Pete Townshend says the Who will not join the scores of musicians performing Internet concerts for fans. Townshend, who helped define the online medium over a decade ago with his In The Attic web series, told BBC Radio that the Who aren't the type of band you'll see playing on your computer.
He explained, “The idea of doing an online concert really suits musicians who are very independent. It doesn't suit old rock n' roll elitists like me. I don't think I have tuned my own guitar to go on stage for many years. (It) could end up involving 40 people in a studio all breathing on one another?”
Pete Townshend, who is currently writing material for the next Who album, says that he's also been spending time listening to music, as well: “I have to say, I have thought, well this would be a good time to sit down and get the vinyl out of Nick Cave's (2019 album) Ghosteen. It's a good time to get out the new album by Childish Gambino. It's time to listen to some new orchestral writing that I've missed and just seriously sit and give it that hour of concentrated listening that I'm always complaining young people don't do anymore. So I will be listening to music I think.”
Townshend told us that he always felt that his work was one of a singular artist who adapted his material to fit the Who's structure: “Well, obviously, every writer, every individual that creates has to draw on their own experiences and when I set out to write songs — I shoot from the hip. I don't actually write for any particular voice.”
IN OTHER WHO NEWS
Roger Daltrey conceded that he believes the Who's days as an active band are numbered. He told The Sun, “We're almost on our swan song. I'll be 77 next year and I can't imagine us going on much longer than that. We continue while I can still sing the notes, simple as that. At the moment, I still can and I'm hoping that next March, I still can too. My voice is not like a guitar. I can't change the bloody strings!”
Daltrey said he's already in the process of rescheduling the postponed Teenage Cancer Trust concerts for next year, revealing the Who will take the stage at London's Royal Albert Hall on March 20th, 2021, with Nile Rodgers & Chic playing the next night, March 21st, 2021. Paul Weller has already confirmed to Daltrey he'll also be performing during the charity's week-long run.
In an interview posted a while back on TheWho.com, Roger Daltrey spoke frankly about the physical toll live work takes on him: “The energy. You're asking someone, basically, to play a football match five nights a week. And we're not spring chickens anymore. I mean, I know we don't leap about quite as much as we used to, but most of the energy is in the singing (and) getting the voice out to do what it does emotionally. Pushing all those emotional buttons every night, it's physically exhausting.”
