Fans come away from concerts with indelible memories of a particular song, a rocker's outfit or something said from the stage. The star, however, may be more likely to remember what happened offstage.

That was the case of Pete Townshend and the Who's 1970 concert at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater.

"I remember it well," the guitarist-songwriter said in an e-mail interview this week. "But I remember best having dinner after the show with the artistic director and his daughter who had a complete set of Winnie the Pooh stuffed toys. We had played 98Tommy' (at the Guthrie) and the director 94 whose name I have in my diary but that is at home, I'm afraid; could it have been Frank Whiting? 95 was encouraging me to continue to work on rock opera."

Townshend's memory is pretty good. While Whiting, who died a decade ago, wasn't the Guthrie's artistic director 94 it didn't have one at the time 94 he led the University of Minnesota Theater and helped bring Tyrone Guthrie to town.

"I think (Whiting) might have been the first to introduce me to the term 98musico-dramatic' work," Townshend said.

His latest musico-dramatic work is "Endless Wire," the first Who studio album since 1982, which closes with a mini-rock opera. On their current tour, the Who perform 11 songs from the new disc, which has received mixed reviews but a "wonderful" reaction from concertgoers to the new tunes, Townshend said.

"Now that more of them are better known by fans it is even easier to present them, but we play lots of old hits too. It's a good balance, I think."

Townshend's e-mail answers were as thoughtful, funny and generous as he has been in past conversations. He thinks this tour is better than the Who's 2002 trek, which was delayed a few days after the death of bassist John Entwistle of a drug-induced heart attack.

"Having new songs to play is what makes (this tour) special," he said, "but also we are now used to working without John. We still really miss his amazing sound, and his sweet temperament, but we are developing and evolving in new ways."

The guitar hero is thrilled to have fellow Rock Hall of Famers the Pretenders as opening act. "They are the best we've ever had 95 equal only to the Clash," he said.

On tour, the British legends are finding a mixture of young and old fans. Connecting with the crowd can be confusing for an over-60 rock star, as was the case recently in Boston.

"Last night a young woman with her mother 94 who looked like a very sexy young creature to this old bugger 94 held up a sign asking me for something quite intimate," he said. "The mother indicated she had approved the request."

Flattered as he was, he remembered how certain kinds of socializing with women had derailed U.S. careers for British Invasion bands in the 1960s. "So I watch carefully to see who is the one I should smile at the most. I am happiest