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WE’RE ALL WASTED! The Who Rock Superbowl 2010 Halftime Show

by Rachel Sklar | 8:36 pm, February 7th, 2010

» 8 comments

If you love The Who and are old enough to remember how awesomely groundbreaking they were — not to mention guitar-breaking — then you will just love the 2010 Superbowl Half-Time Show, even if it is the Doritos Half-Time show (and I’m pretty sure that group that recorded “The Who Sell Out” would have found that pretty ironic). Kicking off with the iconic opening strains of “Pinball Wizard” they segued a little clunkily to “Baba O’Riley,” singing emphatically of the Teenage Wasteland as only middle-aged rockers can. But who cares — Roger Daltrey may not have the free-flowing blonde locks and rockin’ bod that so enticed Cousin Kevin and the Acid Queen and made me go all melty during “I’m Free,” but damn can they still put on a show, and Pete Townsend wailing on the mic gave me a little thrill.

One more clunky segue later and they were doing “Who Are You” — eh, I could take or leave that one, though CBS clearly couldn’t — and then segued abruptly again — really! — into “See Me/Feel Me” briefly from Tommy, before it was on to “Won’t Get Fooled Again” — hey! “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” sorta reminds me of that Leno-Letterman deal with the devil! (Oprah?) — and they rocked on, getting on their knees to pray — at least metaphorically, as to literally do so probably would have been a little rough on the old back and knees, eh old timers? Even so — amid the flashing lights and super-stadium pyrotechnics, there was a real honest-to-goodness rock concert, and the reminder of what “Won’t Get Fooled Again” once meant. It should be noted that no one from The Who had to read anything off their hand.

I would have liked something a bit more fresh and unpredictable — a little “Squeeze Box,” “Magic Bus,” “Boris The Spider,” just to totally confuse the Millennials, and hello, did will.i.am have a monopoly on “My Generation?” Sheesh — but overall, this was a great show. NB: The drummer is obviously not Keith Moon (RIP) — it’s Ringo Starr‘s son Zak Starkey who now qualifies as their longtime drummer since he’s been with them since 1994.

p.s. To quote one of my fave blogs, In Other News, this is this year’s version of a Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction. (Look left.) Thank goodness all around — both for visuals, and for music. Sorry, but Janet Jackson plus Justin Timberlake could not hold a candle — even before the nipple.

Photo via.

http://trickletown.vox.com/ Trickletown

The original bassist was also not on hand, also deceased. John Entwhistle, who’s fluid style is probably quite difficult to duplicate. Amazingly, he did look at his hand for directions. The Who was F’n great tonight!
BOsuxs

I thought the WHO sucked almost as bad as Springsteen did at last years Super Bowl. There should be a law requiring rockers to retire no later than 45 y.o. Seriously. I say this with love and as a fan of 40 years who has seen them twice; once in ’76 at McNichols Arena in Denver and again at C.U.s Folsom Field for their “Fairwell Tour.” Daltry can’t hit the notes, he can’t prance and dance and swing that mike 25 feet up in the air and catch it. Townsend is balder than I am and can’t do the splits or twirl like the dervish he once was. Where was the DIGNITY?
As for the song selection…maybe it’s wishful thinking but have the WHO gone conservative? Quite a rebelous concept if you think about it! Was “Who are You” a veiled reference to our chameleon-like president and was “Won’t Get Fooled Again” another reference to the same fraud?
billmk

THE Who Rocked,what a show.Incredible stage and lighting.This was by far the most spectacular halftime show ever at the superbowl.It did not hurt that it was the WHO.I think the Band was as amazed at the show as the Audience was.Even though this was a very big band i think they were humbled at the scope of the performance.This was handsdown the best Superbowl halftime show i’ve seen.THE WHO ROCKS
timzank

Rachel….What do these things have in common? Football, Rock & Roll, and “It should be noted that no one from The Who had to read anything off their hand.”

Does every event or topic have a Palin component for you?
exopks

I like the Who, a lot, but they were awful last night. They are not middle aged rockers, they are senior citizens by any evaluation. Pete looked it and Roger sounded it. Even with a million dollar light show and a bunch of solid studio guys backing them they, IMO, embarrassed themselves. Only they, the Stones, or the Beatles could put on such a shadow of their former self and get compliments.
Pablo

What exopks said. They sounded awful. They sounded old. They were terrible.
J Baustian

It might have been the Doritos Halftime Show, but the musical portion of the show was the Bridgestone Super Bowl Halftime Show.
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