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Zak Starkey's Work with: |
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summary |
releases | live | |
Through out 2005, there were on-again, off-again type indicators coming from various factions about the possibility of Who activity for 2006, after Zak finished up the Oasis tour. On Aug 6th, Pete posts a Diary about doing lunch with Roger, and how they talked about "possible work in the coming six months", which some news services were quick to blow out of proportion. Only a few days later, Pete' diary about his laborious work pattern seemed to end those initial hopes. ( see the full summary in the Who 2005 section)
Rachel Fuller during the end of 2005, launched her In The Attic series of informal, home-grown, fly-on-the-wall, internet-video-chat-performance, waynes-world-meets-real-world, live-blog type of get togethers, broadcast over Who TV. Frequent guests included her band members, Simon Townshend, and Pete. The programs (10 in all) were well received by many Who, Rachel, and Simon fans and were tightly related to Rachel's rather prolific Blog activity. Both on the program and in her blog, she repeatedly refered to upcoming 2006 WHO TOUR plans ... thus fanning the flames of hope. Even Pete in the infamous 'c*nts' episode, did not really downplay the tour idea, though he did fall back on the 'work out the logistics' conditional statements.
Around mid-November, Krystal's Box Office was taking
orders based on provisional dates:
[as of Dec 3]
Apr 30 - Wembley (this
was originally listed as "Lansdowne Road Dublin (Provisional)" in mid-Nov)
May
02 - NEC Arena (Provisional Date)
May 04 - MEN Arena (Provisional Date)
May
06 - SECC Arena (Provisional Date)
Pop Matters (popmatters.com) ran an interview with the UK band Dogs dated Nov 30th, that starts out by relaying this little story:
"We got a call from Roger Daltrey!" beams Dogs' singer and songwriter Johnny Cooke in between sips of lager. "Well, we didn't. We got a call from Roger Daltrey's management. Roger Daltrey was in their office and said 'I love this band Dogs. I would love them to play the Teenage Cancer Trust Gig at the Albert Hall in March'. So their management rung us and said 'Would you like to play with the Who?'" - Barking Mad: An Interview with Dogs, by Robert Collins 2005-11-30
Rollingstone.com reported on Dec 22nd that:
The Who will launch a world tour this summer that will bring the band to North America for its first extended trek in nearly four years. "We plan to visit the USA, Europe, Japan, Australia and also South America," manager Bill Curbishley says.
The group -- which now consists of Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend backed by bassist Pino Palladino, keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, drummer Zak Starkey and guitarist (and Pete's brother) Simon Townshend -- was forced to take a hiatus in 2005 due to Starkey's touring commitments with Oasis and Palladino's stint with the John Mayer Trio.
However none of the reporting outfits so far have mentioned specific dates, or even if specific dates had been disclosed.
In classic Pete-isms, he posts a diary on Dec 24th titled "I will go on tour ....." on his website (www.petetownshend.co.uk)
"As it seems everyone in the world is already making announcements about a forthcoming Who tour I figured I should make my own statement.
I have said many times, repeated up until a few days ago, that I am reticent about committing to a tour without a completed new Who album under my belt.
As things stand I am still pushing to produce some more songs. So the announcement may seem premature. It is not."He goes on to talk about not caring if any new material is a hit, or gets airplay - only that Roger is comfortable with it.
And talks about a grand Curbishley sceme to circumvent the need for a full cd release, nor even an EP to be announced at a later date.
"What his brilliant idea means is that if I don't have a full thirty tracks ready to go, we can settle on what I do have. So I can commit."Other ideas are for free and pay-per-view internet broadcasts of gigs on the tour!
He also mentions that Casbah Club (Simon Townshend's current band with Bruce Foxton (Jam) and Mark Brzezicki (Big country)) will most likely be the opening act!
"I also have a very, very cool surprise to announce in June, just before the tour kicks off."
[Let's hope it's not what one Who mailing lister predicted: "The June announcement will be Pete will announcing that his December announcement was premature!" - LOL!!!]
In his Feb 1st diary (www.petetownshend.co.uk/diary/), Pete responds to some rumors that the impending tour will not be happening, by saying that "It is true as of today, but obviously life has a way of throwing curved balls." He goes on to say that they already have European dates slotted in June and July, and that the American dpart of the tour will happen in 3 or four legs from September to December. The rest of the world will see them in 2007. Why the gap? Well, that's because he says a new CD will be out in the early summer. "I know I've cried wolf a few times, but this time I have committed because I have about enough music for a new CD, and I'm still producing."
The band hits the road in June, the EP of the mini opera is released in July, the album in October and the band continues to roll on through 2007!
