What do you give the Who?

[birv2]

I give them a B. Pretty rockin for some 60-somethings. Pete was having gear problems (I can relate) but pulled off some good sounds. Roger's voice sounded remarkably good, I thought.

Interesting set list. They did the ones you'd expect but threw in a couple other chestnuts.

[Zip]

An A.

BTW, notice Pete's all-Fender backline? And that drummer kicks ***, too.

[M29]

I enjoyed that! I would say a B as well. I have seen other olds dudes do much better but I enjoyed this and reminiscing of when I first saw them a long time ago. Sure beats some of the recent acts, but that is an old fogy's opinion. The light show was amazing.

[sunvalleylaw]

I was noticing that backline. What amphs are those? I gave them an A too. I really like Pete's sounds, and he had rock and roll energy. If it was not perfect, I don't care. It's just rock and roll. The energy is more important to me really. They brought it for 60 somethings. I wondered if they could pull off the teen angst songs, and was thinking they should stick to Eminence Front and later, but I give it to them.

[MAXIFUNK]

A for what little time they had.

[birv2]

Did anybody else wonder if the drummer was picked because of some resemblance to Keith Moon?

[mainestratman]

"Is there a drummer in the house?"

[birv2]

"Is there a drummer in the house?"


I thought he sounded pretty good, but that scruffy wild look definitely reminded me of Keith.

[M29]

Yeah that is the first thing I thought when I saw the drummer, very much like Keith. He even had moves and licks like Keith. It may have been put on but it was still good. :dude

[syo]

Thought they were great all things considered. A-. Surprised by the strength of Roger's voice which hasn't held up so well. I do wonder if there was some "enhancement" for the YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaah on Won't Get Fooled Again. Interesting the cameras weren't on him as that is a definite Who showcase. Still, I smiled all the way through to see them up there. They deserve the love. They are as close to pure rock as it gets IMHO.
And thank God for YouTube. Super Bowl is not so big over here...

[syo]

Just saw the other posts. Drummer is Zak Starkey, Ringo's son who has been playing with them for years. He is an exceptionally talented drummer who used to be with Oasis. Moon was his godfather and even gave hime lessons when he was a kid...

[duhvoodooman]

:offtopic Hey, we're trying to talk about The Who here, Sun, not the freakin' Saints (who have it pretty well wrapped up after that interception & return for TD)!

I'd give 'em a B. I was pleasantly surprised by Daltry's voice, but Townshend's guitar work was kinda sloppy, I thought.

[sunvalleylaw]

:offtopic Hey, we're trying to talk about The Who here, Sun, not the freakin' Saints (who have it pretty well wrapped up after that interception & return for TD)!

I'd give 'em a B. I was pleasantly surprised by Daltry's voice, but Townshend's guitar work was kinda sloppy, I thought.

Corrected, moved to new thread. The Who rocked!!!

[sunvalleylaw]

Just saw the other posts. Drummer is Zak Starkey, Ringo's son who has been playing with them for years. He is an exceptionally talented drummer who used to be with Oasis. Moon was his godfather and even gave hime lessons when he was a kid...

I was just going to say that. I had heard he was working with The Who, and thought it might be him. :AOK I really enjoyed his drumming.

[Retro Hound]

Man I love The Who, but boy they are getting old. I could really tell in the voices. Roger made the wise choice of bringing it down which made it richer in a few places, but not as loud or powerful as it used to be. Overall I'd give them a B+. In a way, it made me not very excited about a Zep reunion though, with as much as they struggled.

[birv2]

The drummer is Ringo's son? How cool is that!

[msteeln]

The whole show I was wondering why they gave Zak so much face time when he could easily be seen in most every angle of Roger and Pete, and that he was VERY un-Keith like in his style.

Fun to see them again, but about as much as the last time I saw them, in '80/LA Forum, which was a disappointment.

Now, '73 @ The Forum...? Oooh yeah!

[t_ross33]

Did anybody else wonder if the drummer was picked because of some resemblance to Keith Moon?

