Hearing aids turned up for The Who gigs

The Who are embarking on farewell tours of the UK and the US, joking that they can no longer handle "the prostitutes, the heroin, the cocaine".

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have decided, at 70 and 69 respectively, that they are getting too old for life on the road.

Fifty years after the band formed, and with two members lost, The Who will play the final concerts they call "the beginning of the long goodbye".

While Daltrey is not looking forward to the modern trend of audience members waving illuminated mobile phones and videoing live performances, Townsend is all for it.

"All of these people are doing a job by taking that footage and sharing it," said Townsend. "We used to have to pay people to produce that stuff for us."

Daltrey and Townshend announced details of the "Who Hits Fifty" anniversary tour with an acoustic performance at Ronnie Scott's club in London.

"Just adjusting the hearing aids," Daltrey said as they warmed up at the beginning of the set. When the audience laughed, he added: "I'm not joking, you know."

Townshend wears two hearing aids, the result of a lifetime listening to loud music.

Asked if this really is the last tour, Daltrey said: "It just has to be, really. We can't go on touring forever. As a singer, I don't know how long my voice will last."

Daltrey, who once sang "I hope I die before I get old" in the song My Generation, said he was lucky that work remained a pleasure.