Obama at Lolla? We Can Dream, Can't We?

Photo: Vishwanat/Getty

Rumors are swirling about the chance that Barack Obama might take the stage at Lollapalooza on Sunday night to introduce Kanye West. Lolla organizer Perry Farrell says he knows nothing about an Obama cameo, but we're keeping our fingers crossed. After all, it would be a hometown gig for the presidential nominee, and it'd be a helluva way to celebrate his forty-seventh birthday, which comes on August 4th.

In other rappers-love-Barack-as-much-as-we-do news, Pete spoke to Jay-Z backstage at Pemberton about what kind of reaction he's gotten to flashing an image of Obama on the big screen behind him during overseas festival gigs. Here's what Hova had to say: "Everywhere I've played, the response when Obama comes on the screen is enormous. I believe he can change the perception of America in the rest of the world. And for guys like me who grew up in the Marcy Projects and never thought we'd be part of the political process, it means everything. My mother used to tell me that with determination you can be anything in the world you want to be. Now I feel like that's a true statement for the first time." -- JENNY ELISCU

I Ran So Far Away... All The Way To Lollapalooza

Photos: Dyson/Getty (Radiohead), Khuzaie/Getty (Ahmadinejad )

While checking into my hotel in Chicago today, I overheard a lovely couple telling the concierge how excited they were to see Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead at this weekend's Lollapalooza festival at Grant Park. From whence had they traveled to the Windy City? Iran. They literally came all the way from the Middle East just for a rock festival. Now you keep that in mind when you're complaining about not having a good festival close enough to your hometown this summer. -- JENNY ELISCU

Pemberton Post-Mortem: Wayne Coyne On The Traffic

Photograph by Jody Rogac

Remember how we almost missed our flight to Vancouver but made it in the nick of time? Well, we weren't so lucky with our return trip: Pete and I sat in our car for almost four hours yesterday and still weren't even close to making it there. What is with the traffic up here? Seriously.

We're not the only ones complaining. The mainstream news media in Vancouver has been abuzz with reports about how the main logistical problem with Pemberton was the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the one road you can take from Vancouver to the festival site. Even the performers had trouble getting to Pemberton, with the Flaming Lips, N.E.R.D. and My Morning Jacket getting to the site just before they were scheduled to play.

Leave it to the Lips's Wayne Coyne to describe the experience better than anyone: "They're rebuilding the highway for the 2010 Olympics, and they'd better get working, because it's so backed up," he says. "Every two miles, there seemed to be some weekend-only road crew working out there. Like, they're not the first stringers. I honestly think they're people who were put in jail for smoking crystal meth, and they're out on the weekend but they have to be road crew to pay back their debt to society."

Ultimately, though, the Lips found their way to the road crew boss to get help. "They took everybody to task and said, 'Hey, let's help the Flaming Lips get to the festival on time.'" Whoever you are, you awesome Canadian road worker, we thank you. Meanwhile, I'm stranded in Vancouver and heading straight to Chicago tonight for Lollapalooza, which begins on Friday. Stay tuned for a preview of what we'll be seeing there, plus more post-Pemberton low-down. -- JENNY ELISCU

Pemberton Day 3: Vampire Weekend, Death Cab for Cutie Belt Out Literary Rock

Photograph by Jody Rogac

“Despite it being early, and you all being clear-headed and sober, we always ask people to dance to this one,” Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig said to a small but enthusiastic crowd gathered for the first main-stage act on Pemberton’s last day. The song was “A-Punk,” and, partly due to a hosed-down, dust-free dance floor, the crowd happily obliged. A quick glance around even revealed a handmade cardboard sign declaring love for the preppy New Yorkers. Vampire Weekend seem to have adapted to life on the fast track, and their set was similarly assured, fast and fun. Sporting a Marty McFlyish denim jacket, Koenig succumbed to some overly wordy banter (”This is a song about the English language, which is, of course, only one language of many,” he said about “Oxford Comma”). Still, Koenig’s rakish charm inspired the clap-happy crowd, who belted out “Blake’s got a new face!” when asked, despite hangovers and a cold night in the rain.

