NEW YORK — The Who’s 1973 rock opera, Quadrophenia, has been reprised for the band’s latest 37-date tour, which began in November and ran through February. It marks the four-decade anniversary of the album’s release and stands as the band’s first major North American tour in four years. Even the late Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle make virtual appearances, joining remaining original members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Entwistle’s virtuosity and famous bass solo on “5:15” are showcased in live footage shot at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000, which streams onscreen. Keith Moon’s vocals, hardly ever recorded on the band’s albums, were recorded in 1974; they are currently being dubbed into The Who’s performance of “Bell Boy.” The latest tour also reunited the band with production partners Eighth Day Sound, who have supported the band on its last three major tours. The audio crew includes, along with The Who’s longtime FOH engineer Robert Collins, Simon Higgs on monitors, audio engineer Mark Brnich and sound techs Drew Marbar and Carl Popek. Collins, who started with the band more than 10 years ago, has also worked with Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend on their solo projects, trading tours with engineer Paul Ramsey in between tours with Eric Clapton and others. In terms of gear, Eighth Day Sound is providing a pair of SD7 desks for FOH and monitors plus an SD-Rack at FOH, along with a d&b audiotechnik J-Series PA Although Collins noted that “I come from the old analog school,” he was impressed by the SD7’s sonics. Monitor engineer Simon Higgs looks after the other SD7 at stage left, managing more than 100 inputs for IEMs and such for the nine-piece band. He’s also a veteran Who member, starting in 1998 with Townshend on his Lifehouse project. He’s a longtime DiGiCo engineer, having also used the consoles since their release a decade ago. “The Who’s monitor mix was analog for a long time until it started getting bigger and bigger and we realized we had to move to digital,” Higgs noted. “So we started using two D5s, but that filled up quick. We currently are using an analog console for Pete [Townshend], who has his own operator, and I look after the rest of the band on the SD7.” With more than 100 channels, Higgs says he has a lot going on managing the band’s in-ears, a few random wedges around the stage and submixing stems for Townshend’s mix. “My desk is pretty full — 112 channels, and they’re pretty much filled up. A lot of outputs. I’ve still got some floor monitors up there. I’m mixing down to the analog console as well, which is just a 16-channel desk, so I’ll mix all the drums, drum floor monitors, drum sub, floor shakers [drum thumpers] under his seat…” Having everyone on in-ears has made his job a bit easier. “Roger decided that, in order for The Who to work again, he had to get used to in-ears… he couldn’t have a half-dozen wedges all around him like he used to. So he’s gone through the whole process of getting used to in-ears. They’re all on Jerry Harveys, and that’s really enabled the band to work again. Pete’s still got conventional fill monitors; he’s got four around him, just split up, one doing vocal, a stereo pair doing something else, and there’ll be acoustic guitar in the wedge, and then a monitor behind him that has sound effects for ‘Quadrophenia’ or the loops that are in ‘Who Are You’ and ‘Baba O’Riley.’” For effects, Higgs is primarily using what’s in the console, save a few outboard pieces, including a Lexicon PCM 60 for the snare drum, and a Bricasti M7 reverb for Roger Daltrey’s vocal, which he called “absolutely amazing.”