The Who at the Super Bowl: Playing their younger selves

It was an old-fashioned laser light show at Miami's Sun Life Stadium during the Super Bowl halftime show, as vintage rockers the Who energetically went largely without gimmicks and shtick during its brief mini concert. Relying on little more than the sturdiness of its riffs and Roger Daltrey's still arena-piercing yell, the Who tried to pump some life back into its classic rock hits, many of which have since been reclaimed as the soundtrack to a CBS crime show. 

If not a wholly obvious choice -- the Who have not been on the promotional circuit in a couple years -- the Who were a relatively safe one. Chosen, perhaps, by default, as one of the few (only?) giant boomer bands to have not yet received the Super Bowl stamp of approval, the Who weren't heading into the halftime show for Super Bowl XLIV as a band of surprises. Having released only one album of new material in more than 25 years, few have perfected the art of the greatest hits set like the Who. 

Such predictability has been a staple of the halftime show since the infamous Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake performance of 2004. With the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney snaring post-nipplegate slots, Pete Townshend had a right to be wondering when the group he stills calls the Who would get the promotional benefit the Sunday stage provides. As he swung his trademark windmills on "Baba O'Riley," he certainly looked the part, playing the role of a man 30 years younger. 

Yet the Who was certainly a more fitting booking than some recent choices. Last year, the NFL tapped Bruce Springsteen -- the populist, not the working-class hero -- and two years ago, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers presented an efficient, workmanlike halftime show. 

Both were acts with a reputation for shying away from such grandiose corporate celebrations, and as CD sales decline, hardcore fans have become accustomed to writing off such shilling as a necessary evil of selling a new album or hyping a tour. Yet the Who, with its countless greatest hits tours, an inability to be slowed by the loss of two its founding members and an openness to licensing, would seem to be right at home at squeezing in a 12-minute set amid the Super Bowl's advertisements and sponsorships. 

A little more than three years removed from the release of "Endless Wire," a politically infused set of new material that seemed to signal that Townshend and Daltrey were not content to let the Who remain a nostalgia act forever, the Who went largely unadorned in Miami, as much as performances mid-football game can, at least. In a striped jacket, Daltrey looked the part of a rock 'n' roll referee, and Townshend, sporting a flat-topped hat and sunglasses, affirmed that he hasn't wholly embraced the idea of buttons in his old age. 

Aided by Ringo's son Zak Starkey on drums, the Who wasted no time in getting to the chorus in "Pinball Wizard," emphasizing the riff with some celebratory explosions. Ultimately, it felt less a concert than a stripped-down Olympics opening ceremony, with the band on a circular high-tech stage -- a set piece that sort of resembled a giant, modern Simon, to use a reference point dating to a period when the Who's prowess was just starting to wane.

While younger bands such as Green Day have stolen some of the Who's knack for theatricality, Townshend and Daltrey relied more on gusto at halftime. The two couldn't quite sync the harmonies in "Who Are You," but no matter, they were hurdling through their short set as if they were on a treadmill. 

Townshend tossed aside his acoustic for an electric, and he hopped and skipped behind his vocalist, who huffed out a harmonica solo to close "Baba O'Riley." A brief breather arrived for a few snippets of "See Me,  Feel Me," but then it was straight into a pyro-enhanced "Won't Get Fooled Again," which Daltrey ended with an exclamation point -- a blood-curdling shriek. 

After the game, the Who's brief set will be available for purchase on the video game Rock Band, allowing you to play the part of arena rock star. The Who, after all, shouldn't have all the fun pretending. 

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Associated Press

Comments

[Ed Parker]

These veterans know how to rock and roll and they put on a great show at halftime, probably the best ever. Far cry from the prissy crap the floods the airwaves these days.

[Lin Tek]

The WHO music just did not connect. I felt like watching my grandpas playing. I would rather watch American Idol (if that was the other option).

[The Law Office of Levinson Axelrod]

Superbowl halftime shows are like the temporary resurrections of forgotten bands.

