Who Makeup Concert April 1

By Ernie Santosuosso

Globe Staff

The Who, the British rock supergroup, will return to Boston Garden for a makeup concert Thursday, April 1, it was announced yesterday by producer Don Law. The show, an instant sellout several weeks ago, was cut short Tuesday evening after only two selections because of a lingering case of the flu suffered by the band's drummer Keith Moon.

The Who had scheduled a lengthy 20-song set following an opening-act segment by the Steve Gibbons Band. After the postponement was announced, Law disclosed that Moon, ailing the past few days, had hoped he would be sufficiently recovered to make the Garden date, the blast-off of part two of the group's tour.

Left unresolved was the formula for redeeming ticket stubs for admission to the April Fool's concert.

This issue had triggered an angry scene outside of the East Lobby office in Boston Garden Tuesday when patrons, realizing they had discarded their stubs, demanded assurances of admission to the makeup concert.

It was one of those nights at Boston Garden. There was even a debris fire beneath the duckboards in the West Lobby. The Boston Fire Dept. announced yesterday that the blaze was under investigation.

In the past, the lighting of matches in the Garden, usually as the main act takes the stage, had been frowned upon by fire marshals, and banned.

If Tuesday's display, or lack of it, was a criterion, then the mass match-strike is on its way out in Boston Garden. Taking its place are glowing phosphorescent plastic tubes, many of them worn around the neck.

Although the capacity crowd of 15,000 was understandably disappointed by the Who's postponement, the exodus from the Garden was largely peaceful.

Keith Moon's illness also postponed last night's concert in Madison Square Garden until tonight. Meanwhile, those who attended the Boston Garden program were advised to listen to WBCN or WCOZ for details on rain-check distribution.