The Who Super Bowl Reviews

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Here's a sampling of reviews of The Who's Super Bowl halftime show:

Billboard:

The Who, the iconic British rock band that are one of the remaining working group's of its generation, took the stage for the Superbowl halftime show in Miami, Fla. and delivered a solid, if expected medley classic rock hits.

Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend, the two surviving members of the original quartet, appeared on a circular stage in center of Sun Life Stadium in Miami, and played a nearly 12-minute set that included all or parts of five Who classics: "Pinball Wizard," "Baba O'Reilly," "Who Are You?," "See Me, Feel Me" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." Townshend revealed the set list exclusively to Billboard during rehearsals two weeks ago.

...As in years past, the band was matched with an impressive light show, including a wide array of lasers and several blasts of pyrotechnics. The Who performed on a huge circular stage that played on the band's recognizable bulls-eye logo, although this year, no fans were allowed on the field.

New York Times:

Lasers, lights and fireworks were flashing full-tilt through the Who’s halftime show Sunday at Super Bowl XLIV. It looked as if the producers were worried that the rock geezers at the center — the guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, 64, and the singer Roger Daltrey, 65 — might not look heroic enough to the camera. Townshend, in a porkpie hat and shades with a black suit hanging off his lanky frame, was grizzled. Daltrey, in a striped neo-Mod jacket and a scarf, revealed a voice that was raspy and thick. But the Who still had the stadium shouting along on choruses Townshend wrote decades ago: “Who are you” and “We don’t get fooled again!”

The Who didn’t hazard “My Generation,” with its famous line “Hope I die before I get old,” or the other songs written in guitar-smashing youth as the Who got its start. (The band didn’t break any equipment for this finale, either.)

Instead, for what was probably their biggest one-time viewing audience, they chose repertory from Townshend’s increasingly ambitious late-1960s albums and afterward, when he was already taking a grown-up’s point of view: “Pinball Wizard” and the gentle “See me, feel me” snippet from his 1969 rock opera “Tommy”; “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” from the 1971 “Who’s Next”; and the title song from the 1978 “Who Are You.” If there was a 21st-century attention-span paradox in having the man who wrote rock operas and concept albums compress his life’s work into 12 minutes — well, Townshend said beforehand that the medley was Daltrey’s idea.

They were songs about prowess, determination, desperation and rage at how revolutions fail: an arc of verbal frustration defied, and explosively overcome, by musical assertiveness, with the power chords that the Who made ring worldwide. They were songs that expected, and got, large audiences at the time. It was music born to be heard in arenas and stadiums, and the halftime show might have been these songs’ last airing on their accustomed monumental scale.

...Townshend said in an N.F.L. news conference that he has “health issues” with his shoulder and his hearing. But the band didn’t coast through its 12 minutes — even if the pulsating prerecorded keyboards of “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” gave them a few seconds of respite.

Townshend put full force into his famous windmilling guitar chords — echoed by the light display — and in “Who Are You” he hammered on the strings with a fist. Daltrey belted as if he wouldn’t mind being hoarse for the next week or two. Their backing musicians hit hard, as Townshend and Daltrey pumped their fists.

Sun-Sentinel:

The Who had little trouble rising to the big, televised occasion like other elite acts before them. Nothing about their 14 minutes at midfield of Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens embarrassed CBS and the NFL, which had taken some grief for picking yet another ancient rock band.

What The Who didn't do was lay to rest the suspicion that the Super Bowl halftime needs some reinvention — or at least more of the clever, thematic spin that Prince gave the event three years ago in the same stadium with his glitzy, marching-band-themed rock ' n' soul revue.

The age of The Who wasn't an issue on Sunday. The dated device The Who used to partition the set — a medley of hits — was. They opened with a piece of "Pinball Wizard" so truncated it barely qualified as an "ahem."

"Baba O'Riley," with its "teen-age wasteland" refrain , got a more complete and satisfying run-through. From there the band segued cleanly into "Who Are You," then a coda from the rock opera "Tommy" and finally "Won't Get Fooled Again." The latter did extra duty as a plug for another CBS property: "CSI," the prime-time crime-solving franchise that uses the song as theme music.

