'The Who' Hit the Road for 'Quadrophenia'

(Reuters) - Legendary British rockers the Who will hit the road for their first North American concert tour in four years, playing the entire rock opera "Quadrophenia" alongside other memorable hits, the band said on Wednesday.

The road trip starts in Florida on November 1, and features founding members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, alongside Zak Starkey, Pino Palladino, Simon Townshend, Chris Stainton, Loren Gold and Frank Simes.

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The Who are among the bands that led the British Invasion of the United States in the mid-1960s following the massive success of the Beatles. Joining Daltrey and Townshend originally were Keith Moon on drums and John Entwistle on bass, both of whom have died.

The foursome scored hits such as "My Generation" and "I Can See for Miles" and like many of their rock peers, they began experimenting with new styles that led to their first rock opera, "Tommy." The 1969 work was about a deaf, dumb and blind kid who was a wiz at pinball -- that generation's equivalent of videogames.

The band followed "Tommy" with "Quadrophenia" (1973), a musical tale of a young boy's coming of age that features hits such as "5:15" and "The Real Me" and is considered a rock classic.

The 36-date tour features a first leg that runs six weeks and ends in Connecticut on December 9. The band will take a holiday break and resume a second leg on January 28 in California, concluding at the end of February in Rhode Island.

In advance of the tour, a one-night-only, in-theater screening of documentary "The Who: Quadrophenia - Can You See the Real Me?", the story of making the album, will screen at movie theaters around the United States on July 24. In Canada, the film will screen in theaters on August 1.