THEY came. They played. They conquered.

But when The Who stormed through the Astrodome Saturday on their 25th Anniversary Tour and in conjunction with Miller Lite's "World's Largest Party," their set was marked as much by what they didn't play.

In a move to accommodate opening acts the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan 6 the first openers used by The Who on their two-month North American tour 6 the band shortened their usual three-hours-plus set to 2:20 (with no intermission).

Missing in action, then, were some throwaways, such as bassist John Entwistle's My Wife, but also a few of The Who's greatest anthems, including My Generation and Magic Bus. Guitarist Pete Townshend had resurrected Generation and its immortal line, "Hope I die before I get old," for this tour but inexplicably omitted it Saturday.

Time shouldn't have been a factor. The band finished at 11:05 p.m., 40 minutes earlier than announced.

Also revamped was the set order. Unlike the New York shows at the start of the tour, the band tucked

Music review the Tommy sequence into the five through nine slot rather than using it at the beginning.

But surprises and a willingness to tinker with the equipment represented a playfulness The Who hadn't shown in 10 years, since before Keith Moon's death, the Cincinnati concert tragedy and the impending demise of the band as it was known by its first generation of fans.

The band 6 officially Townshend, Entwistle and singer Roger Daltrey 6 was far more relaxed this swing, easing the strain of the road, and the irascible Townshend was in full form at an earlier press conference inside the Dome Saturday. As the three were being introduced in a ceremony honoring Texas Special Olympics, several items from a buffet table crashed to the floor. Townshend, perhaps the most quoted and dissected rock musician of his era, took the opportunity to poke good-natured fun at the press.

The Who took that feisty, spontaneous attitude to the stage and had a ball with it 6 which is about all one can ask of legends in their own time 6 that they reap a sense of

See WHO on Page 4D.

A crowd in the neighborhood of 45,000 was on hand for the concert, which featured The Who in an exuberant mood. The band played many, but not all, of their standards.