The Who Super Bowl Performance Falls Flat (Set List Included)

MIAMI (YBH.ME) – The Who, or at least the living members, performed at Super Bowl XLIV today. The much-hyped performance fell flat. Both Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are pushing 70, and it showed today. Musically the band played great, however the performance was extremely stiff. The duo used a younger backing band reminding the viewing audience of just how aged Mr. Daltrey and Mr. Townshend are. Watching a 65 year-old Pete Townshend screaming “It’s only teenage wasteland” was a very odd moment.

The band chose to do shortened versions of their biggest hits, which distracted from the overall performance. The opening number, a very short version of “Pinball Wizard” was good but lacked energy. The last tune, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” would have been a show stopper had they not chose to shorten the tune’s signature parts. The band also played shortened versions of “Baba O’Reilly” and “Who Are You.”

The NFL has run into real trouble as of late finding proper halftime acts. The music business has not been generating new mega-bands since the business began imploding in the late 1990′s. Music industry rumors of a Guns and Roses reunion at Super Bowl XLV are as of yet unfounded. If not look for Pat Boone and Andy Williams to highlight Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

John Romano is the publisher and editor of Yes, But However!, a musician, a former political correspondent for BBC Radio London, and a serial web entrepreneur. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/yesbuthowever or John Romano on Google+

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Post Published: 07 February 2010
Found in section: Sports and Entertainment

Bill
Daltry's voice was much better than it was a year ago at the VH1 tribute for the Who, but they aren't as strong as they used to be. Considering thier age, it was a good performance. All their anthems could have filled the whole show time wise. Cutting them up made them less enjoyable (but still great).
willy
what songs did they play

steve
THEY WERE FANTASTIC!!! PEOPLE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT IS A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME FOR A ROCK BAND TO WARM UP…
AND THEY ARE FORCED TO DO A MEDLY
lIVE YOUNG STAY YOUNG
I SAW NOTHING AWKWARD ABOUT TOWNSEND SCREAMING IT’S ONLY TEENAGE WASTELAND
HOLDS MORE TRUTH TODAY THAN WHEN THEY FIRST MADE IT… OR RAP WASTELAND…
THE DAY MUSIC DIED