The anthemic songs, with all their rock regalia on display, fit the setting. Likewise it was a pleasure to hear Daltrey - even in a rougher voice than he possessed back at Shea - and to watch Townshend testing his oft-injured shoulder with his wind-milling guitar strokes. The staging was smart, as well — almost minimalistic, with the band playing atop a circular, lighted disc whose individual pieces sloped down to the turf.

The question is whether a string of song edits amounts to anything more than a lively game break. In this case, no -- although it's a lot to ask of any band to bring meaning to a halftime act.

Newsday:

The Who ain't all dat as NFL gets fooled again

The best thing about last night's Super Bowl halftime show was that producers did away with the custom of positioning bubbly young people near the stage to jump up and down excitedly.

Instead, The Who was surrounded by an array of arced lights that turned out to be the stars of the show, generating far more energy than did the sexagenarians on stage.

Entertainment Weekly:

Why did I volunteer to write about the Super Bowl halftime show? Because I was looking forward to making some cheap gags about old age, decrepitude, and people who threaten to leave us before they get old, and yet never do.

Alas, Brett Favre didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. So, let’s talk instead about The Who, the latest in a now fairly long line of veteran rockers entrusted with the task of entertaining an audience of millions without repeating Janet Jackson’s mistake of flashing too much flesh.

Actually, it could be argued Who guitarist Pete Townshend failed on the latter point given he repeatedly exposed his stomach as the band performed a set that included snippets from “Pinball Wizard,” “Baba O’Riley,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” But mostly it seemed to me that the whole shebang served as a reminder of what a terrific live act they remain, as well as freshly proving there are few things cooler than drum cymbals decorated in a “mod”-stylee.

MTV:

The first half of Super Bowl XLIV might not have provided the offensive fireworks many had expected, but luckily for pyrotechnics obsessives, there was still the halftime show, featuring a bombastic set by the Who.

On Sunday night (February 7), the London legends brought out the big guns, ripping through a hit-filled set and leaving the skies over Miami's Sun Life Stadium filled with smoke.

Opening with "Pinball Wizard," Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend traded verses while flashbulbs popped and flames leapt, the stage -- a star-bursting L.E.D. number -- shining brightly.

They segued right into "Baba O'Riley," with the song's famed opening strains echoing around the stadium. Green lasers criss-crossed the night sky, as Townshend windmilled like crazy, then pulled a solo out of his red Fender guitar. (Vegas oddsmakers put the over/under on windmills at 4.5. Hope you took the over.) Daltrey belted the tune out, and contributed a smoking harmonica solo of his own.

"Who Are You" was next and featured the band's famed red, white and blue mod logo spinning around the stage, and another incendiary solo from Townshend. Then came a few verses of "Tommy," the stadium bathed in cool blue lights as Daltrey sang, "See me, feel me, touch me."

And since this year's Super Bowl was being held in Miami (home of a "CSI" franchise), the Who wrapped with the show's theme song, "Won't Get Fooled Again," featuring even more lasers, flames and -- during the song's epic drum fill -- some serious fireworks. (Sadly, David Caruso didn't make an appearance.) Daltrey yowled his famous "Yeaaaaaah!" and the sky erupted in even more pyrotechnics.

Then, as the Super Bowl crowd cheered wildly, Daltrey and Townshed embraced, and it was all over, except for the smoke. There was still plenty of that.

Los Angeles Times:

It was an old-fashioned laser light show at Miami's Sun Life Stadium during the Super Bowl halftime show, as vintage rockers the Who energetically went largely without gimmicks and shtick during its brief mini concert. Relying on little more than the sturdiness of its riffs and Roger Daltrey's still arena-piercing yell, the Who tried to pump some life back into its classic rock hits, many of which have since been reclaimed as the soundtrack to a CBS crime show.

If not a wholly obvious choice -- the Who have not been on the promotional circuit in a couple years -- the Who were a relatively safe one. Chosen, perhaps, by default, as one of the few (only?) giant boomer bands to have not yet received the Super Bowl stamp of approval, the Who weren't heading into the halftime show for Super Bowl XLIV as a band of surprises. Having released only one album of new material in more than 25 years, few have perfected the art of the greatest hits set like the Who.