I know! That's exactly what I was thinking. Had Moony's playing style down pretty good too :dude

EDIT: hmmm... just read the post above - lol! His drumming technique was very Moon-ish IMO, but the showmanship and wild-abandon delivery of said drumming was certainly un-moonish... at least he managed to stay on his throne throughout the whole set :AOK

[vroomery]

They definitely did a good job. It's very difficult to pull off a pure rock style like that in a stadium. It was a little bit sad to me though that in a room full of college students and 2 parents, I was one of few that recognized "the who" and the only one that recognized Pino Palladino. With just about every song that they played people would go, "oh THEYYY did that song?!?". I guess thats what happens as we get farther removed from the great music of the past.

As far as the age factor, they've held up much better than the stones who played for the half time show in the last few years.

[otaypanky]

I was noticing that backline. What amphs are those? I gave them an A too. I really like Pete's sounds, and he had rock and roll energy. If it was not perfect, I don't care. It's just rock and roll. The energy is more important to me really. They brought it for 60 somethings. I wondered if they could pull off the teen angst songs, and was thinking they should stick to Eminence Front and later, but I give it to them.

I believe he was playing through a Vibro~King

[Tig]

I'll give 'em a B. Pete played a few clams, but man, he still sounded good! Really nice tone at times. Zak and Pino were great as usual. To play John Entwistle's bass lines well says you are daaamn good.

I must have been listenening to a different Roger, 'cause I thought he sounded a little bad. I noticed the last few Who appearances that he has really lost his voice. It sounds like he has gravel in his throat, as if he were sick. This time he was better, however.

This comes from a long time Who fan, so I don't enjoy bashing them at all.
Remember when people used to ask each other, "So, duuuude, you like the Beatles or the Stones?", I'd answer, "No, I like The Who!"

[MichaelE]

I think they did good. Makes me glad I'm still only 47.

[mainestratman]

Thank god for YouTube... I didn't know they were playing halftime this year, otherwise I'd have tuned in for it.

I have to go with an A-. Daltry did sound gravelly, but added a nice "old black blues guy" dimension... Musically, I thought they were spot-on, although I think Townsend won't be wearing that jacket to play any more... lol

All in all.. for a bunch of 60-somethings, playing on a stage and equipment set up in 5 minutes, I thought they were superb, regardless of the effects they had to throw on Daltry's voice for the patented scream. ;-)

I thoroughly enjoyed that show.

[mainestratman]

BTW... WTF is a "clam"? LOL


Pete played a few clams

[Kazz]

While I do not count myself among the great Who fans of the world...I do like some of their stuff and appreciate it all.....the performance as it relates to Superbowl halftime shows...I will give it an A.......probably a B overall....but in context it deserves an A......equally as good as the Stones a few back...and way better than the Prince version...and definitely better than the Jackson/Timberlake fiasco. The stage and lightshow were killer tho.

[duhvoodooman]

BTW... WTF is a "clam"? LOL
A mistake or misplay.

[mainestratman]

A mistake or misplay.

LOL Thanks DVM... I thought it might be something like that, but wasn't sure...

On the plus side, I have a new nickname for myself.. "The Clam Man".. heh.."Clambake", or since I have a beard, I guess I could be called...

:dude

[Tig]

BTW... WTF is a "clam"? LOL

That was what Les Paul called his playing mistakes.
Of course, his mistakes sure sounded a lot better than mine!

"If I hit a clam, I tell the audience,
'Well, I missed that one.
I'll go back and get it.'"
Les Paul, Guitar Player magazine, August 1984

[syo]

I must have been listenening to a different Roger, 'cause I thought he sounded a little bad. I noticed the last few Who appearances that he has really lost his voice. It sounds like he has gravel in his throat, as if he were sick. This time he was better, however.


Well I think the Roger we remember from the glory days has been gone for some time. But given that he was cancelling shows due to no voice a few short months ago I was surprised how (relatively) good he sounded. Nothing like the old days though of course.

[mrmudcat]

LOL Thanks DVM... I thought it might be something like that, but wasn't sure...



:dude


:what "What is a clam"

And you call yourself a mainer !!!!:what

[mainestratman]

Not all of Maine is coastline, you know... LOL

I'm deep in the heart of potato and broccoli land. :-)

[rugbynyc]

Zak has been with them since 96. He actually started playing for Roger during one of Roger's solo tours in 94.

Pino has been their default bass player since John died and has a lot of experience playing with Pete and Roger on solo tours.

The rhythm guitarist was Pete's brother Simon.

Rabbit Bundrick was on keyboards, he's been with them since the 70s.

