Rock legends The Who last night lent their services to the famous halftime show at America’s premier sports event, the Super Bowl. The game, which was this year was held in Miami and saw the Indianapolis Colts lose to New Orleans Saints, frequently shatters TV ratings records year after year, and as such, the 12-15 minute halftime slot has come to be recognized as a highly sought after performance opportunity attracting some of the biggest names in the business.

In 2004 the event saw Janet Jackson suffer her infamous “wardrobe malfunction” while appearing with Justin Timberlake. In recent years the game has also featured the likes of U2, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney who have all overcome the huge technical limitations involved in assembling and dismantling a stage and then squeezing out the hits, all within the game’s short interval. Last year saw Bruce Springsteen perform in front of an estimated TV audience of a staggering 98.7 million viewers, making it the second most watched programme in US television history, behind the series finale of Mash in 1983 (106 million).

“It’s a strange one,” said The Who’s lead singer Roger Daltrey in advance of the big gig in Miami. “It’s an honor to do it, but it’s only 12 minutes. It’s kind of weird! I suppose it gives people time to take a slash and that’s about it. That’s what you do at half-time isn’t it?! You plan your toilet break!”It’ll be an experience, and it is an amazing game. You know, I’m a soccer fan, and we have rugby of course, but American football is an incredibly skilled game too. It’s going to be an experience.”
The band kicked off with a snatch of Pinball Wizard before segueing into snippets of Baba O’Reily, Who Are You, See Me Feel Me before closing with the rocking Won’t Get Fooled Again.
The Who’s popularity has returned to new heights in the US of late following the use of their songs in hit TV series CSI. Who Are You is currently the theme tune to CSI, while spin off shows CSI: Miami and CSI: NY use Won’t Get Fooled Again and Baba O’Reily respectively. Daltrey also made a cameo in the show in 2006.