...As [Pete Townshend] swung his trademark windmills on "Baba O'Riley," he certainly looked the part, playing the role of a man 30 years younger.

Yet the Who was certainly a more fitting booking than some recent choices. Last year, the NFL tapped Bruce Springsteen -- the populist, not the working-class hero -- and two years ago, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers presented an efficient, workmanlike halftime show.

Both were acts with a reputation for shying away from such grandiose corporate celebrations, and as CD sales decline, hardcore fans have become accustomed to writing off such shilling as a necessary evil of selling a new album or hyping a tour. Yet the Who, with its countless greatest hits tours, an inability to be slowed by the loss of two its founding members and an openness to licensing, would seem to be right at home at squeezing in a 12-minute set amid the Super Bowl's advertisements and sponsorships.

...In a striped jacket, [Roger] Daltrey looked the part of a rock 'n' roll referee, and Townshend, sporting a flat-topped hat and sunglasses, affirmed that he hasn't wholly embraced the idea of buttons in his old age.

Aided by Ringo's son Zak Starkey on drums, the Who wasted no time in getting to the chorus in "Pinball Wizard," emphasizing the riff with some celebratory explosions. Ultimately, it felt less a concert than a stripped-down Olympics opening ceremony, with the band on a circular high-tech stage -- a set piece that sort of resembled a giant, modern Simon, to use a reference point dating to a period when the Who's prowess was just starting to wane.

While younger bands such as Green Day have stolen some of the Who's knack for theatricality, Townshend and Daltrey relied more on gusto at halftime. The two couldn't quite sync the harmonies in "Who Are You," but no matter, they were hurdling through their short set as if they were on a treadmill.

Townshend tossed aside his acoustic for an electric, and he hopped and skipped behind his vocalist, who huffed out a harmonica solo to close "Baba O'Riley." A brief breather arrived for a few snippets of "See Me, Feel Me," but then it was straight into a pyro-enhanced "Won't Get Fooled Again," which Daltrey ended with an exclamation point -- a blood-curdling shriek.

Houston Chronicle:

Had The Who of 45 years ago been transported to 2010 by time machine, the band likely have been too edgy to have been successfully vetted for this event.

But that was then, and Sunday night half of the remaining Who performed following breast-free Bowl appearances by Paul McCartney, Prince, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen.

While Pete Townshend offered a succinct master class as to why he's one of rock's most important and innovative guitarists, the band's set was shouty and reliant on its legend. It was the musical equivalent of having your food chewed for you, with six guys doing what four used to.

Roger Daltrey's upper register has been endangered for some time, and on a big stage he resorted to chesty bluster. He and Townshend harmonized like bickering walruses. Their chests remained covered, though, as they worked through a porridgey medley of song fragments familiar to people over 30 and viewers of CSI. Pinball Wizard, Baba O'Reilly, Who Are You (where Townshend was particularly sharp and Daltrey came a little closer to hitting the notes), a tiny snippet of Tommy's “see me” refrain and Won't Get Fooled Again were served with conviction and enthusiasm and rote nostalgia.

But what do bowl planners do? The Jackson/Timberlake performance tore the envelope more than pushing it, and the backlash was bracing and lasting.

Attempts to go younger risk alienating a core audience. Bridging generations would likely be as sleepy in execution as it sounds on paper: Imagine John Mayer and Eric Clapton boring three generations of football fans together.

My thoughts:

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are legends still capable of doing justice to their music, works that have stood the test of time.

I'm in awe that they're still alive -- not Daltrey so much, but Townshend. They're in their mid-60s. What would that be in "Who" years? Mid-70s? Early 80s?

I don't have a problem with the halftime planners choosing not to go with a younger act.

It's the Super Bowl, a very broad audience. I think it's better to be safe and go with reliable greatness than veer off and cater to a niche audience.

A medley is always somewhat unsatisfying, but the time limits are what they are.

I think some music critics have unrealistic expectations when it comes to reviewing the Super Bowl halftime show. They seem to forget what they're watching.

The Super Bowl is a party and The Who delivered.