An opening concert is a very tricky thing. Musicians who have performed well in pre-concert practices sometimes fold when the pressure is on. Others seem to save their best performances for the clutch.

The latter was true when The Who rolled over a capacity crowd in Charlotte’s Coliseum Saturday night.

In the locker room, lead guitar maestro Pete Townshend calmly answered reporters’ questions.

“I couldn’t be any prouder of this group,” Townshend said, drinking a Coke and reflecting upon the first concert of the British group’s current American tour.

“What you saw out there tonight was true character,” Pete said. “You know, some people have been saying lately that music doesn't build character, but they should have been here tonight.”

The Who got off to a shaky start. The opening group that ran interference for them was obviously suffering from sophomore jitters and was mauled badly by the psyched-up audience. But The Who straightened themselves out by the second period and by halftime there was no doubt as to the outcome.

“What was the big play of the game?” one reporter asked Townshend.

“When Keith Moon dropped his drumstick in the second period,” Townshend replied. “That was what we call a busted play. It could have been disastrous; we were in danger of losing our momentum. But John Entwhistle on bass came through real well right then and we kept the drive we needed.”

He paused. “You may not know this, but Keith's had injury problems lately. He had a bad wrist in practice, and we held him out. In fact, we asked him if he didn’t want to sit it out. But — son of a gun — he wanted to play and he did a heckuva job.”

Then Pete talked about Entwhistle, who has been with the band since its inception.

“Sometimes we take John for granted because he’s so good,” Pete said. “He just stands there and plays. Nothing fancy, but he gets the job done and always comes up with the

“I think he’s the best bassman around — an All-American.”

Pete was then asked about recurring rumors that he would take over the head job with Grand Funk, which has been in a slump lately.

“I’m stunned by that rumor,” he said. “It’s the first I’ve ever heard of it. I’m very happy here right now.”

In another corner of the locker room, lead singer Roger Daltrey sipped an RC, ate a pack of nabs, and calmly looked back on the Charlotte victory.

“This is a good win for us,” he said. “We had some doubts about our attack. But Keith came in there and played well,” looking over where Moon was holding his wrist in pain.

“You’ll never know how much of an inspiration he is for us,” Daltrey said solemnly. “We dedicated this concert to him.”

Someone asked Daltrey about the Who’s schedule, which included a stop at Alabama last night and a tough match with a Georgia Tech crowd in Atlanta Tuesday night.

“We just play them one at a time,” Daltrey said. “Alabama’s a tough crowd; the Osmond Brothers really got killed there in an exhibition.

“Personally, I don’t think the Osmonds are as good as we are, but please don’t print that. That’s the kind of thing that ends up on guitar cases, and the players end up remembering it the next time you play.”

Of course, there’s the possibility of a rock festival bid later in the year.

“Yes, but we’re just interested in Alabama right now,” Daltrey said. “I’d like to go to a rock festival again though and I think we have the band to do it. It’ll take a great effort, though.”

Two writers filed out of Charlotte Coliseum sadly.

“You know, this is the reason I started covering music instead of football,” one said. “Football coaches never say anything, so I thought these guys might be a little more talkative. But it’s no different.”

“That’s right,” the other said. “But we won’t get fooled again.”