The Who by Numbers Tour


The Who by Numbers Tour was a concert tour by the English rock band the Who, in support of their seventh album, The Who by Numbers. It consisted of concerts split between North America and Europe, beginning on 3 October 1975 at Bingley Hall in Stafford, England and ending on 21 October 1976 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada. The Who's drummer Keith Moon played his last concerts with the band during the tour; he died less than two years after its conclusion. Despite being named after The Who by Numbers album, few songs from that record were performed live during the tour.
The band began with a European leg, which introduced a laser lighting display, and a North American leg followed. The leg set indoor concert attendance records, and the Who returned in America in 1976 after playing four shows in Europe. The opening show in Boston came to an end when Moon collapsed on stage after playing two songs. The next day, he seriously injured himself and nearly bled to death. After performing at British football stadiums in the middle of the year, the Who returned to North American for more concerts. After their show in Miami, Moon was hospitalised for over a week. He managed to complete the tour with the rest of the group, but these were his last public concerts before dying of a drug overdose in 1978.

Background

The Who by Numbers Tour started with 20 dates in Europe in October and November 1975. The first concert took place at Bingley Hall in Stafford, England on 3 October 1975, the same day The Who by Numbers album was released. Prior to this, The Who had not performed live since playing four shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City the previous June, having spent much of 1974 working on the film adaptation of their rock opera Tommy and its soundtrack. A laser lighting display was introduced at the concerts at Leicester's Granby Halls shortly into the European leg, which would become a fixture of most of the tour's shows.
The tour continued with a North American leg in November and December 1975, starting on 20 November at The Summit in Houston, Texas. During the leg, the band broke indoor concert attendance records for their 6 December concert at the Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium in Pontiac, Michigan, which attracted at least 75,000 fans. Following the end of the North American leg, the band returned to the UK to play three Christmas concerts at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, due to the high demand for tickets for the earlier British dates.
Following three European dates in early 1976, the Who began a series of shows in the US on 9 March at the Boston Garden. The leg began disastrously, with drummer Keith Moon collapsing on stage only two songs into the Boston concert, causing the show to be postponed until 1 April. The day after the aborted concert, Moon kicked the glass out of a framed painting in his hotel room and seriously injured his heel in the process. He was discovered by manager Bill Curbishley, who took him to a hospital. Doctors told Curbishley that if he had not intervened, Moon would have bled to death. In his book Before I Get Old: The Story of the Who, music critic Dave Marsh suggested that at this point The Who's singer Roger Daltrey and bassist John Entwistle seriously considered firing Moon, but decided that doing so would make his life worse. The rest of the leg went without incident. In recognition of the band's performance at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin, mayor Paul Soglin proclaimed 13 March 1976 "Who-Mania Day", the day of the concert. The band played the leg's only outdoor show on 21 March 1976 at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California.
The band continued The Who by Numbers Tour with "The Who Put the Boot In", a series of concerts in French arenas and British football stadiums, featuring a 60,000 capacity concert at The Valley in London. The show, which took place on 31 May 1976, was recognised by The Guinness Book of Records as the world's loudest concert, with the sound measuring 120 decibels. The band returned to the US in August to play four shows as a part of the "Whirlwind" leg. The leg was marred by a show in Jacksonville, Florida, which was 25,000 tickets short of a sellout. At the end of the "Whirlwind" tour in Miami, Moon was hospitalised for eight days. Although the group were concerned that he would be unable to complete the last leg of the tour, which consisted of nine dates in the US and Canada throughout October 1976, Moon successfully played the shows, performing for the final time in public at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on 21 October. Moon died less than two years later, on 7 September 1978. Bassist John Entwistle later said that Moon and the Who reached their live peak during the tour.

Reception

The tour was well received by critics. Billboard's Gerry Wood gave the band's 20 November 1975 show a very positive review, writing that "they were tight from the start and gave an energetic performance of their new songs and an amazingly fresh treatment to their older material." Jim Melanson from the same magazine was also favorable, describing their concert on 11 March 1976 as "a superb performance by a superb band." Jim Healey of The Des Moines Register praised the band's concert on 2 December 1975, describing it as a show with class. Writing for The Plain Dealer, Jane Scott was positive in her review, writing that the performance on 9 December was "the most exhilarating and dramatic concert seen in this area." Derek Jewell was less favorable in his review for The Sunday Times, noting the lack of new songs the band performed and writing that "the Who are trapped playing ageing music for the ageing young."

