The Who performed last night.

Adjectives can be easily bandied about. At various times in their concert I thought of such descriptions as ear-shattering (my ears were still ringing a half hour after the last note), loud, pretentious, dull, boring, monotonous, nostalgic, inspiring, awesome, great and tremendous. If this suggests I had mixed emotions it's because I did.

The first sound at the beginning of the set was the standing ovation given them, homage not given to many. For their past achievements they certainly deserve it. For "Tommy," of course, and their showy stage act, Peter Townsend's feedback. All of it the makings of a Legend In Their Own Time.

But from the first notes of "Love Ain't for Keeping," it was apparent that the sound system was of poor quality and the volume about 50 decibels past the amount it would take to stun an ox.

The first ten songs ran together, apparently with the same chord patterns. Bass player John Entwhistle's "My Wife," "Can't Explain," "Substitute," "Bargain," and an old Marvin Gaye song "Baby don't Do It" were a few of the selections pounded out to the receptive (an understatement) crowd.

It was all very dramatic as you pondered such questions (provided you could hear yourself ponder) as, "Will Keith Moon ever catch one of the drumsticks he continually threw in the air? (he did); "Will Peter Townsend get tired of jumping in the air? (he didn't); "Will Roger Daltrey stop trying to be sexy and start to sing for real?" (who knows?).

Finally, with "Pinball Wizard," they started to play for real. "My Generation," "Magic Bus," and "See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me," running together for 20 minutes, made it all worthwhile from my standpoint.

Mylon, a rock and soul group from Atlanta, did itself a fine set that deserved more audience support.

They will also play tonight, with Patti LaBelle going Friday and Saturday.

The Who will be at the Music Hall through Saturday.