Who are you?

In all the hoopla surrounding the upset come from behind win for the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl there is something that seems to have been over looked. The glaring omission? The horrible tragedy that occurred at half-time. All I can think is that it was SO upsetting that people are just ignoring it, pretending it never happened. Maybe it will just go away. Well I have news for you. It really happened, I saw it with my own eyes and it made me sick. In fact I went to bed with an upset stomach and didn’t even get to see the rest of the game. I refer of course to the alleged performance by 50 percent of what used to be “The Who.”

It wasn’t Who are you? But what are you that was the question as Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry murdered half a dozen of the band’s classics. Out of key, out of time and looking every moment like they were wishing they were elsewhere counting the paycheck - it was embarrassing. I felt like shouting out from my generation to the younger generation, ”Don’t listen. Run. Cover your ears. They were better than this. Loads better.”

Frankly I always thought that “The Who” should have had the same dignity that Led Zeppelin showed when they threw in the towel after John “Bonzo” Bonham passed away. Drummer Keith Moon was such a big part of the sound of the group. But they soldiered on. But to continue after John “The Ox” Entwistle died was just in poor taste. And yet there they were.

Without dissecting everything that went wrong last night two things stood out like Janet Jackson’s mammary glands. Roger Daltry looked like he was being moved by a puppeteer. For a look at what Roger really looks like reference the Woodstock performance of the finale ofTommy. Sunday he looked like he was heavily medicated or had recently undergone shock therapy. Now I know he is 66 but Mick Jagger is 67 and he moves around like a chicken on methamphetamine.

And speaking about Janet Jackson and her famous wardrobe malfunction, what was up with Pete’s shirt? Do we really want to see his lily white belly hanging over his guitar while he tried to do his trademark windmills?

45 years ago (hardly seems possible but it’s true) Roger belted out the lyrics to what would become if not one of The Who’s biggest certainly it’s most recognizable hits. I am glad they did NOT attempt to do a version of “My Generation.” Seeing the feeble Daltry rasp out “I hope I die before I get old” would have been too much to bear.