The Who 1964 performances
| Tour by The Who | |
| Start date | 2 January 1964 |
|---|---|
| End date | 31 December 1964 |
| Legs | 1 |
| No. of shows | 193 (approximately) |
| The Who concert chronology | |
The Who performed extensively in 1964, supporting their first-ever single "Zoot Suit/I'm the Face" and their late-1964 single "I Can't Explain". The band were still known as The Detours when the year began before changing their name to The Who in February; another name change to The High Numbers in the middle of the year hoped to capitalise on the mod movement popular with British youth in the early to mid-1960s, but the group reverted to The Who after only a few months. 1964 was also the year drummer Keith Moon joined the band.
The band performed strictly in England throughout 1964, mostly in small clubs and hotels as they gained popularity. Original drummer Doug Sandom, who had been with the group since 1962, was persuaded to leave the band for a variety of reasons, opening the door for then 17-year-old Keith Moon to join the band, his first show occurring on 2 May. The group's first record, "Zoot Suit/I'm the Face", was released in July while the band was known as The High Numbers, but the single performed poorly and the name change was ultimately only temporary. As for the band's live shows, more and more R&B and Tamla Motown material worked its way into their sets, although their first Pete Townshend-penned single, "I Can't Explain", would begin a movement towards more original material in 1965. Meanwhile, a twist of fate saw Townshend accidentally break the neck off his Rickenbacker guitar during a show at the Railway Hotel in London, leading him to destroy the rest of the instrument in a fit of anger. Soon the band developed a reputation for instrument destruction (which Moon would extend to his drum kit) that would characterise the next several years of their existence.
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