Set list

The Who's lineup during this tour consisted of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon. Biographers Andrew Neill and Matt Kent wrote in their book Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The Who 1958–1978 that the tour had become a "greatest hits" celebration of the band's decade-long career by 1976. Despite ostensibly being a tour supporting the release of The Who by Numbers, few songs from the new album were performed live. Instead, the band opted to perform a mini-set of Tommy material in the middle of the set, thanks to the success of the film generating more interest in the rock opera. Meanwhile, less and less Quadrophenia material was performed compared to the Who's previous tour, with only "Drowned" occasionally finding its way into the set during early dates, before eventually being dropped.
The group would settle into a regular set list by the end of the year, repeating it almost verbatim throughout 1976. All songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified.
  1. "I Can't Explain"
  2. "Substitute"
  3. "My Wife"
  4. "Baba O'Riley"
  5. "Squeeze Box"
  6. "Behind Blue Eyes"
  7. "Dreaming from the Waist"
  8. "Boris the Spider"
  9. "Magic Bus"
  10. "Amazing Journey"
  11. "Sparks"
  12. "The Acid Queen"
  13. "Fiddle About"
  14. "Pinball Wizard"
  15. "I'm Free"
  16. "Tommy's Holiday Camp"
  17. "We're Not Gonna Take It"
  18. "See Me, Feel Me"
  19. "Summertime Blues"
  20. "My Generation"
  21. "Join Together"
  22. "My Generation Blues"
  23. "Road Runner"
  24. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

    Films and albums

Over the years, one film has been released of the band's concert performances during The Who by Numbers Tour.
Additionally, songs recorded during the tour have been released along with other live and/or studio material:
Date
CityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossSupport act
20 NovemberHoustonUnited StatesThe Summit18,000$134,676Toots and the Maytals
21 NovemberBaton RougeUnited StatesLSU Assembly CenterN/A$112,630Toots and the Maytals
23 NovemberMemphisUnited StatesMid-South Coliseum10,882$90,355Toots and the Maytals
24 NovemberAtlantaUnited StatesOmni Coliseum18,376$129,297Toots and the Maytals
25 NovemberMurfreesboroUnited StatesMonte Hale Arena11,000$92,000Toots and the Maytals
27 NovemberHamptonUnited StatesHampton Roads Coliseum11,906$106,855Toots and the Maytals
28 NovemberGreensboroUnited StatesGreensboro Memorial Coliseum17,437$127,241Toots and the Maytals
30 NovemberBloomingtonUnited StatesAssembly Hall14,841$108,357Toots and the Maytals
1 DecemberKansas CityUnited StatesKemper Arena13,414$96,284Toots and the Maytals
2 DecemberDes MoinesUnited StatesVeterans Memorial Auditorium13,534$97,747Toots and the Maytals
4 DecemberChicagoUnited StatesChicago Stadium37,479 / 37,479$330,739Toots and the Maytals
5 DecemberChicagoUnited StatesChicago Stadium37,479 / 37,479$330,739Toots and the Maytals
6 DecemberPontiacUnited StatesPontiac Metropolitan Stadium75,000 / 75,000$614,992Toots and the Maytals
8 DecemberCincinnatiUnited StatesRiverfront Coliseum18,000$138,500Toots and the Maytals
9 DecemberRichfieldUnited StatesRichfield Coliseum19,000 / 19,000$138,500Toots and the Maytals
10 DecemberBuffaloUnited StatesBuffalo Memorial Auditorium11,700$140,000Toots and the Maytals
11 DecemberTorontoCanadaMaple Leaf Gardens17,600$157,879Toots and the Maytals
13 DecemberProvidenceUnited StatesProvidence Civic Center14,000$112,324Toots and the Maytals
14 DecemberSpringfieldUnited StatesSpringfield Civic Center10,000$84,000Toots and the Maytals
15 DecemberPhiladelphiaUnited StatesSpectrum19,000 / 19,000$146,000Toots and the Maytals