[Ray Highsmith]

As Pete once wrote:

We think we know what's right/We only know what's wrong

I find it strange that people would complain about The Who's harmonies when the Stones and Led Zep don't even try to harmonize.

When Baba and Won't Get Fooled Again come on the radio listen to the next 3 or 4 tunes and tell me which are the better, more timely songs.

Baba sounds like it was written by an Irish Tchaikovsky (or Terry Riley) while WGFA is Hegel's dialectic set to a synthesizer which has not been done before or since (I remember singing the song after Obama's election and thinking we would be right where were are now).

Should BB King stop because he is old? Brian Wilson? The list goes on.

Lastly, I have seen Green Day and Pearl Jam and I think a full set of The Who is better than both bands and I would wager that Billie Joew and Eddie Vedder would agree.

[Lindsay Sanchez]

Roger sang off-key more than a few times. He barely moved around the stage. Pete attempted the windmill with frankensteinesque execution - and missed actually strumming the chord. The rest of the band played well, but they are not the live performers they once were. I love The Who, their songs are timeless... on a recording. Sometimes you just have to let the past go, instead of ruining the memory.

www.thegetdownblog.com/reviews

[Stephen]

Ah, Toddy me boy, soon, so very soon, you will know how they feel. Hard it tis' to resist "just one more time"...what do we do? Stay home?

[JJ]

When did the lyrics of MY GENERATION change from “Hope I die before I get old” to “don’t want to die young – I wanna grow old!” The change happened in the FloTV commercial that was played over a series of images from great and notorious world events. This was not the Will.I.Am remix (though he was featured in the commercial), this was The Who(ish) singing their own song with these bastardized lyrics. The literal meaning/intention of the original lyrics and the change are of course subjective, but the sentiment of swapping one for the other is an undeniably blunting of lyrics that packed a pretty powerful wallop. Could the song possibly have been construed as advocating suicide? Considering the graphic nature of a lot of today’s pop music… really, this is where "they" take a stand? And why does no one seem to care about this censorship? I have seen almost nothing written about it anywhere… I caught it live, then replayed it via TiVo - see YouTube link that I found (not my post).

[ray]

Is this the best CBS could come up with for the Super Bowl?
Bring back the marching bands!

[Nico, Los Angeles]

Long live The Who! One of the greatest rock bands of all time. Yes they are old, yes they have not aged like most American stars who have undergone plastic surgery....but give me a break. Problem here is that only a small minority of Americans even like The Who, most don't even know who they are.

[tomasdetopanga]

These posts are hilarious. I love when people who know nothing about music or history for that matter talk smack about artists. The Who are the definitive rock band of all time. They are iconic in every way, not old. The Who invented punk rock, heavy rock, power rhythm and blues, and arena rock! The world of music was forever changed by Pete Townsend's song writing. To compare them to the Rolling Stones is a joke! The Stones were a blues band, and an English blues band at that. The only thing worst then white guys playing the blues is a bunch of white English guys playing the blues. The Stones were horrible when they played the Super Bowl! As is every artist...

I'm sure people realize The Who took the set without the greatest rhythm section in the history of music. John Entwistle invented round bass strings and every bass player in the world would site him as the inventor of rock bass from Geezer Butler to John Paul Jones. Kieth Moon was everything that is fun about being in a band, a true one of a kind player and a monster behind the drums! There has never been a better live band then when the four og members were on stage together.

The Super Bowl half time show has always been a joke! Prerecorded medleys of artist songs with everyone talking smack the next day. The Stones were horrible, Kiss sucked, Prince was out of tune, but let's all realize the context in which we are watching here.

The Who are rocks ultimate band. They didn't write two minute sing a long's like the Beatles, they didn't jam the blues like the Stones, they didn't even take them selves too seriously like Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. They reinvented themselves on every record, hits and concept, mod to metal.

Get a clue! The Super Bowl half time show is as pathetic as Justin Timberlake.

The Who are Gods! Respect the best!

