Stories

The Rock Honors are here.  Lock up your daughters.

VH1 doesn’t need the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to tell them who’s (get it?) important.  They have their own damn honor system.  And the big honoree of ceremony three, is a little band from England called The Who.

The TV event taped last Saturday at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, and rock’s hottest bands took to the rotating stage, showering Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, with an explosive concert of their own material. 

This, in and of itself, should be commended, since playing a Who cover is much like walking naked across the stage to receive a diploma.  You’ll graduate, but you’ll humiliate yourself in the process.  No band can compete with the sonic pounding of The Who. 

Luckily, VH1 got some of the most talented naked people around to give it a try, and "self proclaimed WHO-ligans” like The Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Tenacious D, Pearl Jam and Incubus showed up to play tribute to the raucous rockers who helped shape their early moral judgments.*

Eddie Vedder wailing in front of a 10-piece string section during Love, Reign o'er Me wins best in show, followed by Tenacious D’s boobtastically acoustic rendition of Squeeze Box.  The most surprising moment came when I did not want to kill myself during Incubus’ performance. 

Touched by the opportunity to rock instead of being merely presented with “a shitty little piece of plastic,” Townshend thanked VH1 and all the musicians before taking some stage time to playfully rib Roger Daltrey for not writing more songs. 

Then they reminded us why we were there, by playing a powerful set of career-spanning classics. 

Cue the lasers and hold on to your hearing aids people, The Who sounds better in their 60s than 99% of bands in their 20s.  And while we’re throwing arbitrary percentages around, I’d say Roger Daltrey’s still got 72% of his voice.  Maybe 84%.  He continues to hit it and quit it and scream like a banshee.

But where Daltrey’s got a wee bit of the creaky bones, Pete Townshend still has the poise and posture of a young man.  His shoulders roll slightly forward as he mutilates his guitar.  His motions are limber and fluid.  And I believe he winds time backward, ever so slightly, with each pissed off windmill he executes.

Tune in TONIGHT! - Thursday, July 17 @ 9pm on VH1 for the full set of amazing performances. 

Watch slick testimonials by Slash, Sting, and many other one-named musicians, as they gush like school children over their favorite band.  Keep an eye open for cameos by Sean Penn, Rainn Wilson, David Duchovny, and Supergrass’ Gaz Coombes.  And hold your breath as Adam Sandler pulls off a ballsy parody to introduce the main event. 

TONIGHT! - Thursday, July 17
VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
Featuring The Who, Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Tenacious D, Incubus, Pearl Jam, more
9pm
VH1

Photos by Kevin Winter via Getty Images