Free Press Photo by MARY SCHROEDER

The Who at the Silverdome in front of 40-foot high letters proclaiming them. A video screen above the stage is showing Pete Townshend performing.

Who pumps up manic rock fans

This story was written by Free Press Asst. Entertainment Editor John Smyntek and reported by staff writers Gary Graff and Johnette Howard and special writers Robin Nielsen and Stuart Logan.

The Who, the Clash and Eddie Money rocked 'n' rolled a crowd of more than 70,000 people at the Pontiac Silverdome Thursday night at a giant concert where there was as much manic activity on the floor and in the seats as there was on stage.

Clearly, the sweltering masses — the temperature inside the big donut was much more than the usual 72 degrees — were pumped up by the megadecible sound of the legendary British band and its two opening acts.

Thousands of people successfully crashed the security guards stationed to control the crowd on the Silverdome floor, which is normally the football playing field.

Special tickets were required for access to the main floor, but the youthful, rambunctious crowd would simply rush in small groups at the security guards and crash onto the main floor. About 10,000 floor tickets had been sold, but Phil Ober, spokesman for the show producers, Belkin, said thousands more could be safely accommodated on the floor.

See WHO, Page 6C