“Meet the new boss. ... “ Daltrey sang, ending the final song by purposely leaving off the final line, “same as the old boss."
Rock music at halftime is a Super Bowl ritual, and it sometimes features founding fathers from the 1960s British Invasion. Daltrey, who at age 65 is old enough to be Brett Favre's father, smiled when someone reminded him that the Rolling Stones played this gig four years ago.
“I'm glad," he said. “I just wish they were still out on the road like us."
The Who will play for 12 minutes. Townshend observed that they will provide more sustained action than the football players.
Daltrey, in an interview with the NFL Network, marveled at how workers will put up and take down a full stage during a 20-minute halftime. “You should have sent your roadies to war," he said. “The whole mess would be cleared up by now."
It is curious that the Who would perform for a controlled entity like the N.F.L., which stresses a tightly scripted environment. If rock music had penalty flags, the Who in its earlier years often would have been charged with excessive celebration and dangerous play.
One famous episode came in 1967 (also on CBS in prime time on a Sunday) when a planned explosion on stage was more powerful than expected. A video clip of their appearance on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" is an artifact of an era often remembered for risk and experimentation.
It occurred the same year as the first Super Bowl. The YouTube clip first shows a stilted Tom Smothers awkwardly introducing the members of the band. Before a performance of “My Generation," Smothers tells viewers “you're going to be surprised what happens."
That proved to be an understatement.