Photograph by Jody Rogac

If Vampire Weekend’s quick ascent is a sign of the future, then Death Cab for Cutie demonstrated how indie rock used to operate. It’s easy to forget that Death Cab has been around for a while, until you see them unfold onto the stage comfortably, like an old sweatshirt. Gibbard’s long hair and mutton chops made him resemble a youthful Neil Young, and gave his troubadour songs added gravity, especially newcomers like “The Remainder” and “I Will Possess Your Heart.” The latter was served up with an extended, instrumental intro that guitarist Chris Walla and bassist Nick Harmer lobbed back and forth patiently until Gibbard stepped in. Closing on 2003’s “Transatlanticism,” Death Cab folded themselves back up and left the stage, showing the kids how brave it can sometimes be to leave a bit of silence and mystery in your wake. --KAITLIN FONTANA

Pemberton Day 2: Tom Petty Hauls in Crowds, Hits, Adoration

Photograph by Nilina Mason-Campbell

At other festivals, Tom Petty might seem like the wild card. But in a valley full of kids raised by classic rock radio (and even some of their parents) he’s quite the opposite: he’s the draw. Cries of “Give me Petty!” started the second the Flaming Lips exited the stage, but it would be another hour before the man in question would deliver a two-hour, hit-heavy set that would see 40,000 people emerging from campsites and bushes to sing-shout along. Beneath a banner of screens bearing Petty and his band mates, the Heartbreakers catalogue was tested and approved, bookended by “Won’t Back Down” and “American Girl” (with the Traveling Wilbury’s “End of the Line” thrown in for good measure). Throughout, Petty thanked the crowd and his band profusely, sporting a charming gee-whiz grin. The masses, in kind, saluted their bewildered hero the only way they could. “I can smell that marijuana,” Petty said, smiling mid-song. --KAITLIN FONTANA

Pemberton Fest, Day Two: These Lips Are On Fire

Photograph by Jody Rogac

A posse of folks dressed in Teletubby costumes followed the Flaming Lips onto the Pemberton stage to dance behind the band as it played songs including "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots," "Do You Realize?" and "Free Radicals" for a crowd that was still fired up from seeing their homeland heroes, The Tragically Hip.

Photograph by Jody Rogac

As I watched from side-stage -- and later, danced alongside the 'tubbies and an inflatable sun that kept deflating to comical effect -- I couldn't help but think about how apt the children's show's characters were as the latest Lips mascots: If there is any band that elicits the kind of unbridled joy from adults that the Teletubbies elicit from toddlers, it's the Lips. "I've seen them fifteen times, and it's always like this," My Morning Jacket's Jim James said, as we both smiled irrepressibly. "Amazing." -- JENNY ELISCU

Pemberton Fest, Day Two: Black Mountain Woo Hometown Crowd

Photograph by Jody Rogac

It was Black Mountain's singular fate to have the least distance to travel and the most to prove at Pemberton. This may be why the Vancouver indie band waited to start their second-stage set until they were certain their mainstage neighbors, the Tragically Hip, were finished. As proving yourself goes, playing up against Canada's best-loved band is about a tough a test as you'll face. Still, a sizeable crowd of hipsters gathered -- many of whom have probably served frontman Stephen McBean coffee back in the city -- to hear the band's In The Future served up loud and in its near entirety, with "Stormy High" and "Angels" at the front of their speedy set. For all McBean's strategizing, though, he neglected one thing: Starting late means ending late, and the band was forced to thrash its way through the last few songs as the cool kids wandered off to see the Flaming Lips. -- KAITLIN FONTANA

Pemberton Fest, Day Two: Even Brief Is Sweet For My Morning Jacket

Photograph by Jody Rogac

It could be the Kentucky in them, but My Morning Jacket slipped into their Day Two slot on the Pemberton Festival's mainstage like they'd been hanging out among the mountains and trees for days, just waiting to begin. Though they opened with the titled track from their latest album, Evil Urges, their set leaned heavily on tracks from Z -- including "Off The Record," "Gideon" and "Anytime." A few songs in, singer Jim James donned a wool Salvation Army poncho and held a sprig of juniper aloft, like a shaman conjurer, falling to his knees and eliciting grateful cheers from the crowd. "I'd like to dedicate this song to all the bull moose, grizzly bear and black bear that are roaming in this hemisphere," James said, leading into "Golden." Most of all, as a band known for their expansive, rambling live sets, the Jacket's brief forty-five minute Pemberton gig demonstrated that these guys can scorch the stage even when there's little time to jam. Look for them doing their long set on tour this fall. --KAITLIN FONTANA

