AUBURN HILLS — Meet the new Who. Half of the old Who.

The June 27 death of bassist John Entwistle, 57, just as the seminal British rockers were about to embark on a summer tour of America, stunned the music world. Even more shocking was the decision by remaining members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend to carry on without him.

Friday's start of the tour's third leg at The Palace of Auburn Hills not only returned the Who to the neighborhood of one of the first American cities to embrace them nearly 40 years ago, but came on the 55th birthday of Keith Moon, the band's wildman drummer, who died Sept. 7, 1978.

The band's decision to carry on without Moon was questionable at the time. His replacement, Kenny Jones, was the wrong man for the job, and the band's heart wasn't in its last two studio records, a 1982 farewell tour or a 25th anniversary tour in 1989.

Semi-retirement didn't suit them until 1996, when an expanded version of the band, aided by the passionate drumming of Moon disciple Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's son, played a sprawling, autobiographical 1973 rock opera "Quadrophenia."

The band pared down to a quintet two years ago for a tour in which all pretense of playing it safe was thrown out the window, and its famous improvisational flair returned.

Those shows were refreshingly rough around the edges. This time around, with journeyman bassist

Set list 1. 'I Can't Explain' 2. 'Substitute' 3. 'Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere' 4. 'Who Are You' 5. 'Another Tricky Day' 6. 'Relay' 7. 'Bargain' 8. 'Baba O'Riley' 9. 'Sea and Sand' 10. '5:15' 11. 'Love, Reign O'er Me' 12. 'Eminence Front'

13. 'Behind Blue Eyes' 14. 'You Better You Bet' 15. 'The Kids Are Alright' 16. 'My Generation' 17. 'Won't Get Fooled Again' Encore 18. 'Pinball Wizard' 19. 'Amazing Journey' 20. 'Sparks' 21. 'See Me, Feel Me'

The Auburn Hills show and those afterward will be available on compact disc via www.themusic.com, with proceeds going to charity.

Pino Palladeno quietly providing a solid, if less powerful, foundation than Entwistle, the reconstituted Who and the often recalcitrant Townshend sound more comfortable with their legacy and grateful to be around to celebrate it.

"Every time you come out, you see less of us," Townshend noted after a fiery version of "Who Are You," a song inspired by his own identity crisis.

Daltrey, in fine voice and looking as fit and ruggedly handsome at 58 as he did at 28, and Townshend, who looks his 58 years but is playing like a man half his age, sorted through the ashes of their own gloriously muddled history Friday. They opened with a triple blast of early '60s British hits, culminating in a bristling Townshend solo on "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" in which he scraped, picked, pounded and windmilled his red-and-white Fender Stratocaster, sending the sellout crowd of 16,000 into a near frenzy with one of his song-ending leaps.

There were many moments like that Friday (not to mention an unexpected peek at the breasts of a woman in the first row that drew praise from Daltrey), and not just on the obvious crowd favorites including "Baba O'Riley," "5:15" (minus Entwistle's fleet-fingered solo) and the rebellious anthem "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Townshend turned a lilting version of "The Kids Are Alright," from the Who's 1965 debut album, into a song of wistful reaffirmation, musing about the Motor City, the MC5 and the Who's first U.S. gig in Ann Arbor before reaffirming his belief in the innocence of youth. "What can ever be wrong with kids," he sang.

There were misfires, too, especially obscurities "Another Tricky Day" (from 1981's "Faces Dances") and "Relay" (an early '70s rarity from the aborted "Lifehouse" project), while "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Bargain" were a tad too restrained.

The coup de grace was an explosive four-song encore from "Tommy," the Who's groundbreaking rock opera.

With another '70s icon, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, providing a solid hour of nostalgia and new music in the opening slot, this Who tour seems to be all about looking back and forging ahead.

What's left of the band that wanted to die before it got old sounds content to get old before it dies.