The Who kicks off their European tour tonight (June 14th) in Barcelona, Spain and once again will be backed by a full local orchestra. Even after all these years — and the addition of all those strings and horns — Roger Daltrey maintains the Who hasn't changed its stripes, telling LouderSound, “We are what we are. I don't worry about it. The only thing I can ever be, is true to myself. I don't put on any airs and graces on, I am what I am. Sooner or later, I am going to offend you.”
He went on to say about the Who: “Ours is music to fight to, and I do like to have a growl, but I'm too old for that now. The last fight in the Who was probably 1973, when I punched Pete (Townshend). I used to love a scrap. Little blokes do, don't they?”
In regard to the new string of dates, Daltrey stated: “It's a good show, that's all I'll say. Look at our reviews over all these years: the bad ones are far and between, if you can find one at all. We deliver. We don't let people down. And I think I'm singing better than I have done for many, many years.”
In an interview posted a while back on TheWho.com, Roger Daltrey spoke frankly about the physical toll live work takes on him: “The energy. You're asking someone, basically, to play a football match five nights a week. And we're not spring chickens anymore. I mean, I know we don't leap about quite as much as we used to, but most of the energy is in the singing (and) getting the voice out to do what it does emotionally. Pushing all those emotional buttons every night, it's physically exhausting.”