At the height of the .com bubble a company called Pixelon.com arranged a $16,000,000 party in Las Vegas. It was to be webcast to an audience of a billion people worldwide, using their revolutionary new technology. One of the highlights of the event was a rare set by The Who. Trouble was, there was no revolutionary technology - it was all a scam and the CEO of Pixelon ended up in gaol. But wow, what a party for those in the audience, even if it fell rather short of the billion mark.

The Who was the soundtrack to my early life and their music was liberating in so many ways - from the raw energy and anarchy of My Generation to the absolute magic of the groundbreaking rock opera Tommy, demonstrating the sheer musical genius of Pete Townshend. But all that was a long while ago - Keith Moon died in 1978, for goodness sake - so what impact would they have on stage in 1999?

Quite a bit, as it happens. Roger Daltry hardly looks a day older and bounces around the stage like a good'un. Pete Townshend and John Entwhistle show their years but also that they haven't lost any of their musical talent. They're joined by Zak Starkey (Ringo's son) on drums and Texan John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards - a five piece set-up that hadn't been seen since Live Aid in 1985.

There is one problem though - much of the music seems almost tame in this post-punk age of noise. Is it because they are older? The voices, at least at the beginning of the gig, seem distinctly hoarse, and you can never get the noise levels quite right on a live recording. So it's a bit disappointing as they work their way through I Can't Explain, Substitute ("I look pretty young but I'm just backdated" - you do indeed, Roger) and Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere.

Then there are a couple of biggies - Pinball Wizard followed by See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me. Not bad, warming up. Baba O'Reilly is next and all of a sudden you remember why you thought The Who were gods. This is one of their great anthemic songs and the energy levels rise perceptibly.

The great bassist John Entwhistle (who tragically died in 2002) gets his moment of glory with My Wife, and 5.15 and Behind Blue Eyes are pretty good. By now each song is being extended with some terrific solo riffs, but anyone hoping for some guitar-smashing is out of luck - they all look far too sensible.

Who Are You and Magic Bus lead us to the highlight of the show - that other anthem, Won't Get Fooled Again. Just hearing the keyboard intro transports me and when the guitars crash in - with masses of power by this stage - I'm grinning helplessly.

That was the explosive end of the main set, but the audience screams for more and is rewarded with The Kids Are Alright and finally, My Generation.

Extras include interviews with Roger Daltry (highly articulate) and John Entwhistle (distinctly disjointed but quite revealing).

The final impression? Perhaps more historical record than truly great video, but worth having on the shelf for all that.

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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees