The Who Performs at Arena Concert

By Dick Richmond

Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

A fresh approach to entertainment does not happen often at a rock concert. However, the British quartet, The Who, managed to do just that when it played selections from its new album, "Quadrophenia," in a performance last night in front of more than 15,000 persons at The Arena.

The Who, which led the second invasion of British rock bands to the United States in the middle 1960s, is probably most noted for Peter Townshend's rock opera "Tommy."

Townshend, who writes all the material for the group, sings and plays guitar and a number of other instruments. Others in the band are Roger Daltrey on lead vocals, John Entwistle on Fender bass, horns and vocals, and Keith Moon on the drums.

"Tommy" told the story of a teen-age pinball wizard. "Quadrophenia" is also about a youth, but it does not have a distinct story line. Rather, it is a series of reflections by a youth with four distinct personalities. The songs, however, are sometimes stories in themselves.

What made the presentation of the selections special was that many of the sound effects of the album such as the sea crashing against the shore were reproduced in a unique way. Stage, the sound of waves slapping against rocks came from several other sections of the building, creating a mental illusion of actually being at the seashore. It was accompanied so effectively that each time it was used much of the audience turned in its seats, straining to see from where the sounds were coming.

During the first part of The Who's turn onstage, the band played some of its earlier hits such as "Sometimes Blues" and "My Generation."

An American band called Lynyrd Skynyrd opened the show.