It's easy to see why The Who is on top of rock

By TOM BASHAM

The band called The Who is the Pittsburgh Steelers of rock and roll. They play longer, stronger and better than just about anybody else.

A case in point was last night's show at the Capital Centre, which kicked off a three-city tour of the Eastern United States. More than 17,000 sonic thrill-seekers absorbed an evening's worth of full-throttle rock, including a 35-minute selection from the rock fairy tale, "Tommy."

The crowd came to hear and see one of rock's most kinetic groups. A Who concert is a study in perpetual motion.

The group has probably played together longer than any rock band alive today. The four musicians who aurally pummeled the Capital Centre crowd are the same four who started out 13 years ago in England as the High numbers.

Lead singer Roger Daltry fronts the band with his mane of curly blond hair and the body of an Olympic wrestler. He prowls the stage constantly, twirling his microphone like a bolo. When he rears back for the big notes, he is a perfect statue of a rock star.

Keith Moon, the maniacal drummer, contributed rhythm and a touch of the bizarre, cackling and waving from behind his gleaming white enamel and polished chrome drum kit. A large electric fan was trained on him throughout the show.

Bass player John Entwistle is quiet, somber and steady. In counterpoint is the group's leader, Peter Townshend. Lean and tall with a skimpy black beard, he looks like he would be more comfortable behind a slide rule than an electric guitar.

But when he starts the music, he becomes a dervish. He spins and leaps, mauls his guitar with windmill strokes, tangles himself in his guitar cord and just gets stronger. His combat boots and knee pads testify to the intensity of his performance.

There were a few stage gimmicks. Green and red lasers and a smoke machine provided the backdrop for the climax of "Tommy."

The band deployed more than five truckloads of speakers, amplifiers, lights, black linoleum stage facing and other paraphernalia.

But The Who, unlike many of their contemporaries, has endured on the strength of their personalities and music and not on their equipment and gimmicks.

After 13 years on stage, their show is thoroughly professional and thoroughly satisfying. They stand at the pinnacle of rock and last night they showed why.