IT WOULD have been quite an ordinary piece of paper really—that is if it hadn't been for the fact that on current exchange rates a piece of highly treasured green paper was demanded in return—but there was definitely something different about it.

It wasn't the red squiggles or the pretty coloured inks splashed across its face, or even the strange word "Ents" which it also bore that attracted me. So what was it?

And then suddenly, like a triumphant mole I saw the light. It was a ticket and it was for The Who and The James Gang tour date at Sheffield University last Saturday.

The Who have always puzzled me because although basically a pop group they attract the same type of audience and following as some of the more successful underground progressive bands.

Audience spent

Listening to their music, which has an endemic rock element, it is perhaps easier to understand, although possibly it becomes more confusing as there are also present a lot of ingredients that have never been part of the recipe for this type of music.

At Sheffield they played for an exhausting 1½ hours at the end of which the audience visibly slumped, spent with the effort of participation drawn from them.

A large part of this time was taken up with selections from their rock opera "Tommy" a Pete Townshend creation which has brought them wide-ranging acclaim both in this country and in the States.

White boiler suit

The expressiveness of the music in "Tommy" which paints a vivid picture of the life of this blind, deaf mute, would do justice to any classical composer, and rates favourably alongside their operas.

But The Who are much more than musicians, they are entertainers in the true sense of the word.

No one can fail to warm to their quick fire jokes between numbers, or fail to notice their confident professionalism and watching his antics on stage no one can fail to realise why Townshend favours a white boiler suit instead of jeans or trousers.

Gang lack bite

The James Gang, a threesome from Cleveland, Ohio, failed to impress me as much as they impressed The Who when they were asked to join them for the present tour.

They are good instrumentalists who play rock and blues with vocals thrown in, rather than conceived with the music, which is not a bad thing. But they sound rather like Led Zeppelin, whom I like too much to listen to imitations, and they lack vitality.