It was insane, just insane.

Friday's Who concert at Masonic Auditorium was everything a rock concert should be: A crowd whipped into a primordial frenzy; a furiously aggressive band of considerable musical talent.

If the acid test of greatness is withstanding time's ravages, the Who passes easily. Even after 15 years of performing, the group displays amazing strength. Its 2½-hour show Friday was nothing short of powerful, truly one of rock 'n' roll's singularly great concert performances.

Free Press Photos by MARY SCHROEDER

Vocalist Roger Daltrey and drummer Kenny Jones and the rest of the Who took the Detroit crowd to untold heights of ecstasy.

DESPITE NO really new material, the Who's performance was much more than simply a blast from the past. In 1979, the Who has expanded its stage show by adding keyboardist John (Rabbit) Bundrick, a low-key onstage performer but nonetheless a master at the controls. Another added attraction was the group's horn section, which bolstered many songs, as it has on Who recordings, with brassy backup.

With these additions, plus a fresh reworking of all their songs, the Who has come back to us with more energy than ever. And anyone who thought the band would go the way of the dinosaur, particularly after the death of drummer Keith Moon, was proven wrong.

Further proof was Peter Townshend's voice, which was precisely on pitch despite his 40 percent hearing loss. And John Entwistle's pounding bass drove the show forward while his own haunting vocals on songs like "Morris the Spider" matched the lower registers of his instrument.

None of this was lost on the crowd of more than 4,000 frenzied fans who had built up either a great frustration or an almost unbearable anticipation since the Who's last Detroit performance three years ago. Whatever it was, it all broke loose Friday. And if 4,000 fans can make that much noise, can teeter that precariously on the brink of total delerium, there's no telling what 40,000 will do at the Pontiac Silverdome next Friday, when the band plays there.

THE CROWD'S intense mood was evident even outside the hall, where long, battling lines seemed desperate for renewal.

Fans searching for their seats pushed, shoved and cheered their way past stern door guards, and to be sure, if the Who's 15-minute preview of its film, "Quadrophenia," hadn't begun on time, there would have been little controlling the crowd.

Pity the movie houses when "Quadrophenia" opens in Detroit if the same zealous group shows up to watch the mods versus the rockers on the blood-spattered beaches of Brighton while the driving "My Generation" batters their brains.

Detroiters at Masonic, resembling the tough leather-jacketed rockers of the film, raised Who banners high on Masonic's balcony railings. Like the banners, the fans never came down the entire evening.

BOOS THUNDERED for a couple of minutes after the "Quadrophenia" teaser ended, but then the stage curtain was pulled up and the fans were satisfied knowing that they ruled, because there was Townshend giving them his familiar flying arm, whirling it down past his burgundy Les Paul guitar strings. And Roger Daltrey, boyish in his mod "do," showed that he could still throw a mike like a boomerang.

At this point, the Who launched into its 1966 hit, "Substitute," and if it were possible the audience went even more berserk.

The group then followed up with its first recorded hit, the 1965 "I Can't Explain," the band — and the crowd's — furious mood continuing throughout the performance.

"Good-bye, Sister Disco," instilled new hate in rock 'n' rollers. The group simulated a discotheque with whirling spotlights above new drummer Kenny Jones' head. If disco thought it still had a fighting chance, forget it. Daltrey's aggressive vocals sent that genre to the big dance floor in the sky.

THE SHOW included as many top hits as it could hold during the night. Hits like "I Can See for Miles," "Long Live Rock," "My Generation" and "Pinball Wizard" all sent the crowd into some indescribable ecstasy that reached untold heights when Daltrey, with spotlights staring the crowd in the eye, sang ". . . gazing at you, I get the heat . . ."

Even after 2½ incredible hours, the crowd was not satiated. Roaring chants of "Who, Who, Who . . ." forced the band back onstage for a 15-minute version of "Dancin' in the Streets," which was followed by "Young Man Blues" from the "Live at Leeds" album. That still wasn't enough, and Townshend came back, pleading apologetically with the crowd for a reprieve, grinning and exhorting the crowd to "think positive," the Who will be back.

DANCE CONCERT FOR CHILDREN SAT. DEC. 15 — 2 P.M. COMMUNITY ARTS AUD. Children $1.00 — Adults $2.00 Wayne State — 450 Kirby RESERVATIONS 557-4273