The Who Tour 2012–2013 was their third to feature the 1973 album ''

Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the previous two being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, While ...

''. Billed as "Quadrophenia and More", the band played ''Quadrophenia'' in its entirety, followed by a selection of their greatest hits. Before starting the tour, the group gave a special performance at the closing ceremonies of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

History

The band gave their first performance since a January 2011 charity appearance during the closing ceremonies for the

on 12 August, performing a short medley comprising "

Baba O'Riley "Baba O'Riley" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Who, written by guitarist and principal songwriter Pete Townshend. It is the opening track to the Who's fifth studio album, ''Who's Next'' (1971). In Europe, it was released as a ...

", "

See Me, Feel Me "See Me, Feel Me" (aka Listening To You/See Me, Feel Me and See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You) is a song from English rock band The Who's 1969 album '' Tommy''. It consists of two overture parts from ''Tommy'', the second and third parts of the a ...

" and "

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. One of the band's most recognizable songs, it was placed number 11 by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the " 500 Greatest S ...

". A few weeks earlier they had announced a two leg stint that would feature the ''Quadrophenia'' album for a third time. They toured behind the album's original release, but their use of backing tapes to duplicate its musical complexity caused problems when the tapes malfunctioned and the band had difficulty playing along to them. They revisited the rock opera during their 1996–97 tour, this time with much greater success. An announcement about the tour came through the band's website and social media networks on 18 July and coincided with a promotional documentary for the album, entitled ''The Who: Quadrophenia – Can You See The Real Me?'' The documentary was only screened in select theatres on 24 July in the United States, and on 25 July in Canada. The documentary featured never before seen footage from the band's first ''Quadrophenia'' tour including footage from its opening night in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, In which drummer

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) was an English musician who was the drummer for the rock band the Who. Regarded as one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music, he was noted for his unique style of playing and ...

collapsed twice and resulted in Scot Halpin, an audience member, filling in for Moon. Tickets for The Who's official fan club were given the first opportunity to purchase tickets on 20 July.

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

cardholders were given a presale date of 23 July. General tickets went on sale 27 July. The Who also announced on 19 July that they would honour tickets for the band's cancelled show in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

from 1979, following the tragic concert disaster in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

at the Riverfront Coliseum, in which 11 people were trampled and killed. The tickets were honoured at their Providence show in 2013, the final date of the tour. The band retained bass player

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henle ...

and guitarist/backing vocalist

Simon Townshend Simon Townshend (; born 10 October 1960) is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members ...

for these shows, but parted ways with longtime keyboard player

John "Rabbit" Bundrick John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick (born November 21, 1948) is an American keyboardist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with The Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roger Waters, Free and ...

. Keyboard player Chris Stainton, who had appeared on the original ''Quadrophenia'' album, played with the group for the closing ceremonies for the Summer Olympics and originally intended to join them for the tour as well, but he withdrew prior to the start of the tour to tour with

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

. Keyboardists John Corey and

Loren Gold Loren Gold is an American keyboardist, vocalist, music director, and songwriter. Gold is a keyboardist and vocalist for the Who and Chicago (band), Chicago. In addition, Gold has been the touring keyboardist and backup vocalist for Roger Daltrey ...

were instead added to the line-up along with keyboardist/arranger Frank Simes and a brass section. Drummer

Zak Starkey Zak Richard Starkey (born 13 September 1965) is an English rock drummer who toured and recorded with the Who from 1996 to 2025. He is also the third drummer to have appeared with Oasis. Other musicians and bands he has worked with include Johnny ...

missed several shows in February 2013 due to a tendon injury and was replaced for those dates by Scott Devours; Devours would again substitute for Starkey during the band's June–July European tour. The group tacked on an additional appearance as part of '' 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief'' at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

at the end of the 2012 segment of the tour and did the same for a Teen Cancer America charity event at the

Theater at Madison Square Garden The Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden (MSG). It seats between 2,000 and 5,600 people and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is situated beneath the main ...

along with

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

at the end of the 2013 North American segment.

Live releases

The show on 8 July 2013 at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

(the last of the tour) was released as '' Quadrophenia Live in London''.

