The Who wrap up first American tour leg

The Who wrapped up the first leg of their U.S. tour on October 11th in Seattle. Co-founders Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey held off on playing any hardcore rarities for duration of the leg, instead choosing to perform over half of the band's upcoming Endless Wire album, which will be released on October 31st.

At Tuesday night's show in Vancouver, the band performed "Old Red Wine" for the only time on the tour, in memory of late bassist John Entwistle, who would have turned 62 on Monday, October 9th. The song was written by Townshend after Entwistle's death, and was one of two new tracks on the recent Who compilation Then And Now: 1964-2004.

Pete Townshend told us that Entwistle's death in 2002 ended up giving clarity to his and Roger Daltrey's relationship: "When John died, it polarized us. But it also, it made the relationship between Roger and I much clearer. It just meant (that) I'm the writer, Roger's the singer -- whatever you call it, whether it's 'The Who' or not, we've always had that."

The Who will return to the States to kick off their next set of dates on November 4th, at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl.