'The Who,' one of rock music's most visual and exciting stage acts, will make their only Bay Area appearances in two shows at the Berkeley Theater, Allston Way and Grove Street, 8 p.m., Monday, June 15 and Tuesday, June 16. Appearing with The Who in the Berkeley shows will be the four-man country-rock group, Rig.

Admission to this Bill Graham production will be $3.50, $4.50 and $5.50, with advance tickets available at the Down Town Box Office, San Francisco; Discount Records, Berkeley; Sherman-Clay, Oakland; San Jose Box Office and Palo Alto Box Office.

The Who returned to the Bay Area following an unprecedented appearance at New York's Metropolitan Opera House where producer Bill Graham presented them in their widely acclaimed rock opera, "Tommy," for the final time. An entirely new stage act will be presented in the Berkeley shows.

Release of their latest LP, "Live at Leeds," and a powerful segment in the recently released "Woodstock" film indicate The Who may well be the best live rock group in the world. "Live at Leeds," high on national record charts only two weeks after release, is according to "The New York Times," "quite simply the best live rock album ever made." Also currently on U.S. record charts is a new Who single, "The Seeker."

"Formed in Shepherd's Bush, London, six years ago, The Who first attracted public attention with their heavy rock sound, wild onstage gyrations and guitar-smashing demonstrations. Then, having gained entry to the pop music world with their acrobatics and such hit singles as "My Generation" and "Happy Jack," they began to polish and expand their music to its present brilliant level.

The group's first U.S. hit LP, "Happy Jack" (Decca) brought them to the Fillmore West in 1967 and won them a large FM-progressive rock following.

Subsequent LP releases "The Who Sells Out" and "Magic Bus" scored high U.S. sales, but it was the rock opera "Tommy" that made them true "rock heroes." Pop music critics saw it as a real breakthrough and new direction for rock, while their young audiences adopted "Tommy, can you hear me?" as a creed — often seen scrawled on public buildings and sidewalks.

One of the few "giant" rock acts who still prefer small ballrooms and theaters to large coliseums, they have retained the respect and gratitude of those who saw them first at the Fillmore.

Members of The Who are Peter Townshend, lead guitarist, showman and composer of most of the group's material; drummer Keith Moon; vocalist Roger Daltrey and bassist John Entwhistle.

Rig, a discovery of Fillmore East's Tuesday evening audition series, was formed early last year by former Neil Diamond accompanists Don Kerr (vocals, bass, guitar) and Artie Richards (vocals, guitar, pedal steel guitar) to create a fresh, new country-rock sound.

With the addition of Kendall Kardt (vocals, piano, guitar, bass) and Rick Shlosser (drums) to the group, Rig developed an impressive repertoire of original material, auditioned at Fillmore East and were subsequently signed by Capitol Records.

Capitol has just released their initial LP, "Rig" and will feature the group at its upcoming annual convention.