Sure Plays a Mean Football

The Who to Play Super Bowl Halftime Show on February 7th

Call me sentimental but news today that the Who are set to play the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIV put a huge smile on my face. Sure we hear them endlessly on every CSI franchise going and two of them didn’t die before they got old. But theirs is the music of my youth. Just as good, it’s the music of my son’s youth and we get to see one of our favourite band’s together again.

Hosted in Miami, Florida on February 7th, the band will follow other halftime artists such as U2, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson. Let’s just hope Pete and Roger don’t have any wardrobe malfunctions during their performance.

The highlight in the American football calendar, last year's Super Bowl attracted more than ninety million viewers in the US alone.

Not Ffffffade Away

The Who's "My Generation" is one of 25 recordings that's been added to the Library Of Congress' National Recording Registry.

The Who originally recorded "My Generation" for their 1965 album of the same name. Rolling Stone magazine named it the 11th greatest song ever written on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It has also been inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.

Also included was Link Wray’s “Rumble” That song, an influential rock instrumental originally released in 1958, "Rumble" was a first to use then unexplored techniques like distortion and feedback. Trivia people note: It remains "the only instrumental single banned from radio airwaves."

Also inducted into the Registry is the ubiquitous Etta James classic “At Last”. One of the singer's most emotive performances, the song was featured in the recent Chess Records biopic Cadillac Records.

(Sung by Beyonce Knowles, the singer was invited to perform the song at Barack Obama's inauguration. However Etta James felt snubbed, and onstage comments left many feeling she was critical of Knowles and the President.)

The recordings have been inducted as part of the National Recording Preservation Board's attempt to select "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" pieces that are at least 10 years old, reports Variety.

"This year's selections lovingly reflect the diversity and humanity of our sound heritage where astonishing discoveries and a vibrant creative spirit seem to appear around every corner," James Billington, the librarian of Congress, said on Tuesday.

The National Recording Registry selects 25 recordings each year that it deems "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." They must be a least 10 years old. There are 275 recordings currently in the registry.

Read the entire list here as well as previous years’ too.

A Real Life Guitar Hero! In Expert Mode No Less

Make No Mistake, the Who Are No Mere Nostalgia Act

I’ve always had a fondness for the music of the Who and I relish any opportunity to see them perform. The latest occasion happened Wednesday night, (number one son in tow) at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. A huge venue by any stretch and a far cry from the shoebox like clubs I usually patronize. Of course we got there early to check out “Gargantuleum” and take in the atmosphere of a real rock and roll event. The energy created at these spectacles is palpable and somewhat akin to a professional sports event. Minus the face paint and bare chest lettering mind you. We caught the openers, Inward Eye and were suitably impressed by the energetic trio From Winnipeg. Think Green Day minus the spit, polish and sneering upper lip. There was no doubt they were riding a bit of a high after being tapped to open for the Who on this leg of their tour. They performed their brand of three chord pop dutifully but it was pretty clear the audience were there to see the bolder name on the marquee.

Just after 9 pm Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend unceremoniously trotted out onto the somewhat spartan stage offering up their typical opener, I Can’t Explain. Not a surprising choice, they’ve opened with that one for years and it was in fact the band’s first single from way back in 1965. This most appropriate song- a decibel rich call to arms for young and old was peppered with images on the huge video screen showing scenes from the ’60s when The Who were the young ones on the bill- brazen and loud, violent and destructive. A flurry of vintage photographs of the late John Entwistle and Keith Moon mugging for the camera, drew a huge response from the crowd. Sentimental? Predictable? Absolutely. And we loved it. Make no mistake though, the Who are far from being a mere nostalgia act.

The power chord onslaught continued with The Seeker and The Kids are Alright and in a word it was simply ‘fun’. These songs were exactly why I fell in love with this band in the first place. I didn’t see a band of aging rockers trying to relive their past, as some critics are want to point out. But rather, I saw them literally making new memories for an audience of young and old. There were arms raised, cheers, smiles and certainly by the end of the evening, twelve thousand very hoarse voices.

Singer Roger Daltrey (now 64), in his blue tinted glasses and short hair smiled mightily as he twirled a few trademark hoops with his microphone cord. Pete Townshend, wearing a black and white striped pullover, looked more like Marcel Marceau than the rock ‘n’ roll genius he is. Townshend leaned over his guitar and launched into a flurry of intricately familiar solos before lurching into his windmills. Not bad considering I’ll probably be tightening the hand grips on my walker when I am 63.

The barrage continued with Who Are You, Behind Blue Eyes, Sister Disco and Baba O’Reilly. They even snuck a new one in there with their homage to Elvis entitled Real Good Looking Boy. But it was Eminence Front and Getting in Tune that put the biggest smile on my face. The latter song being responsible for a personal musical epiphany twenty five years earlier (almost to the day) at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium.

It’s worth noting this is not the band your mother knew back in the 1970’s. Gone are gonzo drummer Keith Moon and stalwart bass man John Entwistle. And indeed the dynamic is a different one albeit a little more refined. Zak Starkey’s double bass drum kit shook the dust out of the barn, without overpowering the rest of the players. Simon Townshend, (Pete’s brother), John “Rabbit” Bundrick, and Pino Palladino rounded out the sound of a band at the top of its game. With just a couple dates under their belt for this latest tour their playing was a testimony to both great musicianship and the synchronicity of playing experience.

My evening would have been complete at that point but the deal was sealed when the band pulled out the double barreled Quadrophenia highlights, 5:15 and Love Reign O’er Me. My Generation and Won’t Get Fooled Again played like true anthems were the icing on the proverbial musical cake. At that point I remembered exactly why I wore out my cassette copy of Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy.

At evening’s end my kid was certainly alright, he was downright giddy if truth be told. Beaming like he had just witnessed his own personal guitar hero, (in Expert mode at that.) I’m hoping this one stays with him for a while. I know it will certainly be a stand out show for me.

SET LIST:

I Can't Explain
The Seeker
The Kids are Alright
Fragments
Who Are You?
Behind Blue Eyes
Real Good Looking Boy
Baba O'Reilly
Getting in Tune
Sister Disco
Eminence Front
5:15
Love Reign O'er Me
My Generation
Won't Get Fooled Again

ENCORES:

Naked Eye
Pinball Wizard/Tommy Medley
Overture/Amazing Journey/Sparks/Underture/We're Not Going to Take It
Tea and Theatre.