Pemberton Fest, Day One: NIN Turn On Their Own Bright Lights

As Day One at Pemberton officially became Night One, Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails kicked off their tour to a dusty, burnt-out mass of festival-goers. Leave it to Reznor, however, to reanimate the living dead using good old-fashioned theatrics, including a massive swath of light bulbs and Reznor's innate ability to alternate between simmer and boil. Classics such as "March of the Pigs," "Closer" and "Head Like a Hole" had the desired effect -- i.e., total devotion and fist-pumping singalongs -- especially when paired visually with the band in dramatic backlit silhouette. Reznor was careful, however, to balance the hits with newer and more obscure cuts, including the eerie "God Given" from last year's Year Zero. "What a great way to start a very long tour," he told the audience, and we can't help but agree. -- KAITLIN FONTANA 

Interpol Button Up, Then Button Down At Pemberton Festival

Photograph by Nilina Mason-Campbell

Against the Pemberton Festival's mountain panorama, Interpol emerged, business-like, in black button-up suits (save bassist Carlos D., who contrasted in white). Playing towards the setting sun, the band first resisted and then reveled in the contrast between their slick, cloak-of-night songs and the sunny, hippie-filled crowd. This loosening was most evident in singer Paul Banks, whose typical stone face melted to a near tickled smile as his band backed him on tracks from last year's Our Love To Admire, as well as hits from their previous two full-lengths. He even undid a few buttons on his shirt during "Heinrich Maneuver." For his part, Carlos D stayed buttoned, didn't smile and double-fisted Red Bull and white wine. "There are lots of beautiful people here today," Banks said, eyeing a gaggle of hot girls on shoulders down front, before ending on Turn On The Bright Lights's "Roland." -- KAITLIN FONTANA

Pemberton's Peaceful Easy Feeling

Photograph by Jody Rogac

Maybe it's because we're all drinking delicious glacier water, maybe it's the gorgeous scenery, or maybe it's just that Canadians are thrilled to finally have a suitably massive three-day festival: Either way, the first day of the first annual Pemberton Festival had all the right kind of energy: Attentive crowds, friendly vibes and tight, hits-packed sets. Hellish traffic kept us from seeing Metric, up first on the main stage, but we got on site in time for Wolfmother, who had fans crowd-surfing and pogo-ing almost from the first notes of set-opener "Dimension."

Things were fairly mild backstage, with most of the day's performers -- including Interpol, Serj Tankian and Nine Inch Nails -- sticking close to their own trailers. I ran into Interpol shortly before they took the stage and had a hilarious chat -- inspired by the showing of Fool's Gold on our flight the night before -- about how we're mystified by Matthew McConaughey's continued success on the big screen. (Like, yeah, we get it: You look great with your shirt off. What else you got?) By the end of the evening, we found ourselves sharing caramel eclairs with Metric singer Emily Haines while the Wolfmother dudes grabbed all the free wine they could before the open bar shut down. Check back here throughout the weekend and again on Monday for more dispatches from the Pemberton Festival, eh? -- JENNY ELISCU

All Roads Lead to Pemberton

Photograph by Jody Rogac

After almost missing my flight to Vancouver (blasted Lincoln Tunnel!), I arrived at the airport just in time to bump into Paul Banks and Daniel Kessler from Interpol, who'll perform Friday night at the Pemberton Festival, just before Nine Inch Nails. Kessler says it's the band's last scheduled show for the year, and both he and Banks seemed relieved to have a rest ahead. Meanwhile, major respect to those boys for putting on their finest duds -- Banks had on all his shiny gold jewelry and Kessler wore a suit snazzier than what most dudes wear to weddings. Made me kind of wish I'd, like, put on some lip gloss or something. -- JENNY ELISCU

Why Pete Townshend Wants To Smash Half A Million Plastic Guitars

"Despite my smiley face, I was on guard on the red carpet and didn't say much," begins an e-mail Pete Townshend sent me last week, giving his post-mortem of VH1's Rock Honors tribute to the Who. In his hilarious missive, he muses about smashing plastic Rock Band guitars, his friend Eddie Vedder and more. "It always takes me 20 minutes or so to loosen up," he notes, describing how he felt about the VH1 event, which filmed in Los Angeles on July 12th. "This was our first show for a year or so, so I was rusty on guitar. I felt like I was holding a spade (shovel). I dreamed last night of trying to play the show with a guitar actually covered in soil. I have been playing piano since last July, and only acoustic guitar (on the sofa while watching episodes of Medium or Boston Legal as my way of remembering America). Electric guitar and arm-swinging is not what I do between dog-walks and arthritis." For the full text of Townshend's e-mail, check Rolling Stone's Rock & Roll Daily blog. -- JENNY ELISCU

