Summer Tour Guide

The Who
September 7th-December 5th
Tickets: TBA
The Who's 2006 world tour -- which kicks off in Europe before hitting the U.S. in September -- marks the first time guitarist Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey have toured in support of a new album since 1982's It's Hard. In July the band will release a "mini-opera" EP, Wire and Glass, in advance of a full-length due out in October. "This new release is the first truly creative piece from the Who for nearly twenty-five years," Townshend wrote on his Web site. "This is good music. There is a story behind the music, but it doesn't matter much at this point." Though the first leg of the tour will happen outside the U.S., Townshend is doing his best to ensure that fans everywhere can hear what the new material will sound like live: Beginning with a performance in Leeds, England, on June 17th, fans will be invited to stream thirty minutes from several European gigs at thewholive.tv for ninety-nine cents. "I sense this is going to be one of the most interesting times I will ever experience as a rock artist," Townshend tells Rolling Stone.

Jewel/Rob Thomas
Through July 5th
Tickets: $20-$83
Jewel and Thomas won't be afraid to break out the hits on their joint tour this summer. "When I do my own shows, it's a lot looser," says Jewel, who will be performing "Who Will Save Your Soul" -- and yodeling. "If I don't do a hit, I don't feel that much pressure. On this Rob tour, it's half his crowd and half mine, so it's a little bit harder." Fans of both should be especially psyched for the duet they've been rehearsing: the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks classic "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."

Madonna
Through July 23rd
Tickets: $55-$363
"It's all about trying to make you forget about the fact that you're in a sports arena and make it more like a nightclub," says Madonna's music director, Stuart Price. The show is divided into four conceptual sequences, including an "equestrian section," complete with dancers dressed as horses. "It's really impressive to watch," says Price. "Because you have no idea how she's going to take a Donna Summer-influenced song and turn it into something to do with horse riding."

John Mayer/ Sheryl Crow
August 24th through Fall
Tickets: TBA
"The opener will be decided by a nightly game of pingpong," Mayer says about his co-headlining tour with fellow hitmaker Crow. Mayer, who will release his fourth studio album, Continuum, this fall, hopes the tour will emphasize each artist's rootsy edge: "I feel like we're both grittier than we're sometimes known for. I don't think it'll be long before you see the both of us onstage together."

Paul Simon
June 28th-July 30th (first leg)
Tickets: $25-$250
Simon's latest disc, "surprise," marries his trademark melodic and lyrical sensibility with lush electronic textures, courtesy of Brian Eno. Preparing for Simon's summer tour, his veteran band plans nine weeks of rehearsals to translate the new sound to the stage. "Not only will those sounds be in the new songs, we're using them as a palette," says guitarist Mark Stewart. "Environmental sounds are even finding their way into 'Slip Slidin' Away.' "

Ringo Starr
Through July 20th
Tickets: $40-$230
Starr is rounding up his buddies -- Edgar Winter, the Zombies' Rod Argent, Sheila E. and Richard Marx -- for the ninth installment of the Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band extravaganza. Expect a mix of Starr's solo hits, Beatles classics and songs by the band (Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life," Winter's "Frankenstein"). "You end up in a lot of hotels, but playing is what we do, and this is how it's done," Starr says. "But I'd like to do it all at home and have the audience come to me. I could make it Ringo's Home Tour."

Steely Dan
July 7th-September 2nd
Tickets: $20-$200
"We'll be doing a continuous set -- no intermission -- so there will be an incredible rising line of orgasmic blowing, wailing, singing, caterwauling and carrying on," Walter Becker says about Steely Dan's summer tour, on which they will welcome former Dan-man Michael McDonald as opening act and guest vocalist. Becker promises a "cavalcade" of hits and rarities: "We're planning a hard-hitting, super-slamming set -- this is no time for halfway measures."

Taking Back Sunday
June 22nd-July 25th
Tickets: $20-$45
After years of playing clubs and theaters, Taking Back Sunday are stoked to hit arenas in support of their major-label debut, Louder Now. "We don't want to overdo it," says singer Adam Lazzara. "One of the things we've been trying to keep in mind is to not have it look like one of those Eighties boner-rock shows." That means designing a stage like a small theater -- complete with red velvet curtain. Says Lazzara, "We try to make it like you're going to a party instead of a rock show."