Sell out — Roger Daltrey on stage

VETERAN rockers The Who attracted their newest crop of British fans last night when they kicked off the UK leg of their 25th anniversary comeback tour.

Many of those in the 12,000-strong crowd at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre were not even born when the group, now all middle aged, formed in 1964.

Their three surviving members, guitarist Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey, both 44, and bass guitarist John Entwistle, 43 on Monday, seemed undeterred by the generation gap as they sang a medley of their golden oldies from the 60s and 70s.

The fans, many of whose parents formed the ranks of The Who's original support, responded by singing along to hits like Pinball Wizard.

Reforming after their bitter split seven years ago, the group seem set to cash

Sell-out for stars of the sixties

in on their new following. Unofficial estimates put their earnings from the tour at 30m.

Ten UK concerts are planned over the next month with three more dates in Birmingham before performances at London's Wembley Arena and the Albert Hall.

Missing from the line-up of 14 musicians on stage last night was the band's drummer, Keith Moon, who died of a drugs overdose 11 years ago.