The Who Fits Debut Into Fall Tour 2019 Opener At Madison Square Garden

The Who opened Fall Tour 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday night. A full orchestra accompanied the band for the majority of the concert, which included a debut and the second ever performance of an original.

Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, the touring band and orchestra kicked off the evening with a suite of songs from Tommy such as “Overture,” “Sparks” and “Pinball Wizard.” Next up was a series of classics that included “Eminence Front” and “Imagine A Man.” The first section of the concert concluded with “Hero Ground Zero,” a song The Who debuted earlier this summer in London.

The orchestra left The Who to play a string of five songs that started with “Substitute,” “The Seeker” and “You Better You Bet.” Then, Roger and Pete performed a stripped-down rendition of “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Finally, the strings came out to augment The Who on “Behind Blue Eyes.” The final portion of the night saw the return of the orchestra. Up first was the debut of “Big Cigars,” which Townshend noted was from the band’s forthcoming follow-up to 2006’s Endless Wire. The ensemble then focused on material from 1973’s Quadrophenia and included a bit of Billy Joel’s “New York State Of Mind” within the “Love Reign O’er Me” intro. Last night’s concert concluded with “Baba O’Riley” featuring a star turn from violinist Katie Jacoby.

Fan-Shot Video (Captured by Jim Powers)

Big Cigars

Eminence Front, Imagine A Man

Love Reign O’er Me (w/ New York State Of Mind intro)

Hero Ground Zero

Baba O’Riley