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`Amongst glowing green laser lights, The Who rocked the Sun Life Stadium in Miami this Super Bowl weekend.
Playing a medley of their most famous songs, including “Pinball Wizard” and “Teenage Wasteland,” the aging talent of both Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey showed their age on stage as their breathless singing and forced stage performances fell short.
However, the guitar playing, drums, and keyboards were incredible. The stage was beautifully lit to give the crowd a spectacular display, along with fog machines, laser lights, and fireworks. During the performance of “Who Are You,” the crowd sang along and brought out their lighters to add to the ambiance.
Their voices had a shaky start, both from Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend, but as the performance went on, they improved. Their age showed through, that is for certain, but they had no shortage of enthusiasm and plenty of crowd support that sang along to the good old fashioned rock and roll.
After the “wardrobe malfunction” of 2004, Super Bowl halftime shows have been handed over to the classic rock kings of the past. Paul McCartney rocked in 2005, The Rolling Stones dominated in 2006, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers held the stage in 2008, and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played for the 2009 Super Bowl. With Michael Jackson, originally considered to play during the 2011 halftime show, it is up in the air as to who will perform next year.
Rock and roll, it seems, has transformed from rebellious and crazy, to the safe genre of music that advertisers can rely on. And not just any rock and roll, but classic rock and roll, where the performers are over 60-years-old.
Despite being past their peak, The Who proved they were still able to rock out to large crowds and put on a great show.