Pete Townshend Says He Felt Nothing Performing At The Super Bowl

By: Howie Edelson

Pete Townshend reflected on last week's Super Bowl halftime show which featured the Who tearing through a medley of five of their classic hits. Townshend told Rolling Stone that he felt the Super Bowl was an important gig for the Who, explaining, "I felt that doing this would be a great thing to do at this particular time because it would let people know that we're alive and kicking and that Roger (Daltrey) and I still do stuff together and intend to do whatever we can in the future together. You feel part of something that's bigger than you and you feel part of a huge team. It's a monster gig."
When asked how he felt performing the middle of such a worldwide spectacle as the Super Bowl, he said, "I suppose it's best if I tell the truth. I felt nothing. It doesn't matter if it's in a great big football stadium or a little club somewhere. As soon as I get close to a stage, I feel very at home and very safe and secure. It feels completely normal. When the NFL started to talk to us about this, one of the things they started to talk about was the numbers. I looked at Roger and looked at them and I said, 'I've done a solo show in front of 80 million people on TV.'The abstract numbers make no difference."

When asked about the most surprising thing about the big game, Townshend said, "Not seeing a single cheerleader. Not anywhere. It was terrible. There are a lot of girls who've said, 'I used to be a cheerleader once.'But as hard as you try to persuade them, they won't do it again."

He went on to say that at first he was content for the band to simply play three separate songs as their halftime show: "Roger felt he needed something that gave him more narrative scope, as he described it. . . I thought it worked really well. Roger and I have a great relationship these days; it's very warm and close. So I trusted him to do that job."

Townshend says that the deaths of Keith Moon and John Entwistle ultimately made his and Daltrey's relationship stronger and more meaningful on both a creative and personal level: "I think being stratified to some extent by losing Keith Moon and losing John Entwistle, relatively recently in John's case -- we have each other. And we're supported by great musicians and we're very, very lucky. We go back to school together. So, it's great to still have that friendship and that relationship. You know, I don't know that I know anybody that well from those days. But when you're 60 and you have friends that go back 45 years, that's very cool."


HIP-HOP R&B POP ROCK TOP MUSIC	Pete Townshend Says He Felt Nothing Performing At The Super Bowl Pete Townshend Says He Felt Nothing Performing At The Super Bowl By: Howie Edelson Pete Townshend reflected on last week's Super Bowl halftime show which featured the Who tearing through a medley of five of their classic hits. Townshend told Rolling Stone that he felt the Super Bowl was an important gig for the Who, explaining, "I felt that doing this would be a great thing to do at this particular time because it would let people know that we're alive and kicking and that Roger (Daltrey) and I still do stuff together and intend to do whatever we can in the future together. You feel part of something that's bigger than you and you feel part of a huge team. It's a monster gig." When asked how he felt performing the middle of such a worldwide spectacle as the Super Bowl, he said, "I suppose it's best if I tell the truth. I felt nothing. It doesn't matter if it's in a great big football stadium or a little club somewhere. As soon as I get close to a stage, I feel very at home and very safe and secure. It feels completely normal. When the NFL started to talk to us about this, one of the things they started to talk about was the numbers. I looked at Roger and looked at them and I said, 'I've done a solo show in front of 80 million people on TV.'The abstract numbers make no difference." When asked about the most surprising thing about the big game, Townshend said, "Not seeing a single cheerleader. Not anywhere. It was terrible. There are a lot of girls who've said, 'I used to be a cheerleader once.'But as hard as you try to persuade them, they won't do it again." He went on to say that at first he was content for the band to simply play three separate songs as their halftime show: "Roger felt he needed something that gave him more narrative scope, as he described it. . . I thought it worked really well. Roger and I have a great relationship these days; it's very warm and close. So I trusted him to do that job." Townshend says that the deaths of Keith Moon and John Entwistle ultimately made his and Daltrey's relationship stronger and more meaningful on both a creative and personal level: "I think being stratified to some extent by losing Keith Moon and losing John Entwistle, relatively recently in John's case -- we have each other. And we're supported by great musicians and we're very, very lucky. We go back to school together. So, it's great to still have that friendship and that relationship. You know, I don't know that I know anybody that well from those days. But when you're 60 and you have friends that go back 45 years, that's very cool."