The Who to return to Cincinnati, 40 years after concert tragedy

[December 04, 2019]  (Reuters) - Veteran British rockers The Who will play Cincinnati next year for the first time since 1979, when a stampede before a concert they were giving in the city killed 11 fans.

The band, co-founded in 1964 and still led by singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend, made the announcement on Tuesday, the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.

It occurred when crowds waiting to get into the city's 17,000-seat Riverfront Coliseum rushed the gates, thinking the performance had started after hearing the band going through their sound check.

They went ahead with the concert, unaware of the tragedy until afterwards.

Daltrey visited victims' relatives and survivors of the stampede last year.

"Since going there I've felt a lot better about it, but every time it comes round to December 3rd, it's in my mind," he told local TV station WPCO in a documentary aired on Tuesday.

Last month, the founding stone in London's new Music Walk of Fame was dedicated to the band, best known for their 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia and a string of 60s and 70s hits including Pinball Wizard and Won't Get Fooled Again.

The April 23 concert at Cincinatti's Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena, seven miles (11 km) south of the 1979 concert site, is part of the band's Moving On! tour.

A share of proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to a memorial for victims of the tragedy and a college scholarship in their honor.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; editing by John Stonestreet)

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