Considering the fabric of legendary popular music groups, it's not surprising that The Who is the first recent group Salt Lakers have seen which has shunned gimmickry and relied heavily on its music.

With the exception of a right display toward the end of their "Tommy" segment, Peter Townshend, Roger Daltry, John Entwhistle and Keith Moon seemingly concentrated their efforts in presenting well-known Who songs as forcefully, yet with as little gimmickry, as possible.

And unlike such giants as George Harrison and Eric Clapton when they played in Salt Lake, Thursday’s concert at the Salt Palace featured the Who, and only The Who. There were no "guest stars" on hand to hail the stars if they sat in over their heads.

Not that Mssrs. Townshend, Daltry, Moon and Entwhistle ever seemed to be in danger of that. In fact, their concert was extremely well-concentrated, offering a set of Who songs that seemed to leave everyone happy.

The concert started out slow with a number of songs that varied only slightly in key and almost never in tempo. Even the current Who hit "Squeeze Box" lost its subtlety in live performance, and the show threatened to become monotonous.

The turning point seemed to be "Magic Bus," which drummer Moon introduced with a pleasing counter-beat that apparently signaled the change. From then on, all stops were pulled and The Who took off.

Daltry's previously different singing and juggling suddenly became livelier. Townshend let loose with one of his staggering guitar feedback solos. Moon cheerfully played his instruments and juggled. Only Entwhistle contrasted, concentrating on laying a workmanlike bass line to the songs.

Behind the hard, persistent beat and "heavy" guitars, however, lay the subtle three and four-part harmonies that have let The Who survive while other bands of their era have disappeared.

It's that vocal and composing talent, coupled with a sound knowledge of their performing limitations, that has helped The Who survive the onrush of fame.

It’s that characteristic which allows them to survive the strain of being "legendary" and continue to make the kind of music that helped them attain that status. The Who still can perform "Won't Get Fooled Again" or "Summertime Blues" with conviction because they know that the music led to fame, and the fact that they are around.