PETE TOWNSHEND Releases 'Live In Concert 1985-2001' 14-CD Box Set And Digital Set

UMe has announced "Pete Townshend Live In Concert 1985-2001", an expanded 14-CD box set and digital set featuring seven long-out-of-print live albums by THE WHO guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend.

Newly remastered by Jon Astley, the set gathers together for the first time all of the live solo recordings that were only available via Pete Townshend's web site, Eel Pie. All of the albums have been out of print for two decades.

The box set features expanded deluxe packaging in a CD sized box with new art by longtime Townshend collaborator Richard Evans, sleeve notes by band archivist Matt Kent, a new exclusive Pete Townshend interview, and rare photos and memorabilia in a hard-backed book.

The live shows included in the box set are Pete Townshend's Deep End, live at Brixton Academy in London recorded on November 1 and November 2, 1985 featuring David Gilmour from PINK FLOYD on guitar; a live full rendition of Pete's album "Psychoderelict" and more recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York on August 7, 1993 during Pete's only full solo tour; an intimate show from The Fillmore in San Francisco on April, 30, 1996 around the time of his first solo compilation album "CoolWalkingSmoothTalkingStraightSmokingFireStoking"; Pete's return to his old stomping ground for the first time in 30 years with Live At The Shepherd's Bush Empire, recorded on November 9, 1998; two nights at London's Sadlers Wells Theatre, usually home to ballet and modern dance shows, presenting music from "Life House", marking the only time a full "Life House" show has been attempted and the only times some of those songs were ever performed; and finally, two shows from La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, where the "Tommy" musical first ran, on June 22 and June 23, 2001.

The shows included in this box set were all previously released online through Pete's company, Eel Pie, there was only one run of each CD, and they all quickly became collector's items. While Townshend has often performed short solo sets for charitable reasons for, amongst others, Amnesty International, The Prince's Trust and Pete's own Double O charity which helps victims of domestic abuse and those suffering from addiction, full solo shows have been few and far between. When Pete has put on an entire solo show, the setlists have been picked from his own output, specific WHO songs, and cover versions of artists who have influenced him over the years.

Speaking of performing solo or performing with a band that wasn't THE WHO, Pete Townshend said: "I always have too much to do, too much responsibility, and not enough time. I have to live enough life to provide me with inspiration and context for my songs, I have to then spend enough time in my home studio finessing songs so they feel worthy of my band (THE WHO),then I have to re-record them with that band, then speak eloquently about them to the media, justifying my creative divergences, then I must tour endlessly behind the new music, continuing to celebrate the old stuff as well, and then start all over again. The idea that I would do all that for THE WHO and then do it for myself as well is simply plain insane. And yet for a while I tried. It didn't go well. One career is enough."

As THE WHO and Townshend archivist Matt Kent puts it: "When Pete Townshend plays a solo show it isn't just a concert, it is an event. These CDs represent just how good these events are."

For more information, including full track listing, visit shop.thewho.com.