Jarvis Cocker Melts Brooklyn With His Black Magic

For no good reason, really, I hadn't spent much time with Jarvis Cocker's debut solo album, Jarvis, in the year and a half since it came out. But, even just as a casual fan of his old band, Pulp, I knew I couldn't miss the chance to see Cocker strut his stuff last night at the nearby Williamsburg Music Hall. The place was packed with the most ardent of his fans -- the kind who shrieked with delight when the impossibly lanky singer removed his blazer a few songs in and hollered praise when a familiar lyric was uttered. By the end of his brilliant 100-minute set, those who didn't already worship at the altar of Jarvis were quick converts. From his balladeer's voice to his spastic-yet-sexy dance moves to his wickedly candid banter, to those goddamn oversized eyeglasses, he is a study in effortless cool, like a modern cross between Buddy Holly and James Brown. He played only his solo material -- no "Common People," no "Do You Remember The First Time" -- but it wasn't that kind of show, after all. This was Cocker demonstrating why he's actually much better suited to an intimate room, singing his literate, witty tunes for a crowd that's actually listening. "When did blues music become so lame?," he asked, during his intro to "Caucasian Blues." "I blame Eric Clapton, in a way. It's music for middle-aged people, because you always know what's going to happen next." If you're looking to break into Jarvis, "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time," "Black Magic" (which mercilessly borrows from "Crimson & Clover" to great effect) and the gorgeous torch song "Big Julie" are fine starting points. Look for a second Cocker solo album later this year and get thee to a gig, tout de suite. -- JENNY ELISCU

Liars, Ra Ra Riot Turn Up The Heat In New York

Photo: Guy Eppel

Next weekend, Pete and I head to British Columbia, for the first annual Pemberton Festival. Ah, sweet, lovely Canada, where even a band as tenaciously mid-level as Tragically Hip get to share the main stage with Tom Petty and My Morning Jacket. We're saving room on our dance-card, however, for Death Cab for Cutie and Vampire Weekend and Nine Inch Nails and Secret Machines and Coldplay. Yeah, you heard me: Coldplay.

But, given the fact that we'll be traveling more than 20,000 miles this summer in the name of rock, this weekend, I thought, 'Let's not even leave Brooklyn.' And, lucky for me, I didn't have more than a forty minute drive along the scenic Belt Parkway -- Hello, Staten Island!-- before being in the thick of the action at the Village Voice's annual Siren Festival, where I popped by to see Ra Ra Riot and Beach House before the 96-and-humid New York heat drove me out.

Photo: Guy Eppel

Same deal on Sunday, heat-wise, but my roommate and I dragged ourselves away from air-conditioning and a Peep Show marathon to walk over to the free JellyNYC Pool Party at Greenpoint's McCarren Pool. The woefully underrated Liars were headlining, and I hadn't seen them live since way back when the singer, Angus Andrew, was dating Karen O. Andrew's still got amazing presence onstage, like some seven-foot Australian version of Iggy Pop. "This one goes out to the wacky inflatable tube guys," he said between songs, addressing the blue wind socks fashioned to look like they're dancing atop the crowd. "I wish I was a wacky inflatable tube guy." You are, Angus. You really are. -- JENNY ELISCU

Slash Lives Here...Now and Again

When I walked into the lobby of the Sunset Marquis in L.A., the first thing that caught my eye was a giant photo of Slash's face; a beautiful, over-exposed image of the guitar hero. Even his facial hair looked hardcore. Under the photo, a quote from Slash reads, “Someone once asked me if I actually lived here, I do… now and again.”

After getting my room key, I walked out of the lobby saw the man himself, Velvet Revolver's axeman, sitting at a table under a yellow umbrella by the pool. The next day I chatted with a five-year-old kid in the elevator who said Slash had signed his new guitar. Rock star in the making, for sure.

