Tonight, The Who went where only Prince. Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, and the Rolling Stones have gone before them: Into the post-Janet Jackson wardrobe malfuncton Super Bowl halftime crucible. Before they did that, however, they let let Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas desecrate "My Generation," in a remix in an ad for FlowTV (whatever that is) by changing Pete Townshend's iconic "I hope I die before I get old" lyric to "Don't want to die young, I wanna get old."
It was a drag to see Pete Townshend playing acoustic guitar at the start for "Pinball Wizard." But soon enough, he switched to electric and was windmilling away on "Baba O'Riley," "Who Are You" and "See Me, Feel Me" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." No Roger Daltrey wild microphone swinging, however. If you were keeping score at home, that means, yep, the half-a-Who did all three of their songs that get weekly airtime on CBS's CSI crime drama shows.
Townshend wore shades, and Daltrey wore sleeves - meaning I lost both of my side bets. As for the performance, it wasn't terrible, but far from thrilling. Daltrey did his leather-lunged best, and Zak Starkey approximated Keith Moon's talking drums, but on my TV speakers, anyway, the music didn't come through with anything like the galvanic power that the band can still deliver in the flesh. And my educated guess is that they'll be ample opportunity to see the band play live in 2010, because if past Super Bowl half time show form holds, they'll probably be announcing an on sale date for an upcoming U.S. tour this week.
Previously: No Darlins
That was the sorriest display from the parade of dinosaurs that have limped thru the half-time show in the past few years. Hey, I'm 53, and I've got nothing against old guys rocking out, but that was lame, lame, lame.— Slidewell- They were clearly "lip sync"ing. Terrible.— rgavinjr
- I agree with Slidewell; 60 year olds singing 30-40 year old songs is worthy of a museum retrospective, not worthy of a half time of the Super Bowl. For the second year in a row, the game was better than the half time and the commercials!— rjmac
- The question is not "Who" but why?— jkelliebrew
- The Who was my favorite band growing up. I couldn't bear to watch them after a few minutes tonight. It was ridiculously awful. It's time to bring in talent when they are at their peak. Paging Green Day, Beyonce...Even Pearl Jam would be awesome if it has to be someone that appeals to 40/50 year old white people (like they ever would do it).— djack10
- That was embarrassing to watch. They should've just shown 'Jurassic Park' with Who music in the background. Those guys sport more wrinkle than grandma's underpants......— jibberjabber
- Beyonce -- you have to be kidding after her pathetic tutu and the militia act at the Grammys. The reason Green Day isn't asked is they appeal to kids and kids aren't the audience for the SB -- it's older people -- the ones with money, the people who can afford the $2500 tickets or the ones who own the corporations and can afford a $2.5 million commercial spot. Get real.— sherry37
- Didn't lip sync &, if they weren;t your cup of tea, why watch? It's half time - get a beer, visit the bathroom, change the channel - let the folks who like it,like it. Those who don;t, change the channel - you didn;t pay for anything.— Ed3
- I think its time to let new music in the halftime show. I think Kenny chesney would be great for the show— bubbathegut
- Does anybody but the sponsors & fans of the band/singer really care about the half time show? Don't we watch the game? You could have talking heads (band or announcers), wouldn;t matter to me. But why trash the band if you don't like them? Why not ignore them? A better review & more constructive attitude, no?— Ed3
- glad to see it wasn't just me who found the who less than thrilling.— notch44
- I just don't get how they call them the Who with two of the members dead. If they ever put country on halftime, I'm done with the Super Bowl. I have no problem with the classic rock. The Who show was better than a Lil Wayne mixtape. I would like to see the Roots play. Great live show there.— HandNik
- Exactly HandNik! One basic requirement should be that you have to play live music. No lipsync, no pre-recorded rap tracks. I don't care if it is Rock, Country, R&B, or even Rap but you have to do it live. The Who just doesn't cut it any more. At least take forward one generation to U2. I would have no problem with Chesney or Alicia Keys - real performers. Worst of all, CSI has completely ruined any feeling with half of those songs. I kept waiting for Marge Helgenberger to come out on stage!— Malcolm65
- There will be no US tour announcement. They were supposed to play Coachella and the New Orleans Jazz festival but they cancelled those plans. The only 2010 live appearances are the Super Bowl and a performance of Quadrophenia on March 30th at the Royal Albert Hall in London on March 30 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Townshend is working on a new project and he wants to dedicate this year to writing new material. Daltrey is touring Europe with his band.— jimmyeagles
- I guarantee that virtually all of those who are slamming the performance had that opinion in place before the first chord of "Pinball Wizard"rang out. Too bad "ageism" is alive and well even in good old rock and roll....and based on 20 years as a "live" sound engineer the performance was definitely not lip-synched.— saabguy
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