Watch The Who perform ‘This Song Is Over’ live for first time during Teenage Cancer Trust show
During their second concert of 2025 for Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall, The Who performed ‘This Song Is Over’ from Who’s Next for the first time in their career.
The legendary English band performed two shows across the programme for Teenage Cancer Trust‘s series of shows at the historic London venue, with other acts who performed including the Sex Pistols with Frank Carter, The Corrs, James Arthur, Erased Tapes and a special comedy night hosted by Micky Flanagan.
On March 30th, The Who’s audience was littered with famous faces including Hollywood icon Bill Murray as well as Sadie Frost and Tracy Ann Oberman who were all in attendance to witness the live premiere of ‘This Song Is Over’, which was released 54 years ago.
In the show, Townshend jokingly said to the crowd: “Many of you will know this is not my chosen career – I would have preferred to have been a dustman, to be honest. But it’s glorious to be here with people like you tonight. Thank you so much.”
Although The Who varied the setlist with the inclusion of ‘This Song Is Over’, they did also deliver their biggest hits such as ‘Baba O’Riley’, ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, ‘Substitute’, ‘My Generation’, ‘Pinball Wizard’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’.
Before entering rehearsals, Townshend spoke with Rolling Stone and revealed that the band had no idea of what their setlist would entail, which left room for surprises such as closing on ‘This Song Is Over’. He said they “don’t really know what we’re doing” for the charity show and expressed that he’s “hoping to keep it simple.”
Townshend then revealed that he was nervous about returning to the Royal Albert Hall, admitting, “I’ve got no idea what it’s going to be like. I’m actually nervous. And I think Roger’s nervous as well. We’re both in our eighties, beyond our eighties, in Roger’s case. I’m 80 in May.”
Next month, Daltrey is set to commence on an extensive solo tour of the United Kingdom before The Who will regroup in July for two huge shows in Italy in Padova and Milan.
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