The 15-year-old Who showed a sold-out crowd of 19,000 last night at the Coliseum they still have what it takes for the ’80s.

The group’s gimmicks are gone. Guitarist Peter Townshend doesn’t ram his instrument into the amps in “My Generation.” Their legendary, outrageous drummer Keith Moon is gone — dead 15 months now. But the group showed their strength is in their innovative and power-packed music.

There were fascinating differences. There was an added keyboard man, John Bundrick, and his four-man horn-rhythm section. Many of the songs were extended. The lights were few, but very effective. In the midst of the “Tommy” sequence, four bright, intense white lights shone into the audience.

Just before the final set song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” a flash pot went off. It’s amazing what a difference hair can make. Lead singer Roger Daltrey’s long blond curls were gone, clipped to a very short hairdo, but his voice was as vigorous and powerful as ever.

Kids, who were just learning to read and write when they first came here in 1967 to open for Herman’s Hermits, were up on their feet, clapping and cheering for Daltrey's song “See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me.”

The crowd was a little younger than expected, most in the late teens or early 20s. The Who members are in their 30s. The crowd was exuberant, but very controlled, one of the most mannerly I have seen.

This may be one of the few rock concerts introduced by a nice man in a three-piece suit. Stuart Geller, president of the Coliseum, said a few words before the show at the request of the Who, who didn’t want to talk about the band’s Cincinnati concert, before which 11 fans were trampled to death while trying to get in.

Geller said, “We couldn’t let the night pass without taking a moment to recall the recent tragedy in Cincinnati. That we, like the entire entertainment industry, are shocked to think that something so devastating could happen to 11 young people. We don’t intend to ever let it happen here.”

Later Townshend told the audience that the Who stood behind Geller. He said they have always loved this city and have such friends as the James Gang “and that’s no bull——.”

The excitement was a little slow in building up because the Who doesn’t have a lot of eye contact with its audience. Bassist John Entwistle communicates with his eyebrows and Daltrey and Townshend are slightly poker-faced. But the current of excitement soon came through the new drummer, Kenny Jones, formerly of the Small Faces, who proved to be a hard-driving, steady player. He is no Moon, but then no one could ever be.

The agenda was skillfully structured to include such new punchy songs as “The Punk and the Grandfather,” and “5:15” as well as the old favorites “Blue Eyes,” “Substitute” and “I Can See For Miles.”

The show began around 15 minutes late because of the huge crowds. The actual start was film clips from their new movie “Quadrophenia,” yet to be shown in Cleveland.

The only sour note was that the final film sequence was a stampede and riot between fans and police, a real jolt in view of the Cincinnati situation.