Editing Tommy (The Who album) (section)

==Live performances==
{{main|Tommy Tour}}
The Who had planned to perform ''Tommy'' live since starting the project. The group spent April 1969 rehearsing a live version of the show at the [[Hanwell Community Centre]] in [[Ealing]] including a final run down of the entire stage piece on 23 April.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=230}} The running order was changed, and four songs ("Cousin Kevin", "Underture", "Sensation" and "Welcome") were dropped entirely.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=136}} Townshend later said the group "did the whole thing from start to finish and ''that'' was when we first realized we had something cohesive and playable."{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=339}} Roger Daltrey's singing had improved substantially since the group's early tours, and they realised their new live act could completely change their career.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=230}}

After a few warm up gigs towards the end of April,{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=231}} the group gave a preview concert to the press at [[Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club]], London on 1 May. Realising the opera's narrative was difficult to understand, Townshend explained a synopsis of the story, before the Who played ''Tommy'' all the way through at full stage volume.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=340}} The next day, the group flew out to New York to start the US tour, with the first gig on 9 May at the [[Grande Ballroom]], [[Detroit]].{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=231}} At the end of May, the group played four nights at the [[Kinetic Playground]], [[Chicago]], and they noticed the audience would all stand up at the same time and stay standing. This indicated that live performances of ''Tommy'' had a significant positive response.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=343}}

The group continued to play large halls in the US, organised by tour promoter [[Frank Barsalona]], and generally avoided festivals,{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=346}} but made an important exception with the [[Woodstock]] festival on 16 August. After spending all night arguing with Barsalona, the band agreed to perform at Woodstock for $12,500.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=348}} The festival ran late and the Who did not take to the stage until the early morning of 17 August. During "Pinball Wizard", [[Abbie Hoffman]] took to the stage to protest about the imprisonment of [[John Sinclair (poet)|John Sinclair]] before being kicked offstage by Townshend, while during "See Me, Feel Me", the sun rose, almost as if on cue.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=350}} Two weeks later, the group played the [[Isle of Wight Festival 1969|second Isle of Wight Festival]], using one of the largest live [[Public address system|PAs]] available.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|pp=239}} Though media attention was on [[Bob Dylan]] playing his first major live concert since 1966, the Who stole the show. Townshend later said, "We know that the stage act we had, with ''Tommy'' in it, would work under any circumstances, because it had worked many times on tour."{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=240}}

[[File:Metropolitan Opera 2.jpg|thumb|By 1970, ''Tommy'' had achieved sufficient critical acclaim to be performed live in the [[Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)|Metropolitan Opera House]].]]
''Tommy'' remained in the Who's live set through the rest of the year and into 1970. In October 1969, the Who played six shows at the [[Fillmore East]], where [[Leonard Bernstein]] praised them for their new music.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|pp=241–242}} The group's show on 14 December at the [[London Coliseum]] was filmed for a possible future ''Tommy'' feature.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=243}} Lambert was keen for ''Tommy'' to be taken seriously and wanted the Who to perform at [[opera house]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out|first1=Bill|last1=Graham|first2=Robert|last2=greenfield|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=1922|page=321|isbn=978-0-306-81349-8}}</ref> In June 1970, the group performed two shows at the [[Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)|Metropolitan Opera House]], which was the first time Townshend announced the show as being the "last ''Tommy'' ever".{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=353}} The group made a second trip to the Isle of Wight, appearing at the [[Isle of Wight Festival 1970|1970 festival]] on 29 August, before an audience of 600,000.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=136}} The last live performance for 1970 was at [[The Roundhouse]], London on 20 December. Townshend said "This is the very last time we'll play ''Tommy'' on stage", to which Keith Moon promptly cried, "Thank Christ for that!"{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=271}}

Public reaction to the Who's concerts that included ''Tommy'' was overwhelmingly positive. The touring helped keep the album in the public eye and cleared the band's debts.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=137}} Several live recordings of ''Tommy'' from the Who's 1969–70 tours have been released. A complete performance is available on the 2002 ''Deluxe Edition'' of the live album ''[[Live at Leeds]]'', recorded on 14 February 1970. The second Isle of Wight performance is available on ''Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970'', released in 1996.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=136}} The Coliseum Theatre gig is available on the 2007 video release ''[[At Kilburn 1977 + Live at the Coliseum]]''. Portions of the Woodstock performance of ''Tommy'' were released on the documentaries ''[[Woodstock (film)|Woodstock]]'' and ''[[The Kids Are Alright (1979 film)|The Kids Are Alright]]''.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|pp=127–128}}
 
The Who continued to play a smaller selection of ''Tommy'' live in subsequent tours throughout the 1970s.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=391}} They revived ''Tommy'' as a whole for its twentieth anniversary during their 1989 reunion tour, reinstating the previously overlooked "Cousin Kevin" and "Sensation" but still omitting "Underture" and "Welcome". Recordings from this tour can be found on the ''[[Join Together (1990 album)|Join Together]]'' live album and the ''[[Tommy and Quadrophenia Live]]'' [[DVD]]. The Los Angeles version of this show featured [[Phil Collins]] as Uncle Ernie, [[Patti LaBelle]] as the Acid Queen, [[Steve Winwood]] as the Hawker, [[Elton John]] as the Pinball Wizard, and [[Billy Idol]] as Cousin Kevin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-featuring-rock-opera-tommy-mw0000267855|title=Live:Featuring Rock Opera Tommy|website=AllMusic|access-date=27 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="jointogether">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/join-together-mw0000206482|title=''Join Together''&nbsp;– The Who|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|website=AllMusic|access-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>