The Who Tour 1989
| Tour by The Who | |
| Start date | 21 June 1989 |
|---|---|
| End date | 2 November 1989 |
| Legs | 2 |
| No. of shows | 50 |
| The Who concert chronology | |
The Who Tour 1989 was The Who's reunion tour in celebration of their 25th anniversary and their first without drummer Kenney Jones, who had replaced Keith Moon in 1979. It was the band's only tour between 1982 and 1996.
The group debated on how to celebrate their 25th anniversary (actually the 25th anniversary of their being joined by Keith Moon, as opposed to when the group first formed), eventually deciding on a tour instead of a new studio album. However, there would be widespread changes in the band's live presentation from their previous tours, largely at Pete Townshend's behest. Citing difficulties with his hearing due to tinnitus, Townshend wanted the band to play at a lesser volume than in previous years and now preferred to play acoustic guitar for much of the act, necessitating a second guitarist to handle much of the lead guitar duties, though Townshend would still play a fair amount of electric guitar and play lead on certain numbers. The original picks to play lead were Joe Walsh and David Gilmour (who was Pete's first choice when he told Bob Coburn on 'Rockline' that he wanted Gilmour for the tour; Gilmour bowed out due to a Pink Floyd tour of Europe in 1989), the group eventually chose Steve "Boltz" Bolton, who had played with Atomic Rooster and Paul Young in years past. The group also decided to part ways with drummer Kenney Jones and recruited Simon Phillips, with whom Townshend had worked on his 1980 solo album Empty Glass, to take his place for the tour. A number of additional personnel were added as well, including a five-piece horn section (playing on roughly half the songs in the set) and backup singers, for a total of 15 band members in all. The large number of performers and the playing styles of Bolton (who relied heavily on the tremolo arm and made occasional use of the wah-wah pedal) and Phillips made for a very different sound than anything the band had presented in the past, drawing mixed reviews from fans and critics.
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