I'm pretty sure Petes acoustic guitar track for Pinball Wizard was prerecorded. There were at least 2 times were his strumming was not in sync with what was coming through the tv. Also, I don't believe Pete has played PW live on acoustic in about 20 years. I'm 50/50 on whether or not the vocal track was prerecorded. My guess is that it was a combo of some prerecorded and live. Having said that the scream in WGFA was most certainly prerecorded(he hasn't screamed that good in years and its seems suspect that they didn't show him during the scream) as was the see me, feel me interlude.

Pete has been having that issue with his jacket for ages, I've seen many times live and at least half of those times Pete has on a suit coat like that and had the same issues he had last night with the coat getting in the way of his playing.


Generally speaking I thought it was a good performance. The medley thing was a little strange to me, but whatever. It lacked a certain Who magic, I think that had to do with the compressed time and the reality of the performance(not currently touring, haven't played together in a while, short rehearsal time) but I was happy and thought it came off pretty good.

Petes gear:
Fender Eric Clapton signature Strats. The only mod is an added Fishman piezo pickup on the bridge controlled by a volume knob right behind the bridge. Acoustics are Gibson Pete Townshend signature J-200s. Amps are Fender Vibro-Kings. Pete also uses a custom pedalboard designed by Pete Cornish.

[Commodore 64]

I'm just going to give my opinion here:

I don't know why, but I didn't like it at all. I felt like Pete was trying hard to capture the old days (windmilling his arms and stuff) when it just isn't there anymore. It was depressing and made me feel old. It seemed to be a gory display of all that is lost as you age which is scary enough as it is without being reminded of it on Superbowl Sunday.

Contrast that to watching a ZZ-Top concert from 2006, and those guys are up there in years too. They looked like they were still having fun and sharing their music with receptive fans. When they busted out the fuzzy guitars for Legs, it seemed more like a tip of the hat to days gone by than a futile and vain attempt at recapturing them. Just 3 guys out there still jamming, enjoying making music.

I dunno, perhaps it was the context of the Who performance, being shoehorned in to a ridiculously over-hyped sports spectacle.

[mrmudcat]

I'm just going to give my opinion here:

I don't know why, but I didn't like it at all. I felt like Pete was trying hard to capture the old days (windmilling his arms and stuff) when it just isn't there anymore. It was depressing and made me feel old. It seemed to be a gory display of all that is lost as you age which is scary enough as it is without being reminded of it on Superbowl Sunday.

Contrast that to watching a ZZ-Top concert from 2006, and those guys are up there in years too. They looked like they were still having fun and sharing their music with receptive fans. When they busted out the fuzzy guitars for Legs, it seemed more like a tip of the hat to days gone by than a futile and vain attempt at recapturing them. Just 3 guys out there still jamming, enjoying making music.


I dunno, perhaps it was the context of the Who performance, being shoehorned in to a ridiculously over-hyped sports spectacle.



I agree the windmills on a strat wasnt for me ...........:bootyshake

[mrmudcat]

Not all of Maine is coastline, you know... LOL

I'm deep in the heart of potato and broccoli land. :-)



Yep arroostook county potato heads....I did my share for xtra money!!

[mainestratman]

LOL

No more of that these days.. small crews sorting spuds on harvesters, and formers import "migrant workers" to cut broccoli.

I picked potatoes just one season... shortly after that, I landed a job at the local radio station and never had to worry about getting grubby again. :-)

[sumitomo]

Not all of Maine is coastline, you know... LOL

I'm deep in the heart of potato and broccoli land. :-)

PEEUW!!! No wonder the enima didn't work!! I'll have to watch the u tube,but nothing could match Quadrophenia at the L.A. forum Nov.22 1973 third row on the floor with a few hit's of this and that!:applause Sumi:D

[msteeln]

Sumi, you got that right! Most awesome. :applause
I had a nosebleed seat I got that day for $25(!) after seeing a clip of the infamous Frisco show on the late news the night before.
San Fran was the first night of The 1973 North American Quadrophenia Tour where Moonie fell out halfway thru and a guy from the audience filled in!

But Keith was stupendous for the first of two in LA, and remember they came out for a rare encore after Pete smashed his LP, but it took him a bunch of trys? :happy I have a poster of that moment! But to have a seat like you had...:AOK

My friends went the next night and came out saying it was the best until someone told them about the night before...:what

If that 22nd show wasn't the best Who show ever, I'd be afraid of seeing what was!

