are You"
  16. "Pinball Wizard"
  17. "See Me, Feel Me"
  18. "5.15"
  19. "Love Reign O'er Me"
  20. "Long Live Rock"
  21. "Won't Get Fooled Again"
  22. "Twist and Shout"
On the second night they also played:
The band returned to North America for the first time in over two years, beginning this leg on September 22 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland and ending on October 31 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The show on 13 October at Shea Stadium in New York City featured a rare performance of "I Saw Her Standing There" and closed with "Twist and Shout", both songs recorded by The Beatles and both sung by John Entwistle. Here is a fairly typical set list :
  1. "Substitute"
  2. "I Can't Explain"
  3. "Dangerous"
  4. "Sister Disco"
  5. "The Quiet One"
  6. "It's Hard"
  7. "Eminence Front"
  8. "Behind Blue Eyes"
  9. "Baba O'Riley"
  10. "My Generation"
  11. "I'm One"
  12. "The Punk and the Godfather"
  13. "Drowned"
  14. "Cry If You Want"
  15. "Who Are You"
  16. "Pinball Wizard"
  17. "See Me, Feel Me"
  18. "5.15"
  19. "Love Reign O'er Me"
  20. "Long Live Rock"
  21. "Won't Get Fooled Again"
  22. "Summertime Blues"
  23. "Twist and Shout"
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. Other songs occasionally played were:
The band returned after a four-week break for the second leg of the tour, which began on November 27 at the Camping World Stadium, at that time known as the Tangerine Bowl, in Orlando, Florida. Townshend announced at the second show in Richfield, Ohio on December 14 that they were playing "their last concert in the U.S.A.", as was obviously intended at the time. The tour concluded with two shows at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, the second of which was made available via pay-per-view and radio broadcasts throughout North America, as it was thought to be the last performance of their final tour. The group would of course subsequently reunite for various events and tours.
"Doctor Jimmy", "Boris the Spider", "Love Ain't For Keeping", and "Squeeze Box" were reintroduced to the set on this leg after long absences. Here is a fairly typical set list
  1. "Substitute"
  2. "My Generation"
  3. "I Can't Explain"
  4. "Dangerous"
  5. "Sister Disco"
  6. "The Quiet One"
  7. "It's Hard"
  8. "Eminence Front"
  9. "Behind Blue Eyes"
  10. "Baba O'Riley"
  11. "I Can See for Miles"
  12. "Boris the Spider"
  13. "Drowned"
  14. "Tattoo"
  15. "Cry If You Want"
  16. "Who Are You"
  17. "Pinball Wizard"
  18. "See Me, Feel Me"
  19. "Love Ain't For Keeping"
  20. "5.15"
  21. "Love Reign O'er Me"
  22. "Long Live Rock"
  23. "Won't Get Fooled Again"
  24. "Squeeze Box"
  25. "Twist and Shout"
  26. "Naked Eye"
Other encores occasionally played were:
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.

Tour dates