doug
if you know anything about the Who-then you appreciated their effort. If you dont, hold your tongue!
Sandy
Thought they were great, but then they are and always will be. Those people singing along in Miami seemed to be enjoying their performance quite a bit, also.
Jerry
Still another music fan who totally disagrees with the blogger. Considering how old those guys are, they were absolutely terrific. Throwing age out they were still a lot better than most of the people I've seen live.
WmA
I enjoyed the performance. And they didn't mess up any song lyrics like Jagger did during Super Bowl XL. As for shortening "Won't Get Fooled Again," I doubt they had much control over their performance time – that is dictated by the NFL and CBS. The full version of the song would have been great, but would have also eliminated at least one or more of the other songs.
By the way, if you're going to criticize someone, at least go to the effort of spelling their name correctly. Otherwise, folks will think you don't know what you're talking about. It's Pete Townshend not Townsend.
who's left
who were the other musicians playing with Daltrey and Townshend?
drewbreezed
where does it say townsend?
i thought the performance was pretty good. they are too old though. when was their last hit, 1980?
Jen
Kicked Ass!!…the deserve respect after rockin for over 40 yrs!!! I loved it!!
Barksdale
No one under 50 was available?
John
As a life long Who guy – I can say it is time to retire. They did okay for their age, but 65 is not the age to be playing in front of the superbowl. I have seen them in concert over 15 times and now their abuse younger days are showing up. Without Keith and now John it just isnt the WHO and while I loved the tunes – we need something more current at next years bowl
Oak
It's the music that matters, not the age. I don't hear age in the playing and they played great. I would've preferred full length versions but when one song, perhaps their greatest, is more than 8 minutes long and they only had 12 minutes to play I understand why they did a medley of shorten versions. To hear the whole crowd singing along gave me goose bumps. When the reviewer is their age he'll have disappeared long, long before like a fart in the wind
Denise
I'm stunned by the posts. I thought it was the worst Superbowl Half-Time Performance EVER. Football is an exclusively American sport. The half-time act should be an American rock band, preferably one whose members aren't eligible for membership in AARP. The Who's performance was flat, boring, and tired.
Erin
The Who's performance at the Superbowl was horrendous! I watched open mouthed. The stage they were on was far more impressive than anything they did on it! Pete and Roger looked looked like they were on day release from the nearest nursing home. Pete's windmill arm kept get getting obstructed by his jacket. Spinal Tap are proud wherever they are.
Len
Would The Who have been better 35 years ago, with John and Keith and all four of them in their prime? Sure. They aren't what they used to be, but they put on a good show.
Ron
The Who ROCKED; based on the replies the Blogger, John Romano, was clearly wrong what a surprise. Be lucky.
Marianne
They sounded terrible. Roger seems to have lost his voice not to mention he and Pete couldn't seem to harmonize at all. It was really embarrassing. The "scream" near the end of Won't Get Fooled Again was obviously a recording as Roger can't hit the high notes at this stage in the game, and the camera didn't show Roger at this point in the song, instead it showed the stadium. It's time to retire, boys.
jeffery
Why are people so disrespectful these days? You'd be happy to have a voice at 65 let alone still be able to scream like a rock god. They rocked.
Tone
Bloggers under a certain age should be disqualified from critiquing rock legends like The Who. You just don't get it man.
Jonathan
I agree with most on this. It was great to see a legendary band such as The Who play. Daltery has lost it, and it doesn't have anything to do with age. The Rolling Stones are just as old but still keep doing the same things as they did in the 60's. Some of it has to do with stage rust and most has to do with all the drugs that he has done. Did anyone else here Townshend go way off beat? Over all if they went on tour I would go. They are Legends as I said before. They could crap in a bass drum, mic it, and still sell millions of copies of it. I would buy it.
DinOR
Although obligations kept from seeing the half-time show, I really didn't 'need' to see it to know it would flop. Like many here, The Who were a big part of my growing up. Like The Stones, excess has mandated changes in the line-up and I'm glad it was never 'my' job to keep Keith Moon on a leash?
Where I've no doubt the dissapointment from many comes from is in the 'delivery' of the material! Back in the day, if Keith or Pete wanted to step up the energy level, they were -forced- to drum or strum harder! With all the wattage now at the command of some sound engineer's finger tips, nearly ALL aspects of their visuals are, just 'that'. Visuals. Folks, it's hardly just The Who that embraced all that wonderful technology and left their true roots behind. The desire to "make EVERY seat a 'great' seat" has only assured that NO seat is a great seat!
John, Keith, we miss ya'!
John
Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. Instrumentally they sounded great, but their performance lacked the intangibles that they once had. Daltrey's vocal range has diminished significantly, which detracts from the overall experience; and Townsend just seemed off while attempting to harmonize. Overall it was uneventful and forgettable.
dave Thunder
The WHO are still viable as ever. They sounded great ! Maybe all the put downers should go list to some rap..you know what I' saying;;;you know what I'm saying etc…or Britney Spears or some skinney ass barbey doll over dubbed lousy dancer. I doubt any new so called artist in the last 15 years will ever be good enough for a superbowl 1/2 time show.
Boo Boo
Bring down the curtain on the half-Who. It was a sham and an embarassment.
DinOR
"just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should"
Well said *john. I think we full well realize this was ( after all ) the Stupor Bowl and hey, this 'is' Arena Rock. "Reaching the cheap seats" has long been the objective. If you look at some of the fore runners at the envelope of amplified music ( The Who were very much a part of it! )
So I try not to be hyper-critical, especially when I could have been one of those in the nose bleed section? What I believe though is one of the reasons the Stones continue to wow crowds decade out, decade in, is they've understood that for each listener, this is very much a "personal" experience and they make every effort to emulate what it may have been like to see them in a much smaller venue. Pete is trying really, really hard to -cement- The Who's place amongst the All-Time greats, thus far, I've remained unimpressed. IMHO.
Randy
I thought they sounded good. Maybe all you nay sayers will get to here Lady Ga Ga or some other no-talent next year.
Brian
It was perfect, and the crowd loved it.
rob
Was at the game and they sounded great. CBS did a horrible job of mixing their sound on the television which was a shame because they sounded fantastic.

The Who Super Bowl Performance Falls Flat (Set List Included)

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