If you told a wide-eyed mod from 1965 that not only would the Who still be together 50 years later, they’d be headlining something called a festival (for the second time, no less), you would get quite the wide-eyed snort in response. That’s because bands like The Who weren’t built with longevity in mind: too snotty, too loud, too violent, too full of explosive ideas.
Their early run of singles - including rock anthems My Generation, Substitute and I Can See For Miles - were experimental blasts of youthful spite, their latter concept albums - such as Tommy and Quadrophenia - stretched the format of rock music and demanded that it be treated as serious art. And despite the body blows of losing key members John Entwistle and Keith Moon, the band, now resting on the relationship between Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, remains a creative concern. And they’re still snotty, loud and violent too.
If you told a wide-eyed mod from 1965 that not only would the Who still be together 50 years later, they’d be headlining something called a festival (for the second time, no less), you would get quite the wide-eyed snort in response. That’s because bands like The Who weren’t built with longevity in mind: too snotty, too loud, too violent, too full of explosive ideas.
Their early run of singles - including rock anthems My Generation, Substitute and I Can See For Miles - were experimental blasts of youthful spite, their latter concept albums - such as Tommy and Quadrophenia - stretched the format of rock music and demanded that it be treated as serious art. And despite the body blows of losing key members John Entwistle and Keith Moon, the band, now resting on the relationship between Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, remains a creative concern. And they’re still snotty, loud and violent too.