Date
CityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossSupport act
21 DecemberLondonEnglandHammersmith OdeonN/AN/ACharlie
22 DecemberLondonEnglandHammersmith OdeonN/AN/ACharlie
23 DecemberLondonEnglandHammersmith OdeonN/AN/ACharlie

Date
CityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossSupport act
27 FebruaryZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadionN/AN/ASteve Gibbons Band
28 FebruaryMunichGermanyOlympiahalleN/AN/ASteve Gibbons Band
1 MarchParisFrancePavillon de ParisN/AN/ASteve Gibbons Band
2 MarchParisFrancePavillon de ParisN/AN/ASteve Gibbons Band

Date
CityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossSupport act
9 MarchBostonUnited StatesBoston GardenN/AN/ASteve Gibbons Band
11 MarchNew York CityUnited StatesMadison Square Garden19,500$162,000Steve Gibbons Band
13 MarchMadisonUnited StatesDane County Coliseum10,100$75,495Steve Gibbons Band
14 MarchSaint PaulUnited StatesSt. Paul Civic Center17,600$142,000Steve Gibbons Band
15 MarchOklahoma CityUnited StatesMyriad Convention Center14,801 / 14,801$101,028Steve Gibbons Band
16 MarchFort WorthUnited StatesTarrant County Convention Center13,500$100,583Steve Gibbons Band
18 MarchSalt Lake CityUnited StatesSalt PalaceN/A$87,127Steve Gibbons Band
21 MarchAnaheimUnited StatesAnaheim Stadium55,000$500,000Rufus
Little Feat
Steve Gibbons Band
24 MarchPortlandUnited StatesMemorial Coliseum11,000 / 11,000$93,000Steve Gibbons Band
25 MarchSeattleUnited StatesSeattle Center Coliseum15,000 / 15,000$119,760Steve Gibbons Band
27 MarchSan FranciscoUnited StatesWinterland Ballroom10,800 / 10,800$91,800Steve Gibbons Band
28 MarchSan FranciscoUnited StatesWinterland Ballroom10,800 / 10,800$91,800Steve Gibbons Band
30 MarchDenverUnited StatesMcNichols Sports Arena19,000N/ASteve Gibbons Band
1 AprilBostonUnited StatesBoston GardenN/AN/ASteve Gibbons Band

Date
CityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossSupport act
22 MayColmarFranceParc des ExpositionsN/AN/AN/A
25 MayLyonFrancePalais des Sports de GerlandN/AN/AN/A
31 MayLondonEnglandThe Valley60,000N/AWidowmaker
Outlaws
Streetwalkers
Little Feat
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
5 JuneGlasgowScotlandCeltic Park35,000£140,000Widowmaker
Outlaws
Streetwalkers
Little Feat
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
12 JuneSwanseaWalesVetch Field25,000£100,000Widowmaker
Outlaws
Streetwalkers
Little Feat
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

Date
CityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossSupport act
3 AugustLandoverUnited StatesCapital Centre30,201 / 37,574$259,655Law
4 AugustLandoverUnited StatesCapital Centre30,201 / 37,574$259,655Law
7 AugustJacksonvilleUnited StatesGator Bowl Stadium35,000 / 60,000N/ALaw
Black Oak Arkansas
Labelle
9 AugustMiamiUnited StatesMiami Stadium17,000 / 17,200$174,426Law
Montrose
Outlaws

Date
CityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossSupport act
6 OctoberPhoenixUnited StatesArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum11,983$94,719Mother's Finest
7 OctoberSan DiegoUnited StatesSan Diego Sports Arena13,842$108,041Mother's Finest
9 OctoberOaklandUnited StatesOakland–Alameda County Coliseum94,732 / 110,000$1,042,520Grateful Dead
10 OctoberOaklandUnited StatesOakland–Alameda County Coliseum94,732 / 110,000$1,042,520Grateful Dead
13 OctoberPortlandUnited StatesMemorial Coliseum11,000 / 11,000$93,160Mother's Finest
14 OctoberSeattleUnited StatesSeattle Center Coliseum15,000 / 15,000$119,808Mother's Finest
16 OctoberEdmontonCanadaNorthlands Coliseum16,000N/AMother's Finest
18 OctoberWinnipegCanadaWinnipeg ArenaN/AN/AMother's Finest
21 OctoberTorontoCanadaMaple Leaf Gardens20,000N/AMother's Finest