2010 SuperBowl: THE WHO

First off…it was a great game! Both teams played very well and congrats to The New Orleans Saints.

But what I was really waiting for was the halftime show with The Who.  I had some serious consternation about how they were going to pull off a live show without John Entwistle and Keith Moon (both are dead).

The Who were probably the best and most powerful live band in the world in the mid to late 1970’s. And of course a big part of that equation was the fact that they had a monster rhythm section in Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Even after Moon passed away, Entwistle was such a fucking heavy bassist that the band STILL kicked ass with Kenny Jones on drums.

Well, as I feared…Daltrey and Townsend could not come in packing that kind of power. BUT, I still thoroughly enjoyed them. Technically, Townsend sounded GREAT on guitar! Better than I’ve ever heard him. And those new Fender amps he used were astounding. I was a bit surprised as he used to use HiWatt amps.  But those Fender amps had a crunch tone that sounded like a wall of Marshalls on steroids. Not sure which model amp it was as I could only make out the Fender logo on them. 

He played some damn good lead licks and I guess he’s been practicing for this gig.

Both Daltrey and Townsend sounded pretty bad vocally right out of the gate with Pinball Wizard. It had me worried. Daltrey was weak and scared on Baba OReilly and didn’t go for any of the high notes. But he finally regained his confidence on Won’t Get Fooled Again and even nailed that massive high scream in it. (though that could have been done by someone else behind the scenes for all I know)

But what really saved the whole performance was the songs themselves. The music of The Who is just as relevant today as it was 35 years ago. Baba O’Reilly is just a masterpiece. The words are open enough to interpretation to allow the listener to feel the meaning of the writer while still being able to have enough space to add their own spin on the characters and the story. Just like a good song or book or poem or play should. 

And of course Won’t Get Fooled again…what can I say? That song fits PERFECTLY with what just happened in our elections. Our country felt that Bush had led us down the wrong path. So we elect Obama who is full of promise and hope.

And what happens? Well to quote the song: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"

Speaking of which…I was listening to The Who song "We’re Not Gonna Take It" yesterday. What a great song! "We’re not gonna take it, Never did and never will. Don’t want no religion. And as far as we can tell. We ain’t gonna take you. Never did and never will. We ain’t gonna take you. We forsake you. Gonna rape you. Let’s forget you better still"

It reminded me of what a tremendous piece of work the Rock Opera Tommy is. So I rented it from my online BlockBuster account and I’m going to sit down and watch that movie again for the first time in years this next week.