The Who's Super Bowl Set Revealed

Posted by Chris Lansdell on 01.25.2010

Pete Townshend tells us what they'll be playing.

In an interview with Billboard, The Who's Pete Townshend gave some insight into the band's set for their upcoming Super Bowl halftime show.

"We're kinda doing a mashup of stuff," the guitarist tells Billboard. "A bit of 'Baba O'Riley,' a bit of 'Pinball Wizard,' a bit of the close of 'Tommy,' a bit of 'Who Are You,' and a bit of 'Won't Get Fooled Again.' It works -- it's quite a saga. A lot of the stuff that we do has that kind of celebratory vibe about it -- we've always tried to make music that allows the audience to go a bit wild if they want to. Hopefully it will hit the spot."

The annual halftime concert is one of the highest-profile gigs in music and has featured U2, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Prince and The Rolling Stones in the past. Using a medley is not unusual for artists with a large repertoire, and both Prince and Bruce Springsteen used this approcach.

Speculation about the annual set is always a matter of interest to fans, and last year online gambling site Bodog took bets on the song that would open the set. The Who's performance has been put together by Roger Daltrey along with Pete's brother Simon Townshend, executive producer Ricky Kirschner and new director Hamish Hamilton.

Sales for the bands performing at the Super Bowl have traditionally increased. As an exmaple, Springsteen used last year's appearance to show off his new album Working on a Dream which released the week before the game. It debuted at number 1 on the charts for the week of the Super Bowl and stayed at number 2 the next week.

The Super Bowl takes place on February 7 in Miami.