THE WHO

live in MIAMI!

Wish - they'd - died - before - they - got - old.

...

Pete is having a legitimate wardrobe malfunction with his jacket ... and then his pale gut flops out when he tries to windmill.

Sigh.

On the plus side, I didn't know Nigel Tufnel could play the drums like that.

No smashed guitars. This is rawk-n-roll?

...

I gave a Small Faces comp a spin the other day. It was really good. When it was recorded. In the mid-60's.

That was a professional performance....not inspired but not embarrassing.

The killer thing with The Who is everybody who really knows, knows the best stuff was pre-Tommy......in the singles.

The stuff they played is the boomer party soundtrack that everyone knows from whatever pop culture travesty has implanted those songs in their head (not that Who's Next etc. isn't a fine record)

I agree with your assessment of the performance but not their discography. Who's Next is their peak. The first and last songs on that record transcend almost anything done in rock before or since.

p.s. They certainly didnt skimp on the lighting, did they? Jesus Christ !



Post Edited (02-07-10 22:13)

nosepail wrote:

> I agree with your assessment of the performance but not their
> discography. Who's Next is their peak. The first and last
> songs on that record transcend almost anything done in rock
> before or since.
>
> p.s. They certainly didnt skimp on the lighting, did they?
> Jesus Christ !
>

What Nosepail said.

Maybe if they readjusted their lyric to:

Hope I die now that I'm old.



Post Edited (02-08-10 07:46)

one thing that was sad was in the middle of the set Daltry and Townsend forgot they ever knew each other and started singing to each other. "who are you" who are you repeatedly.

I swear I thought Elvis Costello was on stage with The Who, only to realize that it was Townsend dressed up like EC.

On the plus side, I think Daltrey sounded great. I'm not sure the scream in Won't Get Fooled Again was live or not, but if it was, I was definitely impressed.

zoo wrote:

> On the plus side, I think Daltrey sounded great. I'm not sure
> the scream in Won't Get Fooled Again was live or not, but if it
> was, I was definitely impressed.

I'm certain it wasn't. Daltrey had difficulty hitting his high notes, and it was pretty clear to me before he got to the scream that he wouldn't be able to replicate it. I have no problem with it being recorded as it is the iconic pinnacle of the song.

Still, this is yet another reminder of the cognitive dissonance caused when youth angst and revolt songs are sung by holders of AARP cards physically incapable of performing their early works in ways that don't diminish them.

Don't get me wrong...I have great appreciation for those who work hard to stay productive and relevant. But as Clint Eastwood said in Magnum Force, "A man's got to know his limitations."

I missed the halftime show entirely. Our hosts had prepared dinner, and we ended up sitting at the dining room table during halftime, with the TV off and some soft music playing in the background. So, no Who for me.

My 16-year-old nephew texted me during the second half. He said The Who were "old, but really good."

I thought Daltrey looked like a female college fastpitch softball player, circa 1989.

They sounded fine.

One wonders what aged, caucasian, male rock act they will dig up for 2011.

Who's left?

Was the band really that embarrassing? Almost everyone I hear today says the performance was shameful and disgraceful. I know it was ragged and out of synch. But how is it possible to hear that guitar riff and those keybs for Wont Get Fooled Again and think it sounds bad? It blows me away every friggin time. Even last night's version.

"(I Cant Get No) Satisfaction", by comparison, sounds like shit in every live version I have ever heard. And The Stones Super Bowl perfomance had a ton of defenders.

I thought it was a solid performance. Not great, but a lot better than, say, the live performance on the bonus DVD that came with the band's last album (in which Townshend and Daltry looked and sounded like old men grasping at former glories with slippery fingers). I imagine it was lip-synched in the same way as Springsteen's - recorded the same week and then mimed to. But I don't know that. Daltrey sounded better than I expected. (I think the scream in "WGFA" was dubbed in the The Kids Are Alright version.

The sound was for shit, though. Drums like tin cans, guitars muffled - the usual music-on-TV crap (except for ACL). A buddy of mine thinks the sound the crowd was hearing was different from what we heard coming out of the TV speakers, though.

Has Garth Brooks ever done the Super Bowl halftime? I suspect he's probably getting pretty itchy to make a comeback, and it's in Dallas next year (I think) so it would be prime for a country singer. Shania Twain is likewise overdue to start trying for a comeback.

Or Sheryl Crow, if she's never done one. The last few years have been male dinosaurs, so I bet they'll want to go with a woman, preferably someone "younger" and "hipper."

Perhaps...(shocker warning)....an artist that not every single person in the audience is already familar with! Gasp !!!!! Or even....oh horrors....a black hip-hop performer !!!! Why not Outkast ????

I think Jay Z, Puff Diddy (or whatever the hell he calls himself these days) or Kanye West are actually strong candidates. But it'll be someone everybody knows. The Superbowl isn't interested in exposure; it's interested in eyeballs who don't normally watch sports. (Like me - tuning into the Who was probably the only time in my life I've ever switched over to the Superbowl.)

Jermoe wrote:

> One wonders what aged, caucasian, male rock act they will dig
> up for 2011.
>
> Who's left?

Just go through the list of arena rock groups of the 70s-80s that still perform and take your pick, applying whatever cultural or anthropometric filters you desire:

Cheap Trick
ZZ Top
Peter Frampton
Journey
Van Halen
Santana
Genesis
Heart
Yes

...etc.

