The Beloved Who

By Peter Cowan

The power and glory of rock and roll were unleashed over the weekend by the beloved Who.

The famous quartet, an institution at 12-years-old, stunned a capacity crowd at Winterland Saturday with a remarkably fresh show of mostly old tunes. It is to the Who’s credit that it can whip up five and six-year-old songs let alone 11-year-olds, and have the audience near crazy.

But crazy rock and roll is timeless, and because it’s what they do best, the Who stays young.

They opened with “Can’t Explain” and “Substitute” from 1965. Guitarist Pete Townshend lurched about the stage doing his exaggerated windmill chords while Roger Daltrey did his militaristic marching number and began twirling his microphone like a lariat.

Madman drummer Keith Moon exhibited his roundhouse-cover everything chops and bassist John Entwistle stayed aloof to one side as always. It was like old times.

Thoughts of the band’s rumored split from earlier in the year made the moment something a bit more to relish.

For the next 95 minutes, the Who decimated the sold-out house, the first of two nights in town. A stronger, well paced, big, booming production, I cannot remember. Everything clicked like clockwork and the Who played exceptionally.

A major reason the show came off so well was the facility. By now, Winterland has achieved a special level of excellence in rock production (sightlines, sound and lighting) and for a supergroup like the Who, a show is really milked for the optimum effect.

Saturday, it was the lighting which became particularly integral. All night long a full complement of bright spots rigged above the Who had blazed down highlighting their every move, but when Daltrey moved into “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me," from “Tommy,” we were due for another surprise.

A green laser serrated into about 20 piercing beams from behind him and shone the entire length of the hall. Soon, three others of different color were cross cutting, making a fantastic web of light in the darkness. Where the light hit, illusions appeared that seemed three-dimensional. As the music increased, so did the laser’s fields.

The crowd oohed and ahhed, almost like it was watching a fireworks display.

The Who played only two new songs, choosing to concentrate on material from “Tommy” (1969) and “Who’s Next” (1971) with occasional nods to some of their singles.

With Townshend’s resourceful chordal work at the heart of the matter, the band played “My Wife,” “Baba O’Reilly,” “Magic Bus,” the “Tommy” sequence (“Acid Queen,” “Pinball Wizard,” “We’re Not Gonna Take It”), “Summertime Blues,” “My Generation-Join Together” and “We Don’t Get Fooled Again.”

Just before “My Generation,” Daltrey threw his microphone down disgustedly on the floor, picked it up and did it again. Then wielding a microphone stand menacingly, he hurled it offstage. Apparently, a photographer in the pit had irked him taking too many pictures.

The Steve Gibbons band opened the show with an industrious set of rock.