Roger Daltrey - Going Solo

by Brent Warnken

Roger Daltrey of The Who fame has recently signed up for a solo concert this fall, titled Use it or Lose it. It is a fitting title, as The Who's reunion concert remains unsettled and Daltrey knows all too well that maintaining one's fame isn't just about special commercial performances and that the show - his first since 1985 - will help "to keep my voice in trim, so I'll be ready. Those songs demand a lot of voice!"

While he prepares vocally for a reunion concert with a solo jaunt, the effort won't nearly be as demanding as the one that sees him fronting The Who of "Behind Blue Eyes" fame. "I thought it'd be nice to play smaller, more intimate venues," he says on his website.

"I look forward to getting back to that. I want to give people a good night out. The economic situation being what it is these days, I think that's what they want: to go out and feel they've had a good jolly- up."

The two month tour kicks off October 10 at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, British Columbia and will visit Los Angeles' Orpheum, Baltimore's Lyric, Denver's Paramount Theatre and several House of Blues and Hard Rock Cafes. If you want to see this legendary vocalist perform live today, get those Roger Daltrey tickets today online.

It's too long to wait for a Who return, which might finally come to fruition next year, so Daltrey has "put a little band together," he says to Rolling Stone. "I'm going back to where it all began," where he plans on bringing aboard Simon Townshend, Pete's brother, in a concert extravaganza through late November. Though the set list has yet to be finalized, 'different versions of Who songs," like an acoustic of "Who Are You," might make an appearance ("Strip away the synthesizers and it's a blues songs," he continues).

"The show has to be a journey. An enjoyable journey or it could be a bumpy ride!" The efforts are all in practice as the rest of Who's team gears up for next years' concert, a set that has already earned some brief concept. "I'd like to do a stripped down show - no staging, no big production, just play the bloody music," he admits. "The music is timeless."

His first solo stint since 1985, Daltrey often tends to accompany his own licks with tunes from Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Queen and others. His first solo set came in 1973 with the self-titled Daltrey, a serious departure from typical Who sound via writer Leo Sayer. Though the group reunited again two years later, Daltrey still had time to record a sophomore album, Ride a Rock Horse, alongside the Who's The Who by Numbers.

He continued to work on a solo career while simultaneously leading the Who, releasing 1977's One of the Boys, 1984's Parting Should be Painless, 1985's Under a Raging Moon and more. Talking to Uncut Daltrey says "...a musical note is the meaning of life. We're not giving up. I mean, as well as being a backdrop for people living, we might as well be a backdrop for people dying. We've all got to go at some point."

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