Ever since its emergence on the American music scene in the late '60s the Who has better than anyone fashioned out the most integral attributes of rock 'n' roll and combined them with the finest word-paintings of rock's most recurring theme — teenage angst.

Though they have long since outgrown their own adolescent frustrations, their sets are still filled with many of the songs which contain these thematic and musical qualities. To some, the sounds of "My Generation" and "I Can See for Miles" seem ironic, but the group performs these numbers out of a commitment not to shortchange the audience. And the concert Wednesday night in the Omni did anything but shortchange the audience.

In two hours the venerable British rock band performed a microcosm of both their own history and that of pop music's, giving the predominantly late 20's audience everything they could have asked for in a Who concert. Beginning the set with "Substitute," and "I Can't Explain," two mid-60s British hits, the Who reached back in time conjuring up forgotten memories for some and educating others as to where it all began.

Pete Townshend, the magna cum loudly guitarist and songwriter, bounced around the stage leaping though the set like the insurgent youngster who once voiced the battle cry for

Britian's '60s clash between the Mods and Rockers. Wearing his once-standard ankle-high construction boots, a pair of baggy chinos, and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he strummed a Fender Telecaster in his characteristic windmill fashion.

Singer Roger Daltrey also executed one of his longstanding performance traits – the relentless twirling of his well taped microphone. Sporting a shortly cropped hair cut, jeans and sleeveless T-shirt, the vocalist never missed a note, always dancing about the stage in perfect time with the ictus of the songs. During tunes like "Baba O'Reilly," "Music Must Change," and "Won't Get Fooled Again" Daltrey's voice climbed up and down the musical scale perfectly complimented by the strong rhythm section behind him.

That rhythm section, which now includes the flowing keyboard style of John (Rabbit) Bundrick and a three-man horn section, gave more depth to the band's performance, something they sporadically needed five years ago when they last performed in Atlanta.

Since that Atlanta concert the group has undergone some serious changes and one of those, the loss of drummer Keith Moon, was clearly felt at times. Moon was the antagonizing humorist of the Who, a charismatic per-