The Who Concert Guide Blog

I’ve got a Mail from a production company making a BBC series called the “People’s History of Pop” due to air in 2016 that will tell the story of British popular music from the people that loved it most – the fans. They’re taking a unique approach to the research and are crowdsourcing people’s memories and memorabilia, whether that be photos, ticket stubs, old records etc.

The series is due to air on BBC4 in four episodes, starting in the spring. Instead of interviewing “experts” and celebs, they want to tell the story from the fans’ perspective. So they are crowdsourcing people’s memories and memorabilia from across the UK, covering all music and youth cultures from 1956 to 1996.

The company is doing this in partnership with History Pin – an online sharing platform where people can upload their pictures, records, memories etc. The documentary will then feature the best of what’s been uploaded to the site. This is a chance to tell the story of British music from the real fans’ point of view.

This BBC website explains what we’re doing quite well: www.bbc.co.uk/peoplespop

Here is the site where everyone is uploading items so you can see what’s already gone up: www.phop.co.uk

HE WHO have postponed four shows of their fall “THE WHO HITS 50!” North American tour to allow lead singer Roger Daltrey proper time to recover from a virus he contracted. Based on doctor’s orders, the first four dates of the tour launch–September 14 at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, September 16 at Honda Center in Anaheim, September 19 at Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and September 21 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles–have been postponed. The band regrettably has cancelled their September 18 performance at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. “THE WHO HITS 50!” tour will resume September 24 at Moda Center in Portland, OR. Details on the rescheduled dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

Seems, that The Who have bigger things to do: The band decided to play Glastonbury and cancelled and postponed sold out shows in Paris and Amsterdam. The new dates: 28.06.2015: Glastonbury; 30.06.2015: Paris; 02.07.2015: Amsterdam.

I agree with Eric Champarnaud: “To cancel an engagement for another engagement is extremely shitty. Unless there is a good reason we don’t know about? Now is the time to tell us. Why is Glasto taking precedence over the scheduled dates? Why is it a priority? Is it money? Is it exposure? Is it something else? What makes the Glastonbury audience more deserving? Rescheduling two sold-out shows into one show this late in the game is saying to the fans: “We don’t give a fuck about you”. Personally? No skin off my back. I’m a sucker, I’ll go the make-up show. No problem. But how about the potentially thousands of fans who had made plans? Travel, hotel, babysitter, etc… How will they be compensated? Is that how a working band operates? Is this the legacy you want to leave behind, on your 50th anniversary? Will Paris be treated to a lackluster make-up gig because you gave your all to the people of Glastonbury? And what if the people who come to the make-up show decide to show you how they feel about being shat on? I know I speak for a lot of fellow fans when I say this display of unprofessional carelessness is disappointing and hurtful, and we didn’t think this band in particular was capable of it. Someone, preferably Pete or Rog, please clear the air and tell us exactly who took that decision and why?” (Facebook The Who Fan Page)