The Who gigs: Talkin’ bout older Cork generations

PETE TOWNSHEND, lead guitarist with legendary rock band The Who, paid tribute to his Irish background as he announced details of the band’s summer concerts in Dublin and Cork in London yesterday.

“My father was born there, which explains everything about my drink problem,” joked a fit-looking, 61-year-old Townshend, adding that his grandfather was born on Cork’s Gillabbey Street — “something I just found out recently,” he said.

The Who will be the top-billing act at the Live at the Marquee series of concerts in Cork this summer, which runs from June 22 to July 7 on Centre Park Road.

The full line-up, which includes Bell X1 and heavy metal band Slayer, will be announced in the next two weeks.

The Who play Cork on June 30, the day after their Dublin Marley Park gig on June 29. Tickets for the Cork concert go on sale through Ticketmaster on February 15, and are priced €86.25 seated and €76.25 standing. The Dublin tickets are priced at €69.50 and go on sale on February 16, also through Ticketmaster.

This is the third consecutive year of Live at the Marquee, a festival Aiken promotions has now committed to in Cork until 2010.

This year, an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 people are expected to attend the intimate Leeside venue.

The commitment is based on the phenomenal success of the first two years of the event, which has featured such greats as Bob Dylan, Roger Walters, Robert Plant, Diana Ross and Christy Moore.

Frontman, Roger Daltrey, said he couldn’t wait to get to Ireland.

“We know the postman,” he joked, referring to ‘Irish Jack,’ Cork-based postman, Jack Lyons, also from Gillabbey Street, who had once been a roadie for the band, as well as a close friend.

Townshend and Daltrey launched the details of their European tour with a live acoustic performance which was broadcast on the internet.

Although in his early 60s, Daltrey’s voice proved as powerful as ever for the four songs, starting with Won’t Get Fooled Again, and ending with a song from their recent album, Endless Wire.

The Who was formed in 1964 and originally comprised four members, including drummer, Keith Moon, who died in 1978, and bassist John Entwistle, who died in 2002.

However, the driving forces behind the band, Daltrey and Townshend, also the main songwriters, have kept The Who active, touring and recording, keeping the flame alive for fans and the band, which once broke a Guinness record for loudest live rock band. The band once also featured on the cover of Time magazine (one of the few rock bands to do so) and was admitted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, the first year they were eligible for admission.

The gigs will span the band’s career.