Roger Daltrey of The Who. Photo by Davidwbaker via Wikimedia Commons.
Since the world has collectively (and arguably prematurely) decided that the pandemic is over, demand for live music is soaring to new heights. However, even for the largest of legacy rock bands, the pandemic is very much still affecting their touring schedule. In a new interview with USA Today spotted by Stereogum, The Who's Roger Daltrey said that expenses and risk brought on by COVID meant that the band's most recent North American tour would likely be their last ever.
Daltrey explained that the massive initial upfront investment for a Who tour ("$600,000 to a million") is uninsurable, making any tour a significant gamble due to the prospect of shows being canceled over a COVID outbreak. Read his full quote below:
I don’t know if we’ll ever come back to tour America. There is only one tour we could do, an orchestrated Quadrophenia to round out the catalog. But that’s one tall order to sing that piece of music, as I’ll be 80 next year. I never say never, but at the moment it’s very doubtful.
Touring has become very difficult since COVID. We cannot get insured and most of the big bands doing arena shows, by the time they do their first show and rehearsals and get the staging and crew together, all the buses and hotels, you’re upwards $600,000 to a million in the hole. To earn that back, if you’re doing a 12-show run, you don’t start to earn it back until the seventh or eighth show. That’s just how the business works. The trouble now is if you get COVID after the first show, you’ve [lost] that money.
North American fans of the band who are unable to fly overseas to catch them live can enjoy the performance via their latest live album The Who With Orchestra: Live At Wembley.