Long live rock, be it dead or alive…

While on a flight recently, I caught an airing of VH1 Rock Honors – The Who, a 2008 tribute concert to the British classic rock band that featured performances by Incubus, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Adam Sandler, and Tenacious D. The surviving members of The Who — singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend — also performed their hits “Baba O’Riley,” “Who Are You,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” and “My Generation.”

The entire concert is actually online at VH1, and you can watch it all here below.

The show was absolutely amazing, and even if you’re not into the other bands, you should check it out because aside from maybe Adam Sandler and Tenacious D, who did out-of-place acoustic versions, the bands did a wonderful job playing those classic Who tunes. The Foo Fighters especially kicked major ass. The Who is one of my favorite bands of all time, so this concert was a real thrill for me.

Here’s a list of performances, which are broken up by testimonials from legendary rockers like Sting, Joan Jett, and Slash, as well those from lots of other celebrities. There’s also plenty of Who archival interview and concert footage. Note, all of the songs and testimonials are broken up by commercials just as they are when it plays on televisions, though the online commercials are much shorter.

– Foo Fighters: “Young Man Blues”, “Bargain” (with guest lead vocals by Gaz Coombes of Supergrass)
– Adam Sandler: “Magic Bus”
– Incubus: “I Can See for Miles”, “I Can’t Explain”
– Flaming Lips: medley of songs from Tommy
– Tenacious D: “Squeeze Box”
– Pearl Jam: “Love, Reign o’er Me”, “The Real Me”
– The Who: “Baba O’Riley”, “Who Are You”, “Behind Blue Eyes”, “My Generation”, and “Tea & Theatre”

Video

[Sorry, I couldn’t shut off the autostart, so the video begins immediately.]