Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band used its Super Bowl XXLIII halftime appearance as a springboard to sell out shows the following day for an upcoming tour.

Unfortunately, that's not happening with The Who, as guitarist Pete Townshend had to scrap any thoughts of touring due to a recurring issue with tinnitus and is using the time away from the stage to work on a musical called "Floss."

That leaves just one living member of The Who ready to go, and Roger Daltrey doesn't care to sit around and play shuffleboard. He's assembled his Use It or Lose It solo band -- guitarists Simon Townshend (Pete's younger brother) and Frank Simes (Don Henley, Mick Jagger), keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button and drummer Scott Devours -- for a touring stint with Eric Clapton that starts tonight at the Mellon Arena.

"We did a tour just before Christmas with a band I put together just for the hell of it, just to keep singing, you know," Mr. Daltrey said Wednesday from his Pittsburgh hotel room. "I had such a good time and they're such a great band, I'm just taking work to keep the band alive and to keep singing. I just enjoy it. It's what I do."

Simon Townshend, 49, has a history of playing alongside his brother going back to The Who's Quadrophenia Tour in 1996.

"They're different, but they're both brilliant," the singer said. "Pete's a one-off. He's an incredibly original guitarist. He's the most original out of all the guitar heroes, in my opinion."

There's nothing planned between The Who singer and Mr. Clapton for the Pittsburgh show, but he said that could happen later in the tour. His set list in the fall included Who favorites like "Behind Blue Eyes" and "I Can See for Miles," along with two songs from Largo (his project with the Hooters) and a tribute to Johnny Cash.

"My show was devoted to my influences, and Johnny Cash was a huge part of that," he said. "That guy gave me so much in the early days of my singing career and it's just great to hear those songs live, and now Johnny's not there doing it himself. It's nice to be able to keep the music alive."

Last month, more than 106 million Super Bowl viewers in this country got to hear how the singer can handle Who songs at age 65, and the reviews were mixed. For his part, Mr. Daltrey said he's glad the band took the offer.

"I was amazed at the organization; 700 volunteers put that stage up in six minutes. It was a TV spectacular, incredibly well-staged and an honor to play it, but I can't pretend it was anything special as far as we're concerned, because it didn't feel like a show. Twelve minutes is not really anything we've done in the past, apart from TV appearances, so it was kind of weird. But they staged an amazing spectacle in the middle of your Super Bowl, in the middle of a toilet break. Only America could they do that thing well. I could imagine if we did that in England, they'd still be putting the stage up now!"

The Who is scheduled to reassemble in London for a charity run-through of "Quadrophenia" on March 30. The question is, what happens after that -- is there a future for The Two?

"I don't know ... Of course there is," Mr. Daltrey said. "We'll work ways around it. I don't know, you know what, if there isn't any future, I don't really mind. We've had a great career. It's been fantastic. But I wouldn't write us off yet. Not after what we just saw at the Super Bowl. Pete's ear problems seem to come and go. It was here quite bad in the '80s and then it went. We were active for a good 15 years between the '80s, '90s, into the turn of the century. I don't know. I think it will go again."

Critics Andrew Druckenbrod and Scott Mervis talk about music on "The Beat," available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.