Hours before the promised 7 p.m. starting time, as if for a Miami Dolphins tailgate party. But this was not sport, it was a religious event.

And the followers chanted, "Who, Who, Who, Who." They sang, cheered, danced, and applauded virtually nonstop from the instant band members Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Pete Townshend took the stage – with the theme from Bonanza blaring from a 40-foot-tall stack of speakers.

The band launched its Miami engagement with a 35-minute medley of songs from the rock opera Tommy, the tale of a "deaf, dumb and blind kid" who becomes a cult leader.

The throng cheered wildly as guitarist Townshend introduced "the first Who song played on the appallingly awful Miami Vice … Eminence Front." He quickly amended his quickie TV critique to say "I like it because the detectives wear suits."

Then the fans were back on their feet, swaying to decades-old melodies that moved them to open their wallets for $20 "25th Anniversary Tour" T-shirts, and they held them with a special reverence. Most fans expected this to be their last chance to see the band.

"They're not like Sugar Ray Leonard," said Bruce Allen, 28. "They won't be coming back five times."

"This is important because The Who will never tour again. The Who are legendary," Roxanne Washburn, 26, said.

"It's been a very big influence on my life. New rock is very commercialized. This is like true feelings," said Carlos Bezanilla, 18, a guitarist himself.

"People recognize quality – and these are the originals," said graphic artist Phil Scandaraito, 31.

"Who, Who, Who, Who, Who."