Fans on the front row rush to the barrier to give "The Who" a standing ovation. Left: Lead singer Roger Daltrey. Right: Airborne guitarist Pete Townshend.

BRUTAL and caustic the music in the Who style is not for the fainthearted. They are very much a people's band and know where to kick hard.

The band returned to Leicester this weekend for the first time in four years.

This time there was no destruction of equipment. Just searing, burning music that included a condensed version of Tommy.

Their two sets at Granby Halls were showpieces for two of Rock's most potent forces — aggression and volume.

The Who play hard granite music. It's knuckle rock, fighting songs.

There's nothing frivolous about them. Since the beginning their sound has been basic, urgent and rebellious. Their rebellion was not so much about politics as about survival.

My Generation doesn't just happen to be one of Rock's finest compositions — it's an anthem for adolescence: "Hope I die before I get old."

The Who's cynicism is based on a disregard for anything less than reality. Their music is a gritty mix of British blues and urban folk.

No rural splendour here. There's factories, machines, dirt and unhappiness, cheating and deception. And yet there is love, too. For, if nothing else, the Who play straight from the heart.

Together for the past 11 years, the Who have seen contemporaries split or fade as creative forces while they have grown from being a fad band—firmly entrenched in the mid-Sixties mode scene—to a group of classing stature.

From the flawed masterpiece, the Rock opera Tommy, through to the reflective "Who By Numbers" album, the Who have been leaders all the way.

Their leadership qualities were dynamically presented to the 9,000 fans at Leicester.

The band opened their sets with "I Can't Explain" and "Substitute," and the accent each time was on showmanship.

Daltrey has one of Rock's finest voices. He struts, sways, shakes his head, and uses the microphone like a bolas.

Townshend is the guitar man. He high-kicks and swings his arm like a windmill. His playing is dramatic and intense.

Drummer Moon, whether standing on his drums or falling off them, is an attacker, constantly worrying his kit like a terrier.

The bass player is John Entwhistle. He provides a constant, fight-stubbing bass line but gives the appearance of "being merely a spectator."

Neither concert was perfect. The timing was occasionally off and the drums sometimes submerged the general sound. But overall these were niggling complaints.

The Who have been described as the world's greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll band. I don't think there can be any dispute with that.

– Paul Huddleston

HITCH-HIKE FANS ATTACKED BY YOUTHS IN CAR

TWO COVENTRY youths were attacker and robbed by a gang of youths while hitch-hiking home last night.

The teenagers, returning from The Who's pop concert in Leicester, were walking along the A46 near the M1 access point when an A40 type estate car pulled up and five youths jumped out.

The youths said they would give the hitch-hikers a lift but only if they paid. When they refused the two youths were set upon and one had £3 stolen from his jacket.

The incident happened shortly before 1 a.m. and police would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the event or noticed the car. All the attackers are in their 20's.