(Credits: Far Out / Harry Chase / Los Angeles Times)
Fri 9 January 2026 10:00, UK
Live performance has always been the cornerstone of rock and roll rebellion, and back in the 1960s, nobody exemplified that fact better than the raucous, anarchic gigs put on by The Who, complete with Pete Townshend’s windmilling, Keith Moon’s explosive percussion, and a wall of amplifiers ready to melt the faces off unsuspecting audiences.
Even before The Who first exercised their grasp on the Hit Parade, releasing debut single ‘I Can’t Explain’ in 1965, they had already succeeded in building a reputation among London’s most exciting – and unpredictable – live acts. Honing their craft in the mod nightclubs and pub back rooms of the capital, Townshend and the gang were a ready-made force of rock and roll nature, and as they rose to the upper echelon of the musical realm, their live skill only seemed to expand.
Back in 1970, for instance, the band’s legendary Live at Leeds performance was so loud, rowdy, and ultimately otherworldly that it set the standard for rock and metal performances going forward, armed with their ear-piercing sound. However, those endless walls of amplifiers and anarchic end-of-show demolitions set the kind of standard that The Who now, with Townshend and Daltrey in their 80s, struggle to recapture.
For most ageing rock and roll revolutionaries who can no longer pull off those kinds of performances with any conviction, the logical thing to do (other than to retire and live out the rest of your days on your mountain of royalty cheques) is to strip back your sound to its rawest elements. Acoustic tours aren’t just for folk singers, after all.
Not only can the acoustic realm breathe new life into a band’s performing careers, but it can also add entirely new layers of musical intrigue to age-old material. Sure, a gentle, acoustic version of ‘My Generation’ wouldn’t pack quite the same punch as the original, but hearing a grandiose album like Quadrophenia stripped back to its finest parts – Townshend’s guitar and Daltrey’s voice – would at least be interesting for the band’s legions of devoted listeners.
Ultimately, though, acoustic performances have never really worked for The Who. Although Daltrey and Townshend have performed acoustic tracks here and there, when the guitarist was asked on The Who’s website whether he had ever considered an ‘unplugged’ style tour, he made no attempt to hide his feelings. “No I haven’t,” he responded. “I don’t like working with Roger in this way, though I know fans enjoy it.”
Explaining his position, Townshend continued, “I feel as if I am merely accompanying Roger in that context, because he likes to play guitar himself, and reinterpret my songs in a new way acoustically in his own way.” He added, “I do that myself of course, and as individuals it works for both of us when we reinterpret old Who songs in a new way when performing acoustically.”
Seemingly, going from being one of the world’s most renowned groups for loud, anarchic live performances to performing an entire tour of acoustic covers is not the kind of thing that has ever appealed to Townshend as an artist.
So, for now at least, the idea of an ‘unplugged’ Who tour remains entirely hypothetical and will likely never be realised – at least not for a couple more ‘farewell’ tours, anyway.
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