THE WHO — British rock group opened their 1975 American tour with a concert in The Summit Thursday night. Personnel: Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals), Roger Daltrey (vocals, harmonica), John Entwistle (bass, vocals), Keith Moon (drums, vocals). Opening act reggae group Toots and the Maytals. Presented by Pantera Ten productions, in association with Pace Management.

The very minute that Roger Daltrey first unleashed the hand mike, whipping the cord out and round and round like a berserk lariat, I was struck by this intense chill in the spine.

The feeling grew during that shuddery moment when Pete Townshend first took flight, jerking the guitar up high, while his thin legs propelled him upwards like a jack-in-the-box.

If you were there, if you were lucky enough to be in The Summit Thursday night for the kickoff concert The Who's American tour, then you know exactly what I mean. About 18,000 in that sellout crowd seemed to feel that same chill at the same moment, and the "ooohs" and "aaaahs" testified to the fact that THIS, this exactly, is what we had come to see — one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands in history, proving to us all that they were indeed, fit as a fiddle, and still crazy after all these (10) years.

The evening opened with a tasty 30-minute set from Toots and the Maytals, one of the finest reggae bands in all of Jamaica. Their set consisted of everything from their own "Pressure Drop" to - catch this, now - a reggae version of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads." It was a fine set, short but highly infectious.

The intermission killed 30 minutes, then the roars went up and the quartet raced onstage. Once drummer Keith Moon had stopped his patented mugging long enough to get behind his kit, the band burst (there's no other word for it) into a loud and rousing "Substitute."

The place went wild, and the aisles were soon jammed with people. Moon was thrashing away at the cymbals, Townshend was smiling and giving out with those violent, windmill-motion licks, Daltrey was strutting the stage in a spotlight as golden as his locks, and John Entwistle simply stood his ground and played, as always.

The group eased into "I Can't Explain" before the applause from the first tune had peaked, and, by then, even the ushers had to be captivated by it all.

Despite all those tales of friction within the group, and stories about how sloppy their playing was during the British tour, everything seemed to working tonight. (Had the band psyched itself up for the opening of the U.S. tour?) Whatever, their playing seemed impressively tight to me, and the pacing of the show was such that a listener never had much of a chance to regain his breath.

"Squeeze Box," from the new album, was next, then on to one of the finest Who-rockers, "Baba O' Riley." Daltrey's voice was strong and smooth throughout the demanding tune, and the torrents of sound built by Moon and Townshend were electrifying.

Entwistle made a rare appearance in the spotlight for his "Boris The Spider" (very fine), and Daltrey followed with another demanding song — "Drowned" from "Quadrophenia."

As the show progressed, Townshend began to chat more. He started right after "Baba O' Riley" by saying the group was "really excited to be back in the States," and, after "Drowned," he introduced the new "However Much I Booze" by saying it was a song he'd written "the night I gave up drinking."

Pete's voice was in fine form, also. Daltrey followed with "Dreaming From the Waist" and a magnificent "Behind Blue Eyes."

Madman Moon introduced the next selection — a collection of songs from "Tommy." It was brilliant, a fast-moving montage that ranged from the intro to the finale, "Acid Queen," a great - "Fiddle About" sung by Moon, Daltrey crashing two tambourines together until both were absolutely WRECKED, Townshend doing his classic stand-up spread-eagle, then into a powerful "Pinball Wizard" that threatened to take the roof off.

When I had to leave, Daltrey was into "We're Not Gonna Take It," singing in a single spot, with a sunburst of laser beams behind him. It looked positively beautiful on the closed-circuit color TV screens (which worked marvelously all evening), and, for a moment, I felt like throwing my notebook away and staying.

Pete Townshend

Roger Daltrey

—Post photos by Bela Ugrin