I had never stayed at the Sunset Marquis before, but heard rumors that it was notorious for late night parties involving rock stars from all generations. The weekend of VH1's Rock Honors featuring The Who, all expectations were confirmed when lots of the bands performing rolled through. I saw Nate Mendel from the Foo Fighters, Gaz Coombes from Supergrass and Pino Palladino from The Who. One night at the poolside restaurant, I spotted Lewis Black smashing back glasses of white wine. So what's been pissing him off lately? “Everything!” he yelled.
PETE MAIDEN

Adam Sandler's Dreams Really Aren't As Empty As His Conscience Seems To Be

PHOTO: WINTER/GETTY

Pete Townshend says he felt a little "rusty" during The Who's ten-song set at VH1's Rock Honors tribute, but we must beg to differ. And by "we," I mean not only Pete Maiden and myself, but the 6,000 Who fans who packed UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, the musicians who performed in the band's honor and the actors who introduced them. But perhaps no one among us was as pumped as Adam Sandler, a longtime fan of The Who and the man responsible for getting Pearl Jam to record their version of "Love, Reign O'er Me" for his 2007 dark comedy Rain Over Me. Imagine how stoked he must have been to be asked to actually introduce The frickin' WHO! Not only that, Sandler -- classic case of a comedian who wanted to be a rock star -- got to play guitar onstage. So, like, he basically opened for his favorite band. Major. For his intro, Sandler strummed out "Magic Bus," with lyrics he changed to pay homage to Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. The Townshend lyric? "Behind your blue eyes is a big ass brain." Later, as The Who made mincemeat of "Behind Blue Eyes" onstage, Sandler walked by me in the crowd, singing along: "But my dreeee-ee-eams, they aren't as empty..." His reverence for the band may have hampered his ability to thoroughly lampoon them, but I was just glad to see him being an unapologetic fan. --JENNY ELISCU

Pete Townshend Drops Us A Line

Photo: Harrison/Getty

I only got a few moments to chat with Pete Townshend on the Rock Honors red carpet, but he was kind enough to email me a couple days later with a complete post-mortem of the tribute concert. "I find it hard to mix work and pleasure, and so much of [that night] was about mixing with people and accepting their good wishes," noted the guitarist, whom I first interviewed in advance of The Who's 2000 reunion tour. "I tend to shut myself away before and after shows. It's about making the best of the very little I have left to give the audience. Trying to increase the force of the water by closing down the valve on the hose, so to speak." For the full text of Townshend's brilliant and hilarious missive, check RollingStone.com's Rock & Roll Daily blog next week. -- JENNY ELISCU

Next Week: The Other Two Strokes!

Photo: Miller/Getty

On Monday, I went back toward Silverlake to meet up with Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, whom I'd bumped into at the Albert Hammond, Jr. gig a couple nights earlier. Last fall, Moretti told me he was working on a side project with his girlfriend, Binki Shapiro, and their singer-guitarist pal Rodrigo Amarante, who used to play in Brazilian indie-rock group Los Hermanos. They're still settling on a name for the band, but they've nearly finished with their debut album, slated for release on Rough Trade this fall. Fab drove me around the neighborhood while we listened to an unmixed advance that I immediately adored. Though it has a few songs that echo elements of The Strokes, the album mostly reminded me of various parts Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vince Guaraldi and Sixties wall-of-sound girl groups and cocktail music for lonely-hearts. They're thinking of calling the band Little Joy, and I really hope they do. --JENNY ELISCU

Dave Grohl's Sore Throat Blues

Photo: Winter/Getty

At Spaceland, I ran into the Foo Fighters' publicist, who told me that Dave Grohl had blown out his voice during Rock Honors rehearsals and might not be able to perform the following night. By the afternoon of the show, Grohl had called in a pinch-hitter to sing for him: Gaz Coombes of Supergrass, who are currently on tour opening for the Foos.

But you have to give it up to Grohl for pulling through in a pinch: He mustered enough voice for a killer performance of "Young Man Blues" -- a song that could shred even the healthiest of throats -- from The Who's legendary 1973 album Live At Leeds He let Coombes take over vocals on "Bargain," which went pretty well considering the Supergrass singer had barely any time to practice the tune.