I bet it'll be ZZ Top. By this time next year they'll have a new album out and will be trying to re-establish themselves in the minds of the American public. That'll be a good opportunity.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and state firmly that Yes (in any lineup permutation you fancy) will NEVER (and I mean n-e-v-e-r) play a Super Bowl Halftime show. They are somewhere just ahead of Steely Dan in that chow line. Hah!

I have heard 3 (obviously musically clueless) talk radio callers complain about The Who performance and seriously propose Steely Dan as a more viable halftime show alternative. I say: Give the people what they ask for and see how they enjoy them apples! As The Dean once wrote about Traffic (in defense of The Stones), "You're an old-fart virgin until you've done the deed with these guys." And I love the Dan! But as a Super Bowl act? I dont think so.



Post Edited (02-11-10 18:25)

"They call Alabama The Crimson Tide, Call me Deacon Jones..."

"Who's left?"

What year did that one come out? Is it after The Who By Numbers?

question about the superbowl halftime performers?

how long have they been having bands play?

i seem to only remember this over the last 10 years or so?

rebelwithoutaclue wrote:

> question about the superbowl halftime performers?
>
> how long have they been having bands play?
>
> i seem to only remember this over the last 10 years or so?

There have been musical performers from the beginning.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Bowl_halftime_shows

Read that list and wax nostalgic for the days when the halftime entertainment was Up With People (1976, 1980, 1986), Andy Williams (1973), or Carol Channing (1970 & 1972).

And also note that Michael Jackson performed in 1993 and ZZ Top in 1997.

I figured someone would pick up on my punny business...

I thought the performance was solid. Not great but I liked it. Actually though, I never liked "Who Are You" as a song. "Baba O'Riley," though - I'd rather see a full live rendition of that and a lot of the other Who's Next and Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy-era stuff than a Super Bowl (and I'm from Indianapolis and a big football fan).

@zoo
Plenty of techniques for making the scream work out

@nosepail
Not embarrassing at all. Did you talk to people who wanted it to sound exactly like it does on classic radio?

@mats
I'm with you on the early singles. (but then I don't really like Quadro, Next, Leeds, or Tommy at all).

It's very difficult to go out cold to a stage that was set up one minute ago, dead-center in a massive stadium, and play to a crowd that's a hundred feet away at their closest. It's difficult for TV to mix the sound correctly for the home audience because the situation isn't setup in this favor. From a guitarists POV, Townsend took risks and that's always appreciated. I've never tolerated Daltrey, and with Entwistle and Moon gone, I just wanted to watch Pete play anyway. He played the riffs with inventiveness and flair and the network covered him well. Best superbowl halftime I've seen. I remember the Stones were a bit cold and Springsteen provoked eye-rolling.


For the halftime show, it has to match the target demographic that the advertisers are aiming for. Going by the ads, I'd say white-ish, middle class, home-owners, age 40-55. They're also less-likely to be channel flippers (it used to be that the younger demographic were teased to another channel for the half - don't know of that still happens). Of course, it also to be band deemed "safe" and acceptable for mass consumption.



Post Edited (02-09-10 21:24)

Prince gave the best Super Bowl half-time performance of the past 10 years, IMO.

U2 was good; so was Springsteen. The Stones and McCartney bored me. Aerosmith had a pretty weak song selection, and then tipped the whole apple cart by sharing the stage with such no-accounts as N'Sync, Britney and Nelly. (I remember Mary J. Blige coming onto the stage, too, looking as if she had no idea why she was there.)

I vaguely remember Stevie Wonder playing with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. That's about it for my half-time memories, though.

Which reminds me, Del, what the hell is so great about Mary J. Bilge anyway? So she finally hit the bottom in an addiction and came back? Big fucking deal. I was gonna include her in one of the many "overrated" threads, but I forgot.

> What the hell is so great about Mary J. Bilge anyway?

I never said I'm a big fan; I just said I remember her appearing in that Super Bowl half-time show with Aerosmith. I have heard some songs from her that I've liked.

> So she finally hit the bottom in an addiction and came back? Big fucking deal.

Well, overcoming addiction doesn't necessarily make a great artist, any more than a drug/alcohol habit does. Still, my hat's off to anyone who can get clean, and stay that way.

Actually, Del, I thought at first you didn't like her, hence my response. I will give her credit for making up names like holleration, though!

R still fucking THRILLING!



Post Edited (02-11-10 20:28)

I'm a pretty big football fan but I never watch the halftime show (I did see titgate however) and I have zero faith it will ever be good.

> They are somewhere just ahead of Steely Dan in that chow line.

Having seen the current Steely Dan live, I can only say, I hope so. Ain't enough lights, fireworks or even cheerleaders to make that band look exciting onstage.

Mary sings with more passion and conviction than anyone else of her stature. I am sometimes obliged by work to watch awards shows, and she is invariably the most stirring and resonant performer featured. almost doesn't matter what she's singing, she put everything into it -- unlike everyone else on the US pop charts.

I'll have to take another listen.

possibly very unrelated, but did anyone hear the sklar brothers on 'the jim rome show' today? i thought all of the "what? keith moon is dead?" stuff was hilarious.