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The Who coming to Amalie Arena in Tampa

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have discussed plans for an intricate symphony tour.
 
Roger Daltrey, left, and Pete Townshend, the only two remaining members of The Who perform ed April 15, 2015 in Tampa. (Chris Urso | Times
Roger Daltrey, left, and Pete Townshend, the only two remaining members of The Who perform ed April 15, 2015 in Tampa. (Chris Urso | Times
Published Jan. 14, 2019

The Who are steering their Magic Bus back toward Tampa.

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend announced new tour dates for the who on Monday, and they include a Sept. 22 stop at Amalie Arena. Tickets are $66.75 and up, and they'll go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. Click here for details.

While a news release about the date was fairly bare-bones, Daltrey and Townshend recently told Rolling Stone that they were hoping to make this a symphonic tour, featuring local orchestras picked up in each city. That, Daltrey said, sounded like a reasonable and age-appropriate way to build up to a new album release.

"I'll be 75 years old in March and this feels like a dignified way to go and do music, Daltrey told the magazine. "That's all we're really left with. We're old men now. We've lost the looks. We've lost the glamour. What we're left with is the music and we're going to present it in a way which is as fresh and powerful as ever."

Daltrey also told Rolling Stone he's not sure how many more chances audiences will get to see the Who in concert.

"I think it is always a mistake to ever say 'farewell,'" he said. "But this will possibly be my last tour. I'm just being realistic about going through the 75th year of my life. I have to be realistic that this is the age I am and voices start to go after a while. I don't want to be not as good as I was two years ago."

Be that as it may, the Who were pretty fantastic the last time they came through Tampa Bay, in 2015, in a show that ranked among our best of the year.

And on a side note, this is quite a run of classic rock Amalie has mapped out for 2019: Kiss in April, Jeff Lynne's ELO in July, Queen and Adam Lambert in August and Elton John in November. Bring your lighters!

Contact Jay Cridlin at cridlin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8336. Follow @JayCridlin.