The Who: Talkin' 'bout your Rock Band 2 g-g-generation

The gig was hosted by Harmonix, makers of the video game Rock Band 2, and both Daltrey and Who guitarist Pete Townshend were especially loose and chatty during the 90-minute concert. They performed the iconic tunes, from "Baba O'Riley" to "Pinball Wizard," with Daltrey wailing and twirling his microphone and Townshend windmilling and pounding a fist against his guitar. It was live classic rock at its very best.

But the night's anonymous warm-up acts already had performed some of the same songs. They were actually members of the audience, many of whom had spent the previous two hours plugged into Rock Band 2, living out their rock-star fantasies on small stages scattered around the Orpheum, singing and "playing" along to those songs and others on the game controls shaped like musical instruments.

"There's this world full of people who are born with this innate desire to make music, and they spend their whole lives playing air guitar and loving music but having no way to tap into that instinct," said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and chief executive of Harmonix. "It took us more than 10 years to realize that dream."

Rock Band 2, set for release in September, is another chapter in the fast-growing music-game genre that also includes the popular Guitar Hero series. Music-related titles claimed 16% of U.S. game sales last year, and the numbers are growing. But their influence is also being felt in the music industry, as an increasing number of major rock and pop acts choose to participate in the games.

Bands such as Aerosmith and the Sex Pistols have re-recorded songs specifically for Guitar Hero, and perhaps most remarkable, the long-dormant Guns 'N Roses is debuting the single "Shackler's Revenge" as a part of Rock Band 2.

The Who's "Pinball Wizard" is included in the same game, and fans will be able to download a bundle of other classic Who tracks. At the Orpheum, Daltrey sang of the "deaf, dumb and blind kid" whose game-playing skills include "such a supple wrist . . ." Only this time, Townshend was in mid-solo when he snapped a guitar-string, his final note drifting into silence. He looked at the crowd and joked, "Does this ever happen in the game?"