MANSFIELD, Mass. — Having made a bundle from the success of "The Who's Tommy" on Broadway, Pete Townshend spent a bundle on his first solo outing, presenting a multimedia show, with actors and music in a short summer tour.

■ Rock review

Playing before the biggest audience yet in his only New England stop Monday night at Great Woods, the whole thing broke down. And Townshend, whose new production, "PsychoDerelict," has to do, in part, with revealing the secrets of rock stardom, learned another one: Keep it simple.

Finding that an elaborate projection unit had never been functioning properly behind him, he threw the kind of onstage rant I hadn't seen since, well, a Who concert in 1972.

Not that the lack of production value on the screen was noticed by the adoring audience, who were used to seeing rock operas that didn't quite make sense. But the livid Townshend announced he was dropping the whole "PsychoDerelict" production that night, with its actors and faulty projections.

And though he started into oldies that got a better reception anyway — "Magic Bus" in a Bo Diddley beat, and "You Better You Bet" — he returned to what most fans would have appreciated on the CD as well: just the new music, minus the actors and effects.

And without such distractions, the new songs, "Outlive the Dinosaur," the ballads "Now & Then" and "I Am Afraid," show that Townshend's songwriting prowess is undiminished; he's still singing from his heart, which, as he explains in his songs, is increasingly difficult to do.

By the time he returned to the rockers, "Don't Try To Make Me Real" and "English Boy," he turned his very real anger into a stunning, snarling performance, as he always did with the Who.

Townshend looks his 48 years. With what's left of his hair cut short, his long body and elongated mug, it's reminiscent of the old screen comic Huntz Hall. Although he stuck to acoustic on the last Who tour, he played electric half the time (although the sound system was equally unpredictable), and jumped around the stage, knowing he could elicit cheers every time he unleashed a windmill chord.

The three-hour show had many more oldies than anyone had a right to expect — from solo work such as "Rough Boys," "Let My Love Open the Door" and the exquisite "Heart To Hang Onto" to surprising cover versions of the English Beat's "Save It for Later" and, added at the last minute, a touching version of Bob Dylan's "Girl from North Country," dedicated to his family.

He needn't have played all those Who anthems like "Face the Face" and "Who Are You," or even "Eminence Front." His "Tommy" medley seemed a little tame, and expected, as well. But a slightly different arrangement of "Won't Get Fooled Again" nicely made way for "Let's See Action."

Best of all were his delightful solo acoustic renderings of such very early Who rockers as "I'm a Boy," "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and "The Kids Are Alright." Later, an unplugged revision of "My Generation" using blues chords eventually made way for Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man."

It's amazing that Townshend has never toured before, thwarting earlier solo works such as "The Iron Man" with retro-sludge of the Who anniversary tour, and seemingly stepping on his own new album with the Broadway "Tommy" hoopla. With this strong performance, and his undisguised glee at playing it, let's hope he's back on stage again soon.