Coombes zipped off immediately after the song finished, hurrying to make it to Supergrass's headlining gig across town at The Avalon. "He had to have a police escort to get there in time," Foos guitarist Chris Shifflet told us backstage. Grohl, meanwhile, hung around until well after the show had ended, chilling backstage with Tenacious D's Kyle Gass and his former Nirvana band mate, Krist Novoselic. -- JENNY ELISCU

The Cho Must Go On

Photo: Harrison/Getty

I had intended to use this space to issue a monumental "WTF?" on Margaret Cho, who seems to be actively pursuing space on the Fashion Police pages of the tabs. She even accessorized with a midget in an evening gown whom I'm told plays her assistant on the upcoming reality series The Cho Show. Can't wait! Ahem. Instead, can we talk about Flaming Lips singer Wayne Coyne for a minute? Could he possibly be more awesome? Stick a microphone in that guys face and he never fails to spin pure gold. Check out the VIDEOS, section to watch my backstage chat with the man himself. -- JENNY ELISCU

Albert Hammond Jr. Loses His Sh*t. Literally.

Photo: Kisby/Getty

After Grace Slick's art opening, I headed east to Silverlake to see Albert Hammond, Jr.'s gig at Spaceland. His Strokes bandmates Fabrizio Moretti and Nick Valensi cheered from the crowd, as did Hammond's new lady friend, British supermodel Agyness Deyne. "Yesterday our flight was cancelled, and then today they lost our luggage and all the guys' equipment," said Deyne, who dashed to a West Hollywood thrift store for an outfit before the gig. Even though they were playing on rented equipment, Hammond and his band got it all just right, from the moment they opened their set with the ode to LA, "101," from his 2006 disc Yours To Keep. His latest one, Como Te Llama? is out now, and it's a damn fine album. Look into it. -- JENNY ELISCU

Rock Honors Day One: Grace Slick's Art Opening

Photo: Bucci/Getty

The festivities for VH1's Rock Honors tribute to The Who weren't limited to Saturday night's main event at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. The previous evening, the Intermix store in Beverly Hills hosted a party attended by Kim Kardashian, Jamie Lynn Sigler, and The Hills' Lauren Conrad and Audrina Partridge. Attendees even nabbed a limited edition Rock Honors t-shirt from Torn that was designed by my all-time biggest girl-crush, Scarlett Johannson.

Pete and I, however, had more substantive (i.e., less sexy) business to take care of, and headed to Santa Monica's Gallery 319 to look at paintings by former Jefferson Airplane/Starship singer Grace Slick. Her works focus on fellow Sixties rockers from Garcia to Hendrix to Janis, as well as Alice In Wonderland-inspired pieces, but I was especially intrigued by a pair of paintings of the crowd at the original Woodstock festival, and another of the artists backstage at Monterey Pop.

"I actually prefer the event of Monterey Pop," Slick said. "It was a much better festival, but everyone in this country likes things that are big, and Woodstock was big. I didn't see anybody, because they'd keep us musicians in the hotel and then bring you over just before you were going on. That's not my idea of a good time. Monterey Pop, we'd heard each other's records, but I'd never seen Jimi Hendrix live, I'd never seen the Who, I'd never seen Ravi Shankar. It was a good production, and we were all happy campers." But was it a bummer to be one of the only lady performers surrounded by a bunch of dudes? "Are you kidding?," Slick asks, with a chuckle. "I looove dudes! It's great being surrounded by dudes. They had a band in San Francisco called The Ace of Cups that was all women, and that's my idea of a terrible band. Why would I want to hang around with a bunch of women?" Clearly, Ms. Slick, you haven't met Scar-Jo. -- JENNY ELISCU

The Who Deliver Big at Rock Honors Tribute Featuring Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters

Photo: Harrison/Getty

Everything about the Who has always been extra-large: sounds, ideas, personality, explosions. Paying tribute to all that isn’t easy, but the VH1 Rock Honors: The Who concert on Saturday in Los Angeles captured a bit of that legacy in a night of stirring Who songs performed by Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Incubus, Tenacious D and the veteran band itself, delivering songs with all the power and intelligence fans have come to know.

On a stage painted the Union Jack colors of red, white and blue in UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, the two-hour concert was split between a rousing show-closing performance by the Who and some painfully brief sets by the night’s younger generation of rockers. The concert (to be broadcast Thursday on VH1) began with a series of taped testimonials from rockers young and old, from Slash, Sting and the Clash’s Mick Jones to Coldplay and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, but then it was quickly on to the live music.