[FrankenFretter]

I didn't get to see the game, due to the fact that I was working, and I don't get any channels that aren't PBS. I did just watch some of it on Youtube. Am I the only one who thinks Daltrey looks like Dr. Who of the Tom Baker era? Wow, that probably totally exposes me for the nerd that I am...

[birv2]

I remember the Stones halftime show as particularly mediocre.

U2 was pretty good. Prince... well, it was raining. Tom Petty -- talk about looking old. He made Roger and Pete look adolescent.

How about that pairing of Aerosmith and Britney Spears? Yikes.

Also,while on the topic of Pete's outfit -- what's the deal with the doorag AND the hat?

[mainestratman]

@Frankenfretter.. :beer:

@birv.. Maybe Pete was gettin jiggy wiff it?

[kidsmoke]

I'm just going to give my opinion here:

I don't know why, but I didn't like it at all. I felt like Pete was trying hard to capture the old days (windmilling his arms and stuff) when it just isn't there anymore. It was depressing and made me feel old. It seemed to be a gory display of all that is lost as you age which is scary enough as it is without being reminded of it on Superbowl Sunday.

+1

I just started becoming aware of Rock in the mid 70's, and the Who defined it for me. I think the way they manically went about it, doo-rag and hat as further evidence....they were trying too hard.


----warning!! off topic rant-----------
As for ZZ Top, I evolved to them by 1980, thought that their first three albums were, and remain, arguably the finest first three albums ever put out by an American band. Eliminator (sharp dressed man, gimme all your lovin') felt like a betrayal, but I saw it coming with El Loco.

done.---------

I think they should bring up n comers from the participating cities. THAT'd be cool. Or even established acts. Hell, we could have watched John Hiatt with his old sidekick Sonny Landreth, sharing the stage with the Neville Brothers. THAT would have been a show, with no qualifications for age necessary.

:beer:



sorry for the rant.

[Commodore 64]

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/02/the_nfl_needs_to_stop_turning.html

[Tig]

....they were trying too hard.

As for Pete's strat, there was a fifth knob above the bridge next to the p'up. What's that about?

----warning!! off topic rant-----------
As for ZZ Top, I evolved to them by 1980, thought that their first three albums were, and remain, arguably the finest first three albums ever put out by an American band. Eliminator (sharp dressed man, gimme all your lovin') felt like a betrayal, but I saw it coming with El Loco.

I got the same feeling... they were trying too hard.

I saw the 4th know, too. Found out that it is a volume pot for a Fishman powerbridge piezo pickup.

Also, I too love ZZ Top before the MTV dayz, back when they were a raw, striped down blues rockin' band. Started listening to them as a kid in the mid 70's. Luckily, they still jam some mean blues tunes when they play live. I've seen 'em several times, since they are a local band.

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, granted it was a little bit of "trying too hard", but I think that is the way it is with performances at the Superbowl. I am still a Springsteen fan, and I thought he was trying too harder (LOL at that grammar) than they were. Would I have preferred they did some of their later stuff and did not try to do the teen angst thing? Sure. But that is what was expected of them in that environment. And the arm windmills too. Not ideal, but better than an autotuned pop diva or Taylor Swift trying to cover Fleetwood Mac with Stevie.

[kidsmoke]

Not ideal, but better than an autotuned pop diva or Taylor Swift trying to cover Fleetwood Mac with Stevie.

+1


:offtopic

Try this on for size.

What if every NFL franchise had a local band play halftime shows of the 8 home games (8 bands). The season ticket holders score them 1 - 10. If the team makes the playoffs, the two best scoring bands have a playoff, at halftime if the team manages a home game, and at an event that doubles as a fan pep rally if the games are all away.

Then, if the team makes it to the superbowl, a local band, chosen by the teams fanbase, shows up with 'em. The two bands split the halftime spotlight, not as a contest, but as a celebration of the participating cities cultures.

A)You see a working band at the top of their game, playing live. No overdubs.
B) more compelling for spectators, seeing little guys with chops on the worlds biggest stage
C) restores chance for working stiffs to make it big
D) added revenue/marketing opportunities for the blood suckers on Madison Avenue

Just a thought