Tour band

Original members

Roger Daltrey Sir Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Who, known for his powerful voice and charismatic stage presence. His stage persona ear ...

– lead vocals, harmonica, acoustic guitar,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...

– lead guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals *

John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band the Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band ...

– bass (via audio and archival footage on " 5:15" filmed 27 November 2000 at

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

) *

– vocals (via audio and archival footage on " Bell Boy" filmed 18 May 1974 at Charlton)

Backing musicians

– drums (except on 5–14 February 2013; 8 June 2013 – 8 July 2013) * Scott Devours – drums (5–14 February 2013; 8 June 2013 – 8 July 2013) *

– bass guitar *

– rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, (keyboards at 2012 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony) *

Billy Nicholls William Morris Nicholls Jr (born 15 February 1949) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and musical director. He was born into a musical family, his father Billy Nicholls (Sr.) being a double bassist and big band singer ...

– musical director, backing vocals (2012 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony) * Morgan Nicholls – bass guitar (2012 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony) * Chris Stainton – piano, keyboards (2012 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony) *

– keyboards, backing vocals * Frank Simes - music director, keyboards, backing vocals *John Corey – piano, keyboards, backing vocals *J. Greg Miller – brass * Reggie Grisham – brass

Setlists

2012 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremonies

" #"

''Quadrophenia and More'' Tour

The tour got off to a problematic start during the encore at the first show in

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 97,335 at the time of the 2020 census. History Early history In ...

when guitarist

left the stage during "

You Better You Bet "You Better You Bet" is a song by the English rock band the Who, appearing as the first track on their ninth studio album '' Face Dances'' (1981). It is sung by frontman Roger Daltrey with backing vocals from Pete Townshend and bassist John Ent ...

", claiming not to be able to hear the sound properly. The show ended prematurely with the rest of the group playing "

" without him. Drummer

missed six shows from 5 to 14 February due to a tendon injury and was replaced with drummer Scott Devours, who had toured with

a few years earlier. Devours again filled in for Starkey for the band's June–July European tour. "Tea and Theatre", the final track from the group's 2006 album '' Endless Wire'', once again closed most shows on the tour as in recent years. All songs written by Pete Townshend. #"I Am the Sea" #" The Real Me" #"Quadrophenia" #"Cut My Hair" #" The Punk and the Godfather" #"

I'm One "I'm One" is a song by The Who. It was released on the group's 1973 rock opera album ''Quadrophenia''. Written and sung by Pete Townshend, the song has since become a fan favorite. Background "I'm One" is one of the main moments of introspectio ...

" #"The Dirty Jobs" #"Helpless Dancer" #"Is It in My Head?" #"I've Had Enough" #" 5.15" #" Sea and Sand" #"

Drowned Drowning is a type of Asphyxia, suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where othe ...

" #" Bell Boy" #"

Doctor Jimmy Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

" #"The Rock" #" Love, Reign o'er Me"
(Encore) #"

Who Are You ''Who Are You'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 18 August 1978 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and on 21 August 1978 by MCA Records in the United States. Although the album received mixed revie ...

" #"

Behind Blue Eyes "Behind Blue Eyes" is a song by the English rock band the Who. It is the second single from the band's fifth album, ''Who's Next'' (1971), and was originally written by Pete Townshend for his '' Lifehouse'' project. The song is one of the Who's b ...

" #"

Pinball Wizard "Pinball Wizard" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend and featured on their 1969 rock opera album '' Tommy''. The original recording was released as a single in 1969 and reac ...

" (not played on 3 and 5 November, 17 February) #"

" #"

Won't Get Fooled Again "Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. It was released as a single in June 1971, reaching the top 10 in the UK, while the full eight-and-a-half-minute ver ...

" (not played on 1 November) #"Tea and Theatre" (started closing shows on 3 November, but not played 17 February) Other songs occasionally played were: * " The Kids Are Alright" (Played on 3 and 5 November * "

Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was the second single released by the English rock band the Who in 1965. It features call-and-response lyrics (especially common in Who lyrics at this time) and some of the first ever recorded guitar feedback. The song ...

" (Played on 3 November) * "

" (played on 1 November and 15 June)