The Foo Fighters stirred up bluesy thrash on “Young Man Blues,” as a bearded Dave Grohl slashed at a blue electric guitar, and guitarist Chris Shiflet was dressed in a Mod suit and tie. The Foos were joined by singer Gaz Coombes of Supergrass, grinning in his mustache and safari hat, for an explosive “Bargain,” while stumbling over a verse or two. Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins stepped in on vocals for a few lyrics, blond hair covering his face, singing the fragile, emotional lines: “In life one and one don’t make two, one and one make one …”

The spotlight turned to comic-actor Rainn Wilson (from The Office), leaning against a pinball machine and dressed in the big boots and glitter of Elton John from the 1975 film version of Tommy. He introduced the Flaming Lips and their Tommy medley, as leader Wayne Coyne stood in his giant Space Bubble, rolling and tumbling over the front rows, and the band ignited a rocking, shimmering “Sparks.” Coyne stepped out of the bubble to sing “See Me, Feel Me” and a section of “Pinball Wizard” while swinging his mallet at a gong in crazed windmill strokes. As the medley crashed to a finish with “I’m Free,” drummer Kliph Scurlock kicked over his orange kit, Keith Moon-style.

Incubus rocked up a psychedelic “I Can See For Miles” and a sluggish “I Can’t Explain.” Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D delivered an appropriately bawdy and joyous “Squeeze Box,” accompanied by a suggestive black-and-white cartoon. Gass looked like he was fresh off the couch in his baggy shorts and T-shirt, as Black announced, “It’s an honor to honor what I consider to be the greatest rock & roll band.” Black seemed about ready to smash his beloved acoustic guitar in the Who tradition, but instead kissed it tenderly as he left the stage.
Actor Sean Penn introduced Pearl Jam, a band with years of experience and devotion playing Who songs on the road. This time, the band brought a string section for a soaring “Love, Reign O’er Me,” an epic moment on a memorable night. They were followed by Adam Sandler, who performed joke lyrics set to the music of “Magic Bus,” his words a mixture of the playful and profane with the devotion of a true fan, singing of the missing drummer Moon: “You know he would have blown the roof off this show — 30 years later we still miss him so.”

Whatever frustration fans might have felt with the brief tribute sets probably evaporated from the Who’s first moments onstage, firing up the green lasers and “Baba O’Riley,” Roger Daltrey blowing harmonica as Pete Townshend slashed at his guitar with muscular windmill strokes. Other songs included “The Seeker” and an extra-heavy “Who Are You?” Midway through “You Better You Bet,” the Who suddenly stopped playing, and Daltrey announced, “Something is up with the sound up here. Shit happens.” Then, “We’ll start again,” followed by cheers and a stuttering “My Generation” and the classic rock anthem “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

“Us old farts have to have a breath now and again — just in case we keel over,” Daltrey joked at one point. But the Who rarely slowed down at all, until late in the set, when they stepped beyond their classic catalog to perform the closing ballad, “Tea and Theatre,” performed with Townshend and Daltrey alone onstage with acoustic guitars. When it was over, and Townshend walked over to put an arm around the singer, they took in the cheers and looked something like musical partners still, suggesting that after 44 years together, the Who’s story isn’t yet finished.

-- Steve Appleford

Eddie Vedder on The Who: “These Guys Changed My Whole World”

Photo: Winter/GettyEddie

Vedder can still recall the exact date of his first Who concert: June 18, 1980, at the San Diego Sports Arena. By then, Kenney Jones was drumming in the band, and he “was on fire,” Vedder remembers. “These guys changed my whole world. It’s a big part of why I get to do what I do.”
Vedder and Pearl Jam got a chance to repay that favor on Saturday at the VH1 Honors tribute concert to the Who at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, reaching across the generations to perform two songs from the Who’s 1973 concept album Quadrophenia. Following sets by the Foo Fighters (who covered “Young Man Blues” and “Bargain”), Flaming Lips (who performed a Tommy medley that included “Pinball Wizard” and “Sparks” and Wayne Coyne’s signature bubble) as well as from Incubus (”I Can See for Miles” and “I Can’t Explain”) and Tenacious D (”Squeeze Box”), Sean Penn introduced Pearl Jam, who erupted with “The Real Me” and a soaring, emotional reading of “Love, Reign O’er Me,” as a string section swelled with Vedder’s Daltrey-like wail.

