CEDAR FALLS — A quartet of “old” British rockers wowed a surprisingly young crowd of about 24,000 Friday night in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

The Who bill this as their final tour before they split up early next year. They seldom let up Friday in their two-hour-plus set; churning out solid rock both old and new.

The Who began with “Substitute” and ended their regular set with “Won't Get Fooled Again,” both million-sellers. In between there was a generous helping of newer and lesser-known material, all of it solid rock.

The lion’s share of vocal chores was handled by Roger Daltry. But bassist John Entwistle and lead guitarist Peter Townshend took their turns at lead vocal and backed Daltry with harmony.

While Daltry wailed and Townshend flailed his guitar, drummer Kenny Jones laid down a solid beat.

The Who’s stage setup is more tasteful than the one used last year by the Rolling Stones on their American tour, which included a November appearance at the UNI-Dome. The stage sports 40-foot letters spelling “Who” with the band tucked neatly under an elongated ‘H’ that looks like goal posts.

Friday night was my second Who concert; the first was back in 1967. There’s a big difference between the Who of 1967 and the band today.

Who still has three of its original members (original drummer Keith Moon died a few years ago), but now it relies more on its musical abilities than the gimmicks it relied on in 1967.

In 1967 the Who ended their act by destroying instruments, amplifiers and exploding the drums, creating a scene of chaos. But Friday night in their regular set finale the band had the same effect on the audience by cranking out a flawless version of “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” They did harken back to the old days by using one exploding flashpot, and after the encore—before he left the stage—Daltry took a couple of wacks at a stage monitor with a music stand.

Most of Friday’s crowd was younger than expected. Many weren’t born, or were under 5 years old, when the Who first conquered America in the mid-60s. But despite not growing up with the Who, the crowd showed as much enthusiasm as possible to the band’s music.

Most of the band’s old hits were crowd favorites, but two of the best received were newer numbers, “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Teen-Age Wasteland.”

After taking a breather backstage and listening to five minutes of shouts of “Who! Who! Who!” the band came back and treated the crowd to a three-number encore that included the Who’s “Magic Bus,” and Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” and the Isley Brothers' "Twisted Shout.”

The Who have said they’ll split up next year; let’s hope they reconsider.