Posted on Friday, October 09 @ 06:12:09 MDT 
Fans are waiting with bated breath as Roger Daltrey kicks off his Use It Or Lose It Tour tomorrow night (October 10th) in Vancouver at the Commodore Ballroom. Although Daltrey has never been far from the concert stage since 1994, this tour features him dipping deep into his solo and Who catalogues for the first time since his 1985 gigs promoting his Under A Raging Moon album.
Although Daltrey has performed the 1975 The Who By Numbers surprise hit "Squeeze Box" several times on his own over the years, the Who has made a concerted effort to keep the song out of their setlists since 1982. Daltrey makes no apologies for the song being one of the band's more commercial tracks: "We just did it as a piece of fun -- and that's probably why it's gonna be in my show (laughs)! It's just so quirky, and it just gives you kind of a slight insight into Pete's humor, y'know? At the time it was kind of tongue-in-cheek, a bit. We were very proud of our pop history. We're a pop group. We're a rock group now -- but we started as a pop group, and there's nothing wrong with pop. Pop's got a very valuable place in music history. And a three-minute single, they're all gems, usually, and they still stand up. A good song, is a good song, is a good song."
During Daltrey's recent guest spot on The Ellen DeGeneres Show he performed the Who's "I Can See For Miles" which was last played during the band's 1989 reunion tour, which featured numerous additional musicians -- including a handful of backing vocalists. Daltrey says he's glad to once again have the extra vocal support in the current band: "What I'm trying to do on this tour is, if I do any Who songs, they're the ones that the Who don't play. And it's kind of fun, 'cause we can do all the backing vocals. Which is a big deal for me, because as a lead singer, if backing vocals aren't there, you don't know quite where to pitch the main vocal."
- Roger Daltrey tour dates (subject to change):
October 10 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
October 12 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDO
October 15 - Highland, CA - San Manuel Indian Casino
October 17 - Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre
October 18 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's
October 20 - Denver, CO -- Paramount Theatre
October 22 - Thackerville, OK - Winstar Casino
October 24 - Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Cafe
October 25 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
October 28 - Durham, NC - Durham PAC
October 30 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
October 31 - Elizabeth, IN - Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino
November 2 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
November 3 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues Cleveland
November 5 - Orillia, ON - Casino Rama Entertainment Centre
November 7 - Mashantucket, CT - MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods
November 8 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
November 10 - Baltimore, MD - Lyric Opera House
November 11 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
November 13, 14 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Music Box
November 17 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theatre
November 18 - Norfolk, VA - Chrysler Hall Theatre
November 20 - New York, NY - Nokia Theatre Times
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November 24 - N. Charleston, SC - North Charleston Coliseum, PAC
November 25 - Buena Vista, FL - House of Blues
November 27 - Ft. Myers, FL - Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
November 29 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock
November 30 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
SIDE NOTES
Among the songs recently mentioned as being possible contenders for Daltrey's live dates are the Who's 1981 Face Dances classic "Cache Cache" -- which has never been performed live by the band, a tune from The Who By Numbers, an acoustic version of "Who Are You," alongside early Leo Sayer and David Courtney-written tracks from his 1973 solo debut Daltrey, "Waiting For A Friend" from the soundtrack to 1980's McVicar, "Days Of Light," and "Walk On Water" from his last solo studio album, 1992's Rocks In The Head, and Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line."
Pete Townshend's younger brother -- and touring Who member -- Simon Townshend will be part of Daltrey's five-piece backing band.
Pete Townshend is laying down tracks for the Who's 2010 studio album. The collection, which is the band's first since 2006's Endless Wire, will feature songs that Townshend wrote for his upcoming multi-media musical called Floss. Daltrey will join Townshend in the studio following the tour in December.
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