Pete Townshend has confirmed on his website that the Who will embark on a world tour this summer that will bring the band to the U.S. for the first time in almost five years. Townshend had been adamant that the Who would only tour if promoting a new album, and while it does not appear like a new CD in the conventional sense will be released, Who fans can expect something.

"Who manager Bill Curbishley has come up with a great scheme that may circumvent the need for a CD full of Green Day and White Stripes impersonations," Townshend writes. "No, it is not an 'EP'. It is a truly inspired idea. I'll let his agents pass you the news when they have it polished like a new Pimp My Ride Hummer.

"I certainly don't give a flying f**k whether anything I write is a hit, or will get played on my beloved rock radio, or sell a million," Townshend continues. "What I care about is that Roger Daltrey feels comfortable with the songs I write so he can sing a few of them on stage while I lunge around looking gorgeous and playing show-off guitar like a kid in a music shop. After 45 years of this crap I've just started to enjoy it.

"It would be great to keep this tour flexible, dangerous, exciting, innovative, and accessible as well as providing high-end rock shows for those of us who like pretty lights and songs we already know."

photo by Ross Halfin
guitar by Gibson Custom