

"Ours is a group with built-in hate," Townshend announced from the stage when the Who played a Tuesday night residency at London's Marquee club.
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Quickly outgrowing their role as de facto house band for London's mod scene, the Who established themselves as poster boys for intelligent delinquency, their songs declarations of war on the middle-aged and middle class. Their explosive shows were built on the kinetic interplay between Entwistle's growling bass lines and the crashing, trebly violence of Townshend's guitar and Moon's manic amphetamine drumming. It was live performance that set The Who apart from rivals at the dawn of their career as West London mod combo the Detours. Today's Super Bowl set – apparently comprising a "mashup" of 'Pinball Wizard', 'Who Are You', 'Baba O'Reilly', 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and the finale to Tommy – gives the duo an opportunity to remind the world that the Stones' "Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World" crown was merely one Mick Jagger and Keith Richards bestowed on themselves.

When Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey – the other surviving original member of the group after the deaths of drummer Keith Moon and bass guitarist John Entwistle – played the post-9/11 Concert for New York City on 20 October 2001, their passionate performance had thousands of traumatized firemen on their feet with tears of rage in their eyes. Many, though, would argue that they were the greatest live band of all time, ahead not only of the Beatles and the Stones but of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and pretty much anyone else you'd care to mention. The group have long had to settle for third place in the pantheon of '60s rock giants behind the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. It may even remind the world just how great the Who once were. The entertainment spotlight doesn't burn much brighter. Today, at the ripely Beatle-esque age of 64, Townshend will – in his own words – "carry the flag for the boomer generation" during the half-time show at Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. ARGUABLY THE MOST famous line The Who's Pete Townshend ever wrote was "Hope I die before I get old" on 1965's angry young anthem 'My Generation'.
