Foos, Pearl Jam Lead Rocking Tribute to the Who

There were no gold watches or long speeches as the Who were feted by VH1 in Los Angeles. Fittingly for a band that, according to Jack Black, were the greatest ever "because they were the first to rock hard," the two-hour-plus tribute at UCLA featured a whole lot of loud rock, along with some stirring video tributes by the likes of Sting, Slash, Dave Navarro and more. Starting with the Foo Fighters, who delivered a scorching 'Young Man Blues,' then turned the lead vocals over to Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes for 'Bargain,' the show delivered highlight after highlight.

The Foos were then followed by the Flaming Lips. Introduced by actor Rainn Wilson, who was dressed as Elton John's character in the film version of the classic Who album 'Tommy,' the Lips began their rocking 'Tommy' medley with Wayne Coyne crowd-surfing in their now trademark plastic ball. Incubus performed 'I Can See for Miles' and 'I Can't Explain.' The former song was an apt selection for the band, as guitarist Mike Einziger told Spinner it was the first Who song he ever heard. "This sounds really funny, but I heard it on one of those greatest hits of the golden era of rock or something infomercial," he said.

Following an entertaining Tenacious D rendition of 'Squeeze Box' that ended with Black's pants down around his ankles, the de facto headliner of the first half of the night, Pearl Jam, rocked the crowd with a devastatingly powerful interpretation of 'Love Reign O'er Me' and an equally raucous 'The Real Me.'

Despite the fact that, as Roger Daltrey accurately quipped, "That's the toughest load of support acts we've ever had," the Who were not going to be upstaged on their own night. Brought out to a standing ovation after actor Adam Sandler serenaded them to the tune of 'Magic Bus,' the rock legends kicked off their set with a laser-light-filled 'Baba O'Riley' that had everyone standing and yelling along to the familiar refrain of "teenage wasteland." The band mixed in both the obvious ('Won't Get Fooled Again,' a 'My Generation' that ended in an extended jam, 'Behind Blue Eyes') and some surprising selections ('The Seeker,' '2000 Years'). The night even moved Pete Townshend a bit, who thanked all the bands and VH1 for not giving him "another piece of plastic."

Perhaps the most apt tribute though came from the Lips, whose drummer, Kliph Scurlock, kicked his kit over as the finale of 'See Me Feel Me'/'Listening to You.' Somewhere, late Who drummer Keith Moon, remembered in video along with bassist John Entwistle, would've been oh, so proud.

In additional news, the Who have announced on their Web site that they will be inauguration a North American tour, to commence on Oct. 21 in Auburn Hills Mich., including two shows in Los Angeles on Nov. 8 and 9. More dates will be added, according to the site.