The band Jack Black called the coolest live band ever: “Total abandon”
Studio recordings are all well and good, but the only medium that can truly capture the energy and spirit of rock and roll rebellion is live performance, and Jack Black would be among the first to tell you that fact.
Whether through his all-encompassing obsession with rock history or through his own live performances with Tenacious D, the actor-come-musician has always known the value of putting on a spectacular show. Even he must admit, though, that no amount of pyrotechnics, stage dressing, or light shows can come close to rivalling the exuberant raw power of a true rock and roll hero, like Pete Townshend.
It should come as no surprise that Black is a longtime admirer of The Who and their windmilling guitarist. After all, Black’s work with Tenacious D – as well as a not insignificant amount of his acting roles – have been endlessly indebted to the sights and sounds of classic rock, which doesn’t come much more infectious or spectacular than The Who.
Whether it was the youthful rebellion of their early days, destroying their instruments with an endearing sense of anarchy, or their later flurries into proto-metal distortion during the Live at Leeds era, live performance has always been a core principle of The Who’s output.
Even in the modern age, as they announce yet another farewell tour over four decades on from their first, their knack for live performance has rarely waned. While many of their early contemporaries have thrown in the towel or imploded in spectacular fashion, The Who have managed to remain on the upper echelon of rock for over half a century, and their live shows play no small role in that.
Back in 2008, when Pete Townshend was included on the year’s Kennedy Centre Honours list, Jack Black took the opportunity to demonstrate his utter adoration of the band and their history of incredible live shows, sharing, “The band rode their anthems to America, to the Monterey Pop Festival,” namedropping one of their most iconic shows. “Their total abandon made them the coolest live act in rock,” he continued.
Coolness is a rather abstract concept, in fairness, but it is difficult to think of many other ways to describe The Who when you see Townshend driving the head of his guitar into an amplifier, Keith Moon going hell-for-leather behind a drum kit, or Roger Daltrey seemingly putting his entire diaphragm into every word he sings. Monterey Pop Festival might have been the American introduction to their live show, but it was far from being their only notable live domination.
Countless legendary festivals, from Woodstock to the Isle of Wight, have featured The Who are their crowning jewel and stand-out performance, which should tell you all you need to know about their legendary live credentials.
As such, there isn’t a rock band out there that doesn’t owe some element of their performance to the pioneering anarchic energy of Pete Townshend and The Who, including Jack Black, whose own live spectacles have long since been indebted to the mod rock rebels.
