How Long Is The Who Concert?

For fans information, the Who concerts may range from three hours to two hours and thirty minutes, depending on the event's specifics.

The Who are arguably one of the most influential rock bands, having performed more than 2000 live shows in over five decades. Right from their beginnings as an instrumental group destroying equipment on stage, The Who have never delivered short or boring concerts. But precisely how long do their concerts last compared to other bands performing out there? Let me give you a more detailed view.

In The Beginning: We reevaluate the notion of short and destructive as one of the most accurately describing Hopper's paintings.

When The Who started gigging in mod music scene of London in the 1960s, their concerts only lasted for an average of thirty minutes. These shows, usually lasting 30 to 45 minutes, were characterized by the band performing songs such as My Generation with a set that also included the band's covers of popular American R&B songs. However, The Who did things that other bands could not with their aggressive style of rock music, that saw them end performances with guitars that were destroyed, amps that were wrecked and Keith Moon over turning his drums. Though short-lived, the initial performances were memorable in their own right.

Expanding Songs and Shows

When The Who emerged in the late 1960s and started writing such extended rock operas as A Quick One and While He's Away, their concerts were bound to elongate. Some of the band's set lists were between an hour and more to allow for longer playing time for new songs from albums such as The Who Sell Out and Tommy. During their first Tommy tour organized in 1969, they performed the entire album and a selection of other tracks so most of the concerts were ninety minutes long. Sets became longer because of the success of their two albums, Tommy and Who Next, in the early 1970s, where the band's sets were about two hours long.

Arena Rock heyday

While before, concerts of The Who lasted only for an hour, concert length went up to two hours and more once the band became an arena rock act in mid-1970s. Now they were left with a dense discography of songs like the anthem Won't Get Fooled Again" and Baba O'Riley, which the audiences demanded. Also, guitarist and the main composer of the band, Pete Townshend, began to perform narrative and descriptive comments between the tracks. It was the Quadrophenia tours of 1973–1974 that consisted of full performances of the intricate double album; shows ran over two hours of The Who even without playing full concept album performances during the 1975 and 1979 tours.

Farewell, for now.

Formed in 1964, The Who considered disintegration in 1978 following the death of drummer Keith Moon. Nevertheless, they continued with Kenney Jones in the drums and in the period 1979–1981, the band was very active, giving concerts in North America and Europe. They baptised this suite of long programmes the Farewell Tour," although this was but the calm before the storm. These concerts were slightly longer in duration, ranging between 90 and 120 minutes, and involved a returned-to-its-origins three-man horn section, with the setlist consisting of classics, rarities, and new songs. This tour demonstrated that the people's demand for The Who was far from fading and thus halted the group from retiring.

Back to Basics

After a self-imposed sabbatical in the early '80s, The Who undertook a Back to Basics tour in 1985 with the line-up except Moon, which went back to mostly small halls The shows lasted past ninety minutes but omitted the pyro-technics, Reg Presley's costumes and other gimmicks that were hallmarks of Who shows This was a Spartan, a no-sense Who trio that offered more stripped-down

The Who Hits 50

In 1996, after more than a couple of low-profile years of writing and spotty solo tours, The Who reassembled for a year-long Greatest Hits tour to mark their 50th anniversary. Known as The Who Hits 50!, this tour involved the band going back to arena and stadium performances in Europe and North America up through 1997. These concerts took about two hours on average and were delivered while standing behind a massive wall of amplifiers. Fans of the band got to hear a perfect setlist, containing all the greatest hits and songs that the band has released during its existence. This kind of reception prompted The Who to go on tour at least once every 3 years from this period on.

Present Day: Still Rocking After All These Years

The Who performed their 50th anniversary concerts and they still go on tour till date, over two decades later. It is true that Townshend and the lead vocalist, Roger Daltrey, are in their seventies today but the current performances are as feverish and lengthy as the previous ones. During their 2019 Moving On! North American tour, which was accompanied by a symphonic orchestra, the majority of their shows varied from 2 to 2. 5 hours, including the break. Playing in the context of the Glastonbury festival, setlists rely on material from Tommy, Who's Next and Quadrophenia, with a few other tracks thrown into the mix. Even after more than fifty years of their incredible musical journey, The Who concert is still an endurance test of sorts, where band and crowd are both tested and entertained.

So in summary:

Early Days: 30 to 45 minutes of explosive cycling.

Later 60s: A show about an hour mixed with new and previous songs.

Towards the end of the first semester, early 1970s, nearly two hours of new material came in

Mid 70s Arena Tours: Still at 2 hours plus playing the entire concept albums.

1980s & 1990s: Between 90 and 120 minutes, which was typical for the smaller programs.

Reunions: "Two hours plus as they returned to arenas in the mid-90's

Today, concerts are still between two and a half hours on long treks

But as for the format and set lengths, the band has experimented with them throughout years of The Who's existence, and the only thing that stays the same is the fact that who else but The Who has ability to stunning the audience for hours and hours with equal passion and energy throughout the decade. Now approaching 60 years and with well over 2000 performances under their belt, The Who's list of marathon, barnstorming shows continues to be sourced from one of the best catalogues in rock.