LOUISVILLE — What had been billed as the farewell tour of the Who made a stop last night before a sold-out crowd of 18,000 at Freedom Hall.

The veteran rock band’s decision to stop touring after 18 years together comes at a time when they are trying to come to terms with a world of rock music they have helped create, and that has subsequently moved on without them.

But if last night’s show is a proper indication, the Who are still very much in touch with their audience: a generation of youngsters just learning

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of the frustrations Peter Townshend wrote about in 1966 on “My Generation,” as well as an older but not necessarily wiser crowd who are all too familiar with the political realities of which Townshend sings in “Eminence,” a song from the just-released album, “It’s Hard.”

Townshend and the Who gave clues last night of coming to terms with the contrasting set of values and life experiences that 18 years together bring out.

Townshend has never sounded more sure of himself, more confident. He is still able to ride enough of an edge to give the Who’s music the vitality and urgency that has always given it heart.

Group fans didn’t need to worry about the band’s current stand solely because the Who has called a halt to touring.

The Who last night were in keener, more unified form than before the death of drummer Keith Moon in 1978.

The band’s sense of time and place was immediately evident during the welcoming thunder that accompanied the opening song, “My Genera-

tion,” as well as “Substitute,” and “I Can’t Explain.” Roger Daltry, still the incomparable vehicle of interpretation for Townshend’s songs, was in strong durable voice all evening, and the reading he gives to Townshend’s works is as incisive as always.

Bassist John Whistle, still referred to chummily by Daltry as the “Ox,” was given featured space on “The Quiet One,” a song that adequately summed up his own stage demeanor last night. “I’m not quiet,” a line from the song goes, “everyone else is too loud.”

Special mention should be given to drummer Kenny Jones, who continues to fit in well with the band. His technical precision is a luxury the Who had to do without during their days with Keith Moon.

As far as the concert organization is concerned, the Who has set up an impressive enterprise. Having costs underwritten by a major sponsor, the tour bears more than a passing resemblance to last year’s Rolling Stones America Tour, which, in the midst of a recession that hit the entertainment industry especially hard, grossed a fortune.

In fact, it was announced in several trade publications over the last few weeks that the Who stand to earn as much as $15 million from the tour’s first leg.

This performing chapter in the history of the Who, who have established and nurtured so many younger rock fans, may be closing one era for the band. But the concert legacy the band is leaving behind will provide many lasting memories for fans in the years to come.

The notion of a “final” tour, as long as it is taken seriously by a band, provides an invaluable capsule statement of its talent, much the same way The Band did with “The Last Waltz.”

They gave up concerts in splendor.

So did the Who.