The Who all class in Seattle concert

By Rick Nelson

Special Reviewer

The Who's Peter Townshend started a guitar lead Tuesday night, discovered that he wasn't producing any sound, fixed the problem with a small smile on his face and went on with the song. That was the kind of relaxed confidence each member of the veteran British rock band displayed performing before a full house at the Coliseum.

Cool and collected from the opening song, "Substitute," through the final encore, the rock and roll chestnut "Dancin' In the Streets," The Who was simply amazing. It wasn't just that the individual performances and the group sound were often superb.

It had as much to do with the fact that The Who have a genuine style about the group. The expression "a class act" applies to The Who.

Vocalist Roger Daltrey twirled his microphones (breaking one) and bashed a couple tambourines to bits during the overture from "Tommy." Tambourines are cheaper than guitars and amps, though Townshend did bash a guitar to the stage at the concert's end.

Daltrey is still in fine physical shape. He must have gone the equivalent of a quarter-mile running in place during "Who Are You?" But by the time they got to "I Can See for Miles," Daltrey was struggling, his singing flat and hoarse. Most of the night Townshend sustained his background vocals longer than usual and augmented them to cover for Daltrey.

John Entwistle is a treat to watch. Answer to Johnny Cash, the tall man picks bass with a fast, deft-fingered technique. Listening to his precision playing was great too, but there were times when it was hard to distinguish the sound of Entwistle's bass from Kenny Jones' bass pedal on the drums.

Kenny Jones doesn't put on any airs behind the drum set. He replaced a childhood friend, the late Keith Moon, as The Who's drummer and seems to have the situation well in hand.

Jones was steady all night long sitting there with his headphones on. Formerly the drummer for Small Faces, Jones may have shown some people that there's nothing wrong with protecting your hearing at a concert.

Townshend was little short of a miracle worker when he was playing off Daltrey's sporadic burst of harmonica. His lead-in to the "Tommy" overture roused the already ecstatic crowd to a new pitch. Then he fulfilled their expectations. Entwistle's staccato effect on bass lent the necessary drama and tension to the piece.

A huge slashbomb preceded the wild "Won't Get Fooled Again." Townshend helped Daltrey out quite a bit on the vocals and sustained a long stretch of flawless play. After a long break the band returned for "Young Man Blues" as an encore, and Daltrey had recovered somewhat.

John "Rabbit" Bundrick was a factor all night at the keyboards. A horn session added something to the overall effect, but they seemed locked in to one riff, one reminiscent of the horns in the Stone's tune, "It's Only Rock and Roll."

It would be hard to pick one song as the anthem of the night, let alone the anthem of The Who's career. It can't be "My Generation." Daltrey is singing that one to people who could be his kids. Maybe "Long Live Rock" is the definitive song by The Who. Music from "Tommy" was as well received as any of the tunes.

On a technical note, people seemed to be fascinated by The Who's lighting apparatus. It looked like a leftover "battlecruiser" from "Star Wars." The actual lighting was less interesting than the structure itself. The concert was without a major security incident.