The Who bus in Chicago.
More than 50 years after The Who sang about the "Magic Bus" on their top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hit, some select buses will be making magic for Who fans leading up to the group's upcoming Moving On! Tour of North America.
After tickets for the trek kicked off last week, specially designed double-decker buses are cruising around New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to promote the tour and offer fans the chance to win a pair of premium tickets in a sweepstakes from Live Nation. Fans who see the buses can post a photo of them on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #MagicBusEntry and tagging @LiveNation in the image. The contest runs through Feb. 10, and a winner will be selected at random for a pair of tickets in the tour stop closest to them. More details and rules, including alternate methods of entry, can be found here.
Moving On! kicks off May 7 in Grand Rapids. The Who, accompanied by a 52-piece orchestra at each stop, will play 29 shows in two legs, one in spring and one in fall, with shows in iconic venues such as New York's Madison Square Garden, Boston's Fenway Park and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The tour marks the Who's first with Live Nation after years with AEG. The switch came after the group's key man at AEG, Larry Vallon, announced his retirement. "We go back so far with Larry," guitarist Pete Townshend tells Billboard. "The first big open-air stadium concert we did, in Anaheim, I think it was 1971 -- we go back that far. So it's a bit of a change with us." But Townshend, who's worked with Live Nation on other projects -- including his Classic Quadrophenia concerts -- seems happy with the new world order.
"They're much more proactive and they're much more interested in throwing ideas out," he says. "To be honest, I'm still adjusting to it, but it's been good."