The Who, in the final stages of its farewell concert tour, will perform Wednesday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

Coliseum executive director Gene Lambert, who said the concert sold out about two weeks after the 15,000 tickets went on sale in mid-October, said officials are prepared to allow concertgoers to begin lining up outside the Coliseum doors about 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Patrons will be admitted inside the doors at 6:30 p.m., he said. The concert is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

To keep the lines flowing, Lambert said handouts will be passed out to the crowd, with an explanation of line and ticket procedure.

There will be six lines on each side of the Coliseum, Lambert said, making a total of 24 lines. He said barricades will be set up outside the doors with guards checking for tickets.

"People must have their tickets in their hands when they go through the barricade area to verify that each person has a ticket," Lambert said.

Lambert said, although there will be additional security guards to deal with the large crowd, the concert will be handled similar to other concerts.

"If people follow the rules of good behavior and if they look after themselves, their safety will be assured," Lambert said. "We expect no problems whatsoever."

He said there will be at least 11 busloads of people from neighboring states and he expects the out-of-towners and local students will arrive late in the afternoon.

The opening act for the Who will be the Rockets, a rock 'n' roll group traveling with the Who on their final tour, Lambert said.