THE WHO, From 1D

Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Airplane, etc.), casual students of the pop culture could hardly be blamed for suspecting ulterior motives from a ’60s band deciding to hit the road during the midst of a nostalgia tidal wave.

At Tampa Stadium Saturday night, 55,303 people paid $22.50 apiece on faith.

Parents brought their elementary school-age kids and took seats beside teen-agers wearing “Anthrax” T-shirts. By the end of the three-hour concert, two things were obvious: 1) Townshend had done a masterful job in lowering public expectations, and 2) no social commentary carries the clout of the original.

With a stage flanked by Miller FROM

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Beer banners and The Who’s logo reduced to asterisk proportions at the bottom of the screens, the veil of cynicism held firm until the band went on. (Townshend is, among other things, a recovering alcoholic.) At that point, the beer screens dissolved into Who-like pop-art graphics.

It seemed important that Daltrey, 45, could still dare to perform without a shirt on, just as it mattered that Townshend — bearded and ponytailed at 44 — lied about his self-imposed ban on windmills. Townshend’s arm was a blur and he scissor-jumped like the frenetic Mod he used to be 25 years ago. He went electric midway through the first set and capped it off during the encore with “Hey Joe,” a sizzling tribute to Jimi Hendrix.

But if a group endures on the conviction of its anthem, The Who saved its best for last, and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” remains as relevant today as it was during the Nixon years.

The crowd sang along as if the lyrics, penned in 1971, had just poured out of the radio yesterday — “the world looks just the same, and history ain’t changed” — and the truth was, yes, they had all indeed gotten fooled again. They cast their votes, the new boss was the old boss, and the headlines continue to proclaim a conspiracy of greed and myopia.

Seeing The Who again was, in many ways, like an open invitation to revisit that old house from childhood, to see how low the ceilings really were once we were all grown up. But if anything, the music of The Who had grown with the years. And the ceiling was as high as it ever was.

Then again, maybe it was the horns.

But the music plays on. And The Who were smart enough to realize long ago that if the world is incapable of change, you can at least put a needle to the soundtrack of decay and gyrate into the night. That the band has survived this long — and without getting poisoned by its own mythology — is hopeful enough.

“Contrary to what you might read in the paper,” Townshend barked into the microphone near the end of the show, “we are not doing it for the (bleep)in’ money. Perhaps we’re not quite what we were, but we are quite … undeniably … indivisibly … THE WHO!”

Hope we die before they get old.