To quote wikipedia if I may (yes I know they are not the most reputable site ever, but still, they're spot on here):
The Who came to prominence in the 1960s and grew to be considered one of the greatest and most influential rock bands of all time, in addition to being "possibly the greatest live band ever."
(Townshend is the inventor of the windmill guitar move, and the smashing up the guitar)
This site does it justice. Please watch the whole thing, it gets best at the end:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KwFx2tMdV4s
This instance resulted in a partial hearing loss for Townshend b/c Keith Moon put too much dynamite in the base drum.