Back in March of 2006, Noel Gallagher made a few statements that indicated that he would love for Zak to become a full-time member of Oasis. Seems Pete has had some similar notions. In November, Pete posted a series of Diary entries that were various interview Q&A's he's done so far for Endless Wire. In the Diary titled "French Grasshopper - 7, 23 Nov 2006" there is question about who makes up The Who:
Question: "What is the real Who line-up? Do you consider Rabbitt – a long-time companion- and Zak –the natural son of Keith Moon- as full-time members for instance?"
Pete's Answer: " No. They are members of our touring band. They have no creative role in our music. They are exceptionally gifted musicians though and bring something very special to our music. Sadly, any one of them could be replaced, and often are. Rabbit did not perform with us at our famous 9/11 concert in NYC. Zak did not perform with us at our famous performance at Live8."
Pete's Footnote: " FOOTNOTE: Since this interview Zak has been invited to become a member of the Who."
Well, that certainly caused a buzz within whoville! Just what EXACTLY did Pete mean? There was almost a different theory for every theorist on the various internet lists and forums.
Pete would again address the subject in his diary entry titled "Zak
and the Revision of History, 4 Dec 2006". The entry addresses comments
made in an interview he gave to The Boston Herald ( 12/01/2006) that can
be construed as it being all Zak's fault that the album Endless Wire was
delayed. [He made a similair snarkey remark in his March 21st 2005 Diary
entry that was later picked up by the press and headlined as 'Zak's Oasis
jaunt' killing any new Who work, but I digress.] But in this December 06
entry he tries to explain the timeline a bit and exonerate Zak's roll in
the delay "Who
fans should not look for anyone to blame for delays - especially not Zak.
Zak would work for the Who all the hours he had if only the Who worked all
the hours he had."
Pete goes on to backtrack on earlier statements that the Tour might go on through
2008 - "It now looks likely that this tour will end in July 2007 rather than
continue until the autumn. That means our proposed return trip to Japan and Australia
may be postponed for a while. I suppose one result of that is that Zak may
pick up his sticks for Oasis again later next year - and as Noel and Liam wished
him good luck when he came to play this tour with us, Roger and I will wish
him luck if he goes to play with them. We are all friends. Life is too short
for petty recriminations and in this matter Zak has nothing to apologise for.
He was available to work in early 2005, but I wasn't ready for him."
And as for that invite to be a member of the Who:
"
One small thing - some of you
may have noticed in one of my recent diary postings that I welcomed Zak into
the Who as a permanent member. This is something he doesn't feel he needs or
wants. Let's just say that the door is always open to this amazing musician,
and - whenever we can - we will always try to make it possible for Zak to work
with the Who in the future."
Once again, Pete ended the previous year with small seeds of hope that there would be a new Who album to savor in the year to come. If you were to believe Pete's postings from Dec 05 and Feb 06, then you were planning on purchasing the new album in the summer of 2006! So far, [july 1 2006] it still looks like 'all systems are go'.
During the first installment of Rachel Fuller's The
Attic II (March 1, 2006) on Towser TV, Pete mentions that he has 23 tracks
in the works, many of which are a mini-opera, based on his novella - The
Boy Who Heard Music, and they should be going in the studio as of the next
week.
[March 8, 2006] Pete debuted a bit of a "Mini Opera" while
appearing on the March 8th episode of "The Attic".
He played a bit, called "Pick Up The Peace" on acoustic, and mentioned
that it would be releases in June (12th or 15th-ish) as a maxi-single (just
under 12 minutes long). He then stated that the album would follow in September.
Pete posted a Mini-Opera update in he 18
March 2006 Diary about how it all came to be, why the timing is as such,
and stating that the mini-opera recordings feature Pino, Rabbit, Simon, Billy
Nichols, and the killer [pete's word NOT, repeat, N-O-T mine -kvt] - drums
by Peter Huntington [who !? -kvt] - NOT Zak. [Not Zak because he was still on
tour with Oasis - a tour
that ended March 31st!! - DO NOT get
me started ... NOT at all a happy camper about this ... ESPECIALLY since all
this 'get it done before the Euro tour dates' DID NOT happen anyhow. The June
release is now slated for July 10th (or 17th, 24th depending on which online
vender you believe) ]
On April 9th,
Pete refers to the Mini-Opera as "The Glass Household" when
he posts that he and Roger have completed recording, and says it should be
released as a limited edition in June, prior to the full CD due Sept. But according
to his 3rd
May 2006 Diary,
where Pete announces that the mastering of the Mini Opera - it is to be called
Wire & Glass
-- was finished and being sent off to Polydor.
The remainder of the full album was recorded in April and May and finished
May 26th and scheduled to be mixed within two weeks after that.(Although on the
July 7th In The Attic, Pete mentioned he still had mixing to do!) Again Pete
had been talking of a September release, but it was finally
announced on August 24th that The Who had signed a new deal with Universal Republic
securing the Oct 31st release of the album "Endless Wire". The full
track listing was revealed in a Sept 6th news posting on Pete's website.
contains
the 11 minute mini opera on which Zak DOES NOT play. 