[Dave]

I am a huge Who fan, and thought the performance was ok, definitely not up to the standards they set thru out the sixties, seventies and early eighties. But people come on, the crowd was singing along, that has never happened at a Super Bowl show before. As for the lip syncing, hardly. I'm sorry but that's a phenomenon more associated with today's music, which apparently some of the humanoids posting here would rather see. Hey, who's gonna sing along to the latest Lady Gaga song. Trust me, no one, except for some 12 year old kid. And if your over 12, and you like Lady Gaga, then you're a knuckle dragger. As for The Who being safe, that's only because they don't feel the need to shock the mouth breathers like Janet Jackson needs to. Hell, The Who did wilder and more insane things than anything Madonna ever contrived. They invented the trashing of hotels, which included driving a car into the hotel pool, and being booted out of the Holiday Inn chain. Are The Who as good as they were? No. Were they bad? Defenitely not as bad as some of the windbags on this blog have stated. That being said, I wish we could have seen them at the Super Bowl sooner. say 5 or 6 years ago before Roger's voice really started to go. For those who don't like The Who, all I can say is listen to the lyrics, and you'll realize that The Who is what music can be, and that is thoughtful and energetic, instead of what it is, contrived, phoney and laughabley bad...like American Idol or Lady Gaga.

[joe]

that of course, really wasn't the who last nite. Pete and Roger are lost without John and have been since he passed on. There was that great revival period around 2001, when the who came alive once again. anyone who saw them during this period knows what i mean. last nites "performance" excepting the awesome light show, was a big miss. Really retirement is not a bad word. The legacy of the who is what matters now, enough with this half assed charade, do solo work, but the Who powerhouse is gone and it aint comin back.

[Rob in L.A.]

Love the Who and always will. Loved the halftime show. I'm suprised by all the haters on here. The Who are the same age as the Stones. Should we tell BB King or Chuck Berry to never play again too? What about older actors, commedians, etc?

If you didn't like it, I don't care, because I loved it!

[Levinson Axelrod]

The Who is an awesome awesome band, but I wouldn't ever put them to entertain during halftime because their show was less than entertaining.

Still I respect them and think they are definitely legends.

[Mike Burke]

I was in the 14th row. The Who was awesome. Limited resources, based on the nature of the performance (stage tear down took 3:40 from the last note) lead them to shorten songs & be creative. It was power packed and so much better live than on TV. The quality of their talents shown through in Townshends guitar licks & Daltrey's awesome vocals. Its live, its not supposed to sound like a studio cut. I am 50, my son 21 -he thought "it was so good it was sick". The music is relevant because of TV - which was the synergy that made them a great choice for CBS. Daltrey wore that striped coat years ago it brought back memories. Ringo's son, Zac, held his own on drums. They couldn't kick over the drumset because it was all bolted to the trailer it rolled in & out on. The sound, live , in the stadium, was piercing & awe inspiring. My rib cage was pounding to the bass! I'ld have been happy with them for 2 hrs & no second half.

[Sonia from LA]

All I have to say is that all you haters obviously don't know anything about music or history. I am in my 40s and grew up loving all music and all artists. I have been to well over 200 concerts,. including old and new artists and I must say that there would be no new without the classic old dudes that you people are talking crap about. I saw the Who in their prime 20+ years ago and I seen them a few years ago and it is about the passion for the band and the appreciation for their attribution to music. The haters that continue to post such negative comments are geeks that listen to CDs and stay home on the weekends. If you were fortunate enough to grow up with such legends and to have seen them live, you would understand. This is obviously not the case, so shut your mouths and put your headphones on and listen to your corny music geeks!

[Jason]

Thought it was a fun performance; nice trade-offs on the vocals and the guitar sounded cool. These guys were playing to tapes (Baba O'Reilly) long before anyone else did, and still do it with style. Can't front on that innovation!

[James Berk]

I thought the guys were terrific, with Daltrey in full voice, Townshend in maniacal twirling arm mode, and Zak Starkey coming as close to moonie as anyone I've ever heard. Long live rock, and long live the Who!

[Rock man]

The Who were good! Get your heads examined all you boobs who didn't like it.
What's pathetic is Beyonce shaking her ass on her lame songs or a dork like John Mayer being passed off as a great guitar player. As if.