Pearl Jam has frequently included Who songs (including “Baba O’Riley”) in their live shows. “I came out all the better for it,” says Vedder, standing outside the venue after a dress rehearsal, several Who buttons pinned to his olive-green army shirt. “That time was almost like a peak for rock & roll bands. The arrangements and the musical structures and the maturity really reached a high level. That’s why this is good — there is a potential for reinvigorating people’s interest in the Who, because we’re getting to the point now where [younger listeners] might have missed them. I don’t hear that use of instrumentation and even the natural approach to musicianship in some of the newer bands.”

For those performing at the tribute, it has been a chance to closely dissect “songs that you’ve heard literally 2-or-3,000 times,” says Vedder. “That’s been a cool part of the exercise, to get in there. You wouldn’t normally have the excuse to do that.”
-- Steve Appleford

Wayne Coyne: “The Who’s Music Is Really Optimistic”

PHOTO: WINTER/GETTY

Wayne Coyne’s life was changed back in Oklahoma City in the 1970s, when he attended his first Who concert as a teenager. The Flaming Lips leader can still talk excitedly about that night with his brothers, hearing the music erupt onstage, watching the band explode, worrying if the green lasers just might cut off his fingers.

By 1986, Coyne and the Flaming Lips were performing a raw medley of songs from Tommy. And as part of Saturday’s VH1 Honors tribute concert to the Who at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, the Lips will perform a typically mind-altering take on songs from the Who’s most famous rock opera. Coyne plans to emerge in his epic “space bubble” and begin the Lips’ set with the immortal words: “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me…”

The show, to be broadcast on VH1 on Thursday, July 17, will also include performances by the Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Incubus and Tenacious D (who will play “Squeeze Box”). But this won’t be the first encounter between the Who and the Flaming Lips. In recent years, Coyne and the Lips have occasionally stepped onstage with Pete Townshend at his series of intimate “In the Attic” club shows, performing Who songs and originals with the classic rock icon.

“Their music is really optimistic,” says Coyne. “There is a sense that they believe what they’re saying. When the music is going with it, we all believe it together. And that’s a cool thing.”

Did you get to choose what Who songs you would be doing?
Luckily, they wanted us to do a Tommy medley. We’re like, “Fuck, yeah!” We had done this Tommy medley in 1986. When we think of the Who doing those songs in the Live At Leeds era — doing the most intense freak-out shit — that was the period we like the most. We probably would have done anything they asked us, just because it’s cool to do and to meet Pete Townshend is great.

You did this same medley in 1986?
We were such bad musicians back then. But definitely “Sparks,” “Pinball Wizard,” “See Me, Feel Me” and especially “I’m Free” — that has just got a fucking riff that the Damned could have played. I think we played it like one of these hardcore American bands like Husker Du or the Replacements back then. Of course, this rocks!

Once you guys mastered Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” you could probably do anything.
I agree! That’s a fucking behemoth. Really, playing this stuff in the way that the Who with Keith Moon and John Entwistle did — it’s really energizes you. The Who in that period, the energy would feed the song and make it almost better. They would find whatever groove was in a song and just exaggerate it. It’s hard to remember that it’s just three guys playing — just a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer. But it’s this monstrous build-and-release of stuff. It’s awesome.

Were the Who an especially important band for you?
When I first saw the Who, I wasn’t ready for them. I was only like 14. It was a spectacular night in Oklahoma City and it was just fucking insane. We were sitting up at the very top of the arena, and they were playing the “Listening to you, I get the music …” thing, and the green lasers were literally hitting the wall above my head. Fuck! I was thinking I could reach my hand up and they would cut my fucking fingers off or something. And the bleachers made of concrete were literally rocking. I remember my brother said, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if the whole place just crumbled?”

The Who and the Flaming Lips share a certain theatricality.
Certainly it’s a show. I talk to people all the time who tell me that with Led Zeppelin or whatever that it was all about the music. And I’m like, “Are you fucking crazy?” When I saw the Who, they had giant laser beams! And they jumped around, they wore freaky clothes, and Keith Moon was saying “I’m about to fucking explode!” I was always drawn to the idea that it was a show as well. We were really seeing something cathartic. The way they performed it made them different, and that’s cool. That’s what art really does.

--Steve Appleford