The Who’s Roger Daltrey discusses possibility of avatar show by The Who
The dawning of new concert technology pioneered by ABBA has hoards of legacy acts considering the potential of immortal, unending careers. The newest rock legend to discuss the possibility of a hologram tour is The Who frontman Roger Daltrey.
In recent months, David Gilmour shared the potential for a future Pink Floyd show, while Kiss still see a hologram tour as their goal, referring to the idea of digital avatars of the band as “the future of Kiss”. In the wake of the success of ABBA Voyage, the prospect of being able to keep the band performing long after the actual members have retired proves to be an appealing prospect to a lot of ageing stars.
The Who’s Pete Townshend is a fan of the idea. “The Who isn’t Daltrey and Townshend onstage at 80, pretending to be young. It’s the four of us in 1964, when we were 18 or 19,” he told The New York Times earlier this year. Suggesting that a show might be on the horizon, he added, “If you want to see the Who myth, wait for the avatar show. It would be good!”
However, one stumbling block for this idea is Daltrey, who won’t be signing off on an avatar any time soon. When asked by Ultimate Classic Rock about Townshend suggestion of a hologram show, he responded at first by asking, “What is that?”
After an explanation about the influence of ABBA Voyage, the singer at first said, “What, we’re going to go out and do ABBA covers? I don’t think so.” Even after starting to grasp the concept, he was firmly against the idea.
“I’ve never thought about it. I wouldn’t want to go and see it,” he said, casting off the idea of seeing a digital version of his younger self on stage.
Instead, Daltrey in his real, physical form remains up there himself. Even at 80, the singer is still touring. He’s about to set off on a solo tour of North America, proving that not all ageing stars need the support of technology to put on a show.
To him, his continued work is simply part of the ethos that’s earned him this lengthy career. “What a fantastic [life],” he said. “You know, I was always a worker. I worked in a factory for five years. I do other work apart from the Who. I’ve got a farm. I do a lot of work for Teen Cancer America and the Teenage Cancer Trust in the U.K. I’m driven by that just as much as I was driven by the Who. So there’s always something to be done. I’ve just always, somehow or another, landed on my feet.”
As an artist who’s now lived a long life in the industry and toured the world many times over, he won’t be handing over the work to a digital avatar any time soon. Instead, he said, “I’ve been very lucky. I do appreciate that fact.”
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