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According to Townshend, the adversities the band has faced have done more to keep its members together than the successes. And that includes a very sad one, the death of rock's clown prince. Drummer Keith Moon finally self-destructed in September of 1978. One of Moon's legendary antics is chronicled in the opening sequence of "The Kids Are Alright" (now playing at the University Cinema with The Ramones' film "Rock 'n' Roll High School").

Taping "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in 1967, Moon decided to add something to the band's standard treatment of "My Generation" — smashed amps and guitars and smoke bombs. Moon plied a stage hand with booze and bucks to overload a charge of gunpowder in his drum set. The resulting blast threw him off his seat, sent shrapnel from the cymbals through his arm and probably deafened Townshend's left ear.

To replace Moon, the band turned to one of his friends, ex-Small Faces drummer Kenny Jones, who was at that time rehearsing with singer Kelly Harland (from Mercer Island) for a group that would become Lazy Racer. Now Townshend says that Moon's death has provided a tragic background against which ordinary hassles seem less important.

But The Who has had extraordinary problems of late. Eleven people died in the crush at the entrance to its Dec. 11 concert at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. The band now demands reserved seating at its concerts.

But reserved seating didn't stop members of a Frankfurt, West Germany, audience from starting a "karate-kicking running battle with police and dogs" on April 1 when patrolmen tried to arrest a 19-year-old American serviceman who was allegedly trying to sell hashish. Fourteen persons were injured in the melee. A U.S. Army staff sergeant was quoted as saying it was a paranoid scene with more security than he'd ever encountered at a West German concert.

Thanks to the efforts of local promoters, the Seattle Police Department's special activities section and the Seattle Center, the Coliseum has a fantastic track record in handling large rock concerts. But even the cooperative and well-controlled crowd that is expected here will be keyed-up beyond normal bounds.

The Who is an awesome rock and roll band. Only a Sonics playoff game could have generated more excitement in the Coliseum.