THE WHO CROSSES A GENERATION
This past Saturday, July 12, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, Tenacious D, Incubus, and various LA glitterati came together to honor The Who at VH1’s third annual Rock Honors. The two-hour show was taped at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion and will air next Thursday on VH1.
The concert began with taped testimonials from Sting, Mick Jones (from the Clash), Slash, and Coldplay. The younger generation of rock joined forces, performing brief sets of The Who covers. Reviving The Who tradition of smashing instruments, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready threw a mic into the audience and a guitar in the air, respectively.
Roger Daltrey (64 years old) took the stage with former bandmate Pete Townshend (63 years old) for the closing performance. The 40-minute stirring set included “The Seeker,” “Who Are You?” “My Generation,” and “Teenage Wasteland.” Forty-four years and a whole lot of sex, drugs, and rock and roll later, Daltrey and Townshend, glowing in their old age, become poetically emblematic of rock’s golden era shepherding a new sonic generation.
The band’s influences proved to be longer living than some band members. The original guitarist John Entwistle died of a drug-induced heart attack in 2002, while drummer god Keith Moon died in drug overdose in 1978. Moon was notorious for his self-destructive lifestyle, and was notably the first to play drums as the lead instrument. Last Saturday, The Beatles gem Ringo Starr stood in for Moon.
“I miss old friends, but they are with me,” Daltry told AP Television News. “When we start playing our music, John (Entwistle) and Keith (Moon) echo with us all the time, so it’s kind of like they never left.”
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