I love the British invasion as much as anyone -- maybe more -- even though I'm not such a big Who fan, but it still kinda hurts to see them at the SuperBowl. Reduced to doing a greatest hits medley, no less. It's almost like seeing tribute band. I think it's rather cruel to stick major act -- Who, McCartney, Springsteen, anyone -- into a 20-minute time slot and hope for magic. I'd much rather see a high school band doing pinwheels & diamonds. Get on with the game.

Acts like that were always a sigh of relief from all the hubbub about the football game for me at parties. It was really the only reason I went to superbowl parties other than the friends with whom I could escape to another TV and play Tekken on the Playstation, or Gran Turismo, or something of the sort. I rarely ever watch a full game of football. Just never had any interest in it.

I am a fan of nachos, and wings, and chips, and dip, and beer, and tailgating, and all the other things that come with it, however.

I wonder if The Who has the energy to pull off a full show (let alone a tour) anymore. Maybe they're just too old to do it at this point. Maybe not. Either way, it's definitely a sign of the production/advertisement team in the mix. I can't fault The Who for that, and in some ways it was just nice to see the boys (well, the ones left) playing together again.

And seeing Pino Palladino on the stage with them made me happy for The Who's future. He's a fantastic person and an amazing musician. I doubt Entwistle himself would have picked a better successor. I feel like someone like Lee Sklar or Oteil Burbridge would have done just as well.

Seeing Slash walk on to the stage with them, on the other hand...

And Starkey (the first time I heard him was tonight) was surprisingly good for being the relative of another famous drummer (named Ringo). All too often I feel like sons and brothers of famous musicians get trapped into that field only so we can compare them with their (usually) better halves or feel like the music is continuing so we can have entertainment. Like when people talk about the differences between Ravi Coltrane's sax playing and John Coltrane's sax playing and say how "disappointed" they are in him.

Of course he isn't John Coltrane! He's his own person, and he never tried to play like his father. But he's still a darn good musician in his own right. And for that I respect him fully.

Zak plays well and keeps a low profile. He has played with Oasis, welton John & The Who and others. Saw him with The Who maybe 15 years ago when Pete skipped the tour -- it was Daltrey, Entwistle, Simon Townsend, Rabbit Bundrick on keyboards & Zak. OK show. Pino is always good. Buzz on all the bass boards about what bass he was playing -- looked like a modded Fender P with T-bird pickups.

In this case Richard AKA Ringo is not the better half