Pete Townshend quipped that The Who are “always available for private parties” as they kicked off their final tour.
The legendary rockers brought The Song Is Over: The North American Farewell Tour to Florida’s Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday (16.08.25) night, and the 80-year-old guitarist joked that for a large sum of cash, he and frontman Roger Daltrey, 81, could be persuaded to perform for fans.
He told the audience: “It’s so great you’ve all come out to see us this one last time.”
Pete laughed: “If any of you’ve got very, very, very deep pockets, Roger and I are always available for private parties!”
He said: “Seriously, it’s great to be here. We’re so pleased to see you all come out.”
The 23-song set included the live debut of Going Mobile with Simon Townshend – Pete’s brother – on lead vocals.
Simon has performed the song before, but it’s the first time it’s been played at a Who concert.
The track was penned by Pete and originally released by the band on their 1971 album Who’s Next, however, it was originally written for his abandoned Lifehouse project. Pete recorded the lead vocals, guitars, and synths, with the late John Entwistle on bass guitar and Keith Moon on drums. Roger was not involved.
Elsewhere, after a technical glitch hampered their performance at one point, Roger quipped: “You never remember the perfect show. You remember the f***-ups.”
As their touring days draw to a close, Pete recently confessed he would have been “happier” without The Who.
The musician – who co-founded the band in 1964 – has always felt the group were “beneath” him and he believes he’d have preferred to have followed his love of art instead.
He told The Daily Mail newspaper’s Weekend magazine: “I always feel I wish I’d left before the band got famous and been an artist. I think I would have been happier …
“I was deeply into a college course about how art was going to have a revolutionary function. So I felt The Who were a bit silly, maybe a bit beneath me, I’m afraid.”
Asked how he sees things now, he said: “I feel the same. I think they feel beneath me.”
Pete admitted bandmate Roger is unimpressed by his stance.
He said: “Roger and I have conversations about this. Sometimes he thinks I should be more grateful …
“I should have left, I think. That’s OK. I don’t regret feeling that. It’s just that there was a life I could have had that I missed.”
The My Generation hitmaker never expected The Who to be around for more than a year.
He said: “I expected The Who to self-destruct in six months. That’s why I threw myself into performing in a bloody manner. I hurt myself on the stage. I smashed guitars I could only just afford. But my personal manifesto was absolute: ‘This is a brief moment in music history. It won’t turn into … ‘ Well, what it turned into.”