What prompted the avatar change is I happened to stumble upon a performance from this year and was blown away by how much he still got into doing this song. It's pretty good if you don't hate everything Who.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8imrzk8y2io
For bonus (boredom) points watch that and then the video of it in 1982. Kinda wild. Cuts out at the end, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URFbwUkBrjA