Posted in: Drums by bailieman on February 8, 2010 | 21 Comments
Aging rock group The Who are a pale shadow of their former selves.
I watched the Super Bowl and looked forward to seeing The Who perform. The stage set was great, the fire works added to the spectacle but the main men Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend were adequate at best.
At Live 8 in July 2005 The Who resurfaced to a worldwide audience and played a rousing set which had those in Hyde Park up and dancing. A little over four years later under the Miami stars, the story has changed dramatically. Two late middle aged men play on past glories in front of another worldwide audience and fail miserable to deliver.
The problem for Roger and Pete is that interest alone is just seeing the ‘greatest band in the world’ is no longer enough, they have to perform and to the top of their game. What we are left with is an embarrassment.
Roger Daltrey can no longer hit the high notes that were so much part of The Who repertoire nor is he capable of leaping around the stage without looking like a grandpa on a night out at a karaoke. Pete Townsend looked even worse. His overuse of the famous windmill arm left him looking like a one trick pony. His guitar playing was poor on the night and the few solos he had to play he messed up.
Image via Wikipedia
As if to emphasis that they were the elder statesmen of Rock, they were backed up by young enthusiastic band members who covered a multitude of their sins. The drummer, and a fine drummer he is, might well have been chosen as a Keith Moon lookalike. The bass player rightly made no attempt to take on the role of John Entwistle.
Daltrey and Townshend sang rebellious teen songs that once had the ring of truth. ’My Generation’ one of the great rock tunes of all time, wanted the world to recognise the power of youth and allow it to flourish. It called on the Establishment to stop putting them down. These elder statesmen would do well to listen to the words of their most famous song.
Bob Dylan’s voice has almost completely gone but he is capable of writing songs to suit it’s limited ability. Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones wrote new material when they went on tour and did not relay solely on the oldies, Daltrey and Townshend cannot compete.
I thought it was a sad sight to see the once might group. The once thumping voice of youth exposed as an aging twosome WHO should really know better. As a stage, it does not get much better than the Super Bowl Show, so hopefully Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend will retire gracefully on a shaky high.
Authoress Terry E. Lyle February 8th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Well put my friend.
Wiggles18 February 8th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Very well put.
Guy Hogan February 8th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
I saw the entire thing too and it made me cringe. I’m a big Who fan. It made me sad to see Pete and Roger struggling to do what they had once done brilliantly. I saw The Who in Pittsburgh when they were on the Tommy Tour. They were a great rock band. It was a great show. Now, they simply don’t have it any more. During the Super Bowl performance I was hoping for something much better. The whole world was probably hoping for better. Well, we won’t get fooled again.
8Shei8 February 8th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
You know I am sorry, but I actually fell asleep during half time!
joyhyena29 February 8th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
well done^^
VTech February 8th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
great article
GWitt February 8th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
“Who” say dat-
Jenilia12 February 8th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Good post.
Thanks to share this one.
Love Doc February 9th, 2010 at 2:27 am
Well-written and presented.
AlmaG February 9th, 2010 at 3:27 am
Wow! I didn’t know about them… hehehe I was born in the 80s ^_^ … but I do know the Beach Boys and they just visited us here in the Philippines for a concert. Great post!
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ganeshgolha February 9th, 2010 at 5:17 am
Great one! Its interesting.. keep it up.
Lady Sunshine February 9th, 2010 at 6:20 am
I didn’t see it, so I’ll have to take your word for it. People don’t like to age gracefully. Enjoyed the write.
albert1jemi February 9th, 2010 at 7:19 am
nice share
martie February 9th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Age takes it toll on all of us. Good thing many of us are not in the public eye where expectations are so high.
sambhafusia February 9th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
well written…nice share…
mkd1788 February 9th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
informative post..nice one
qasimdharamsy February 9th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
this is difficult to say….
standingproud February 10th, 2010 at 3:59 am
Well done effort here
athena goodlight February 11th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Perhaps they should just consider producing shows for younger rock stars covering their songs instead of just performing the songs themselves. Nice write up.