Who perform in Charlotte in 1972.

“They tore their instruments up, man,” he said. “Tore the stage up. Tore the whole place up. Tore it right up!”

Thursday’s 7 p.m. show was delayed more than a half hour while loudspeakers blared music by the Rolling Stones, scheduled to play Carter Finley in September.

By the time The Who ground into their opening number about 7:35 p.m., the rain had stopped and the setting sun was visible. But the crowd probably would have been no less enthusiastic had a monsoon blown up during “I Can See For Miles.”

Two young women, soaked to the skin, were asked: “Is it worth getting that wet to see The Who?”

They looked at each other and burst into laughter. “Hell, yes!” they yelled.

Jon Austin, music director of Hickory radio station WXRC, said he wasn’t surprised that so many teenagers turned out for the concert.

“For most of these young people, they probably see this as their last opportunity to see The Who as a group,” Austin said.

Like many people in Thursday’s crowd, Jack Deason of Durham had a tale to tell about finding tickets.

“We got lucky. I stayed on the phone for 2½ hours — redialed, busy signal, redialed — and gave up. But a buddy at work had extra tickets for us.”

Deason has been listening to The Who for more than 20 years, but Thursday was his first Who concert.

“I’m glad to be here,” he said.

Black and white Who T-shirts with the familiar arrow insignia were hot items. One man halted a passerby and asked, “Where did you get that shirt?”

“New York.”

“Oh, man!”

Another passerby kept peering through the crowd of faces. “I’m supposed to be meeting some people, but they got here at 3 o’clock, and they’ve been sitting out in the parking lot getting drunk.”

Alexander Kort of Durham said he was convinced that no matter the trouble, no matter the expense, seeing The Who would be worth it.

“Hey, they’ve been doing it for years,” Kort said, shrugging.

“They’re good at it.”