Zak
DOES play on this-though - exactly one song - "Black Widow's Eyes". Originally
touted as coming in September, it was finally announced on August 24th, that
The Who had signed a new deal with Universal Republic securing the Oct 31st
release of "Endless
Wire".
The full track listing was revealed in a Sept 6th news posting on Pete's
website. 
[May
24, 2006] In Pete's diary entry titled "The Master Plan": "...
I intend to bootleg Who shows myself and give the proceeds to charity." In
the past this was done through the Encore Series CD's. This time, Pete says
they will sell DVD's as well as CDs. Going even more hi-tech, they will also
sell BitTorrent downloads through www.longliverock.org, and Podcasts through
iTunes. "In
addition we will webcast a Live Stream of 30 minutes featuring at least one
LIVE number by the Who from every show for 99c. Proceeds to local health,
childrens' and street charities." The Attic will be in full swing on
the road as well as "Rachel Fuller, Mikey Cuthbert, Simon Townshend
and myself will appear LIVE with guests like PRIMAL SCREAM, ARCTIC MONKEYS,
THE STROKES."
Look for The Attic coming to TV in the near future as well. Pete also says
that every few weeks they will webcast an entire show benefiting a major
charity. So, start stocking up on additional external hard-drives now ... Fall of 2005 began with a flurry of fuel for the tour rumor mill, and by Xmas time, we had a pronouncement from Pete that the upcoming tour was a definitely maybe. The year began as usual with anticipation of the announcement of the Royal Albert Hall, Teenage Cancer Trust shows. This time around, there was no mention of The Who for any shows held March 27 - April 1, 2006.
In January, Contact Music ran a basic rehash of Pete's Dec 24th "I Will Go On Tour" diary entry, where he talks about how they plan to shared shows via free and pay-per-view webcasts. Pete says "I also have a very, very cool surprise to announce in June, just before the tour kicks off." The Daily Express [Jan 12, 2006] reports that BBC2's Arena will present in the fall an all access documentary on the Who's world tour 2006.
The News section of Pete's site [May 25, 2006] posted the confirmed Euro dates, and hinted at the date time-frame for the US shows in the fall. "With venue details still to be confirmed for the US part of the tour, the band will be gigging Stateside between 7th September - 10th October & 5th November - 5th December. More info on the venues as it comes in."
Webcasts of parts of all shows (as well as some complete shows) are happening over at TheWhoLive.tv.
[July 4, 2006] Still no official US Tour dates announced ...
Euro dates trickled there way through the rumor mill, discovered
on various Festival sites by searching fans and trotted out
in an almost stealth manner from official sources - until they were finally
officially compiled and listed on Pete's site in late May 206. They include
Hedgestock,The Wireless Festival, The Oxygen Festival, T in The Park, Das Lovely
Days Festival, Rock Werchter Festival, Hyde Park Calling, Montreux Jazz Festival,
The Paleo Festival and dates in Bristol, Southampton, Liverpool, Germany, Monaco,
France and Spain. The biggie event so far has been the triumphant return
to the LEEDS refractory at Leeds Uni for "Live At Leeds 2"
Full Details
They tour the US during Sept - Dec 2006, with more dates in Feb 07!
Said to be set for 2007 - In fact, Pete in his 16 June 2006 Diary Post (Ready to Roll, ...), Pete talks about the following night's start of a year long tour that "if I get my wish [is] to end it next year at Glastonbury. Now that will be the show to watch. We should be warmed up by then." That statement further enhanced by an article on the 19th at efestivals.co.uk that talks about the lack of a Glasto '06, and organiser's Michael Eavis' 2007 plans that claim he's booked "the biggest band ever for next year and nobody will guess who they are".
|back
to Zak' work with The Who |
Other
Who related sections on Kathy's Zak Starkey Site:
Quad Hyde Park and MSG * Quad
USA '96 * Quad Europe '97 *
Quad USA '97
Who's Serious? * Daltrey
Sings Townshend * Who convention '95
Pete's Olivier Award Party * John
Entwistle's The Rock * Pete's 98 solo
gigs
* Who 1999 shows * The
Who 2000 * Tony Ashton Testimonial Show
* The Who 2001 * The
Who 2002 * The Who 2003 * The
Who 2004 *
* The Who 2005 * The
Who 2006 *The
Who 2007 *
* The
Who 2008 *The
Who 2009 *The
Who 2010 *The Who 2011*
* Kathy's Simon
Townshend Pages *
Related Links:
- The Who at Amazon.com
Last Updated: Saturday, December 23, 2006
Created: Nov 10 2004
Copyright ©
Kathy VanTassell
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