Anti-Who Super Bowl Campaign Intensifies
- Posted on Jan 29th 2010 6:45AM by Julian Marszalek
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A child abuse group has delivered a flyer to residents who live near the Landshark Stadium in Miami in an attempt to prevent guitarist Pete Townshend performing with veteran rockers the Who at Super Bowl XLIV which will be staged there next month.The message on the flyer reads, "Townshend is a British citizen who was registered as a sex offender in his home country in 2003, for an offence related to child pornography. He will be at large in Miami on February when he arrives to perform at the Super Bowl with his musical group known as The Who. This is a community notification distributed in the interest of public safety."
Townshend was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years after admitting using his credit to access images of child pornography which he said was done in the name of research for a book. Though cautioned by the police, he was never charged.
Despite the campaign, the National Football League (N.F.L.) and Super Bowl XLIV's sponsors - Coca Cola, Burger King, I.B.M. and Visa - are standing firm.
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said, "UK police cleared him since he was doing research for a project on child abuse."
Townshend, meanwhile, has shrugged off the campaign and is concentrating on the show. Speaking to Billboard.com, the guitarist revealed The Who's plans for their half-time appearance, "We're kinda doing a mashup of stuff.
"A bit of 'Baba O'Riley,' a bit of 'Pinball Wizard,' a bit of the close of 'Tommy,' a bit of 'Who Are You,' and a bit of 'Won't Get Fooled Again.' It works - it's quite a saga. A lot of the stuff that we do has that kind of celebratory vibe about it - we've always tried to make music that allows the audience to go a bit wild if they want to. Hopefully it will hit the spot."
The Who will play at Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7.
- Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News




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