ASSOCIATED PRESS Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend perform

The Who Come Back Strong But Can They Sustain the Pace Through Summer?

By Jonathan Takiff

Daily News Popular Music Critic

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — The theme for the Who’s 25th anniversary reunion tour is “The Kids Are All Right.”

Last night, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and company proved the point with a vengeance, in a no-holds-barred, 40-song music marathon at the Glens Falls Civic Center. It was their first full-fledged show together since Dec. 17, 1982. A long time between gigs.

The Who steamed up this dinky Adirondack hockey rink for more than three hours and took no prisoners. In other words, they slew all 5,000 souls in attendance — old fans and younger “classic rock” converts alike.

The painful question remaining after this intimate dress rehearsal is not whether these mid-40ish rock and roll survivors can still “cut it.”

(Only twice, late into the night, did the Who’s augmented, 15-piece band display any signs of musical faltering. Both miscues were laughed off quickly.)

No, the question is can the Who sustain the physically grueling concert program they’ve now established for their summer run of stadiums — bringing them to our very own Veterans Stadium July 9 and 10 for sold-out shows.

Why, just the first 45 minutes last night seemed a strong show unto itself — a condensed version of their rock opera “Tommy.” Aptly fleshing out this portion of the show (but not really making the music sound all that different) were the Who’s new hired hands — five horn players, second guitarist Steve Bolton, keyboardist John “Rabbit” Bundrick, drummer par excellance Simon Phillips (much better than his predecessor, Kenney Jones), second percussionist Jodi Linscott, plus three backup singers.

My real concern is Pete Townshend’s personal sacrifice, his last-minute change of heart. Despite public discussions of his severe hearing problem and his vow to play only quiet acoustic guitar in some sort of sound isolation chamber on stage, Townshend was not the “man in the bubble” last night.

After the abridged “Tommy” and a triple play of acoustic strummers from his new “Iron Man” album, Townshend surprised the lot of us by strapping on his red Fender electric guitar for “I Can’t Explain.” Yeah, he did the whole angry-young-Pete routine — the windmill strumming, the modified pogo, just like the old days.

Also treated to his electric guitar attack were classic rockers from the late 1960s and 1970s: “Substitute” and “I Can See For Miles,” “Summertime Blues” and “My Generation.” And popular audience sing-alongs like “Join Together,” “You Better You Bet” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” delivered with heavy doses of white light glaring in our faces.

To alleviate his ear problem, Townsend had rehearsed for this tour with sound baffles all around him. But his crew couldn’t get the baffles to look decent on stage, explained one techie. “And what’s rock and roll without electric guitar? Strumming an acoustic just ain’t the same.”

So now Townshend is buying the notion that “it’s better to look good, than to hear good.” And the audience, I’m afraid, supports the point. Last night the Glens Falls fans roared for Townshend’s electric sound and physical antics, but talked over some of his softer, prettier acoustic guitar ballads.

Daltrey and Entwistle also enjoy front-and-center focus spots. In a snap, Daltrey changes image from bombastic, mike-swinging lead singer to sensitive, guitar-strumming “solo” artist. Last night, he introduced his audience to “Love Hurts” (a long-ago hit for the Everly Brothers) and even pulled out a Phil Everly voice for the occasion. Daltrey also unveiled a great cover of “Hey Joe.”