Arguably THE greatest live band ever The Who will make an explosive return to Australia in March/April 2009 for a national concert tour. The legendary band will play for the first time ever in Perth, and for the first time in 40 years in Brisbane and Adelaide. This is the news The Who fans have been waiting for since the band's last national tour in 1968!

The band last played Melbourne and Sydney four years ago, and were recently announced as headlining the spectacular concert to close the 2009 FORMULA 1™ ING Australian Grand Prix.

Promoter Andrew McManus is thrilled to have secured the rock legends for this very special tour. "I had the opportunity of watching The Who headline the 02 festival in Ireland last year and was simply blown away. This is a real coup in particular for Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane - 40 years is too long!"

Special guest support act will be the wonderful Counting Crows. Headed by the enigmatic Adam Duritz, the San Francisco Bay area band is a global phenomenon, having sold over 20 million albums worldwide. With a new album 'Saturday Night And Sunday Mornings', which debuted on the US billboard chart at 2, they are back on the road again.

Aussie rockers Dallas Crane have landed the highly-prized support slot.

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Simon Townshend (guitars), Zak Starkey (drums), Pino Palladino (bass) and John 'Rabbit' Bundrick (keys) have just finished a US and Japanese tour, performing to rave reviews and are keen to continue on the road next year.

"We don't want to stop now," Roger Daltrey told Billboard Magazine. "We don't want those long hiatuses that we used to have. We feel at this time of our lives it's too precious a thing to take liberties with time. When you're young, you've got that time. When you're old, you haven't."

In spite of the loss of original members Keith Moon (in 1978) and John Entwistle (in 2002), the Who remains the standard-bearer for great live rock and roll and are still one of the most in demand live acts in the business. Recent U.S set lists include 'Can't Explain', 'Who Are You', 'Behind Blue Eyes', 'Won't Get Fooled Again', 'My Generation', 'Pinball Wizard', 'Tea And Theatre' and 'Baba O'Reilly' to name a few!

Their music still forms the backdrop to 21st century life and is all over television in such shows as all three versions of the hit TV series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and in many movies.

They have sold over 100 million albums and been an inspiration to everyone from The Clash to the Ramones to Pearl Jam. It is impossible to underestimate their importance in the annals of rock history. They have been honoured with every prestigious award going. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame by Bono in 1990 in the very first year they were eligible, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, the first annual Freddie Mercury Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, a Lifetime Achievement award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988 and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001. And in an honour many bands would crave, The Who also is recognized in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's loudest band!

The 21st century has sparked resurgence in the creative collaboration between Townshend and Daltrey. The 2004 greatest hits collection "Then and Now" featured two excellent new songs, "Real Good Looking Boy" and "Old Red Wine Work", and the band released "Endless Wire", their first new studio album since 1982 in October 2006. The album debuted at 7 on the US Billboard chart and 9 on the UK albums chart, won a rave 4 Star Review in Rolling Stone and was well received by both fans and media, sparking their current world tour.

Counting Crows have been a huge presence in the music world; from initial hit single 'Mr. Jones' to the 2005 Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated 'Accidentally In Love'. Their latest album 'Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings' sees the band split their musical personality with the rock 'Saturday Nights' produced by Gil Norton (of Pixies and Foo Fighters fame) whilst the more acoustic 'Sunday Mornings' portion had Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine) at the desk.

Melbourne's sleeping rock giants Dallas Crane arise from their well earned slumber, (after spending the majority of 2008 taking a well earned break from the road), to join the bill. This will be the only opportunity for some time to catch the Crane back on stage doing what they do best.

TOUR DATES ARE:

March 24, 2009
BRISBANE Entertainment Centre

March 26. 2009
ADELAIDE Entertainment Centre

March 28. 2009
Hope Estate Winery, Hunter Valley NSW

March 29. 2009
Melbourne 2009 Forumula™ 1 Ing Australian Grand Prix
(On sale now – The Who & Dallas Crane only)

March 31, 2009
SYDNEY Acer Arena

April 4, 2009
PERTH Members Equity Stadium

ALL SHOWS ON SALE WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3