Associated Press photo Roger Daltrey, foreground, and bassist John Entwisle at the start of the Who’s 25th anniversary tour at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

The Who still rock wizards

By PAUL CLOOS

Gannett News Service

Those deft strummin’ British boys’ sure play some mean rock ’n’ roll.

You might have thought that at the start of the Who’s 25th anniversary tour Wednesday at the Glens Falls (N.Y.) Civic Center — also the 20th anniversary of the rock opera “Tommy” — that the band might open with the rock story of the deaf, dumb and blind boy.

They did.

You might also have thought that on the first day of summer they would play Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart’s “Summertime Blues.”

They did.

What didn’t they play?

For hour after hour — more than 3 ½ hours in all — the band played a long list of tunes spanning its career. The surprising thing was that they played them all so very, very well.

In what was billed as a warm-up for their 24-city tour, the band was anything but out of practice. The group comes to Giants Stadium June 29-30 and July 2-3. They appear at Veteran Stadium in Philadelphia July 9-10.

Roger Daltrey, whose voice you might think was a little weary after 44 years of living and at least 25 years of screaming rock and roll, was right in tune and full of power.

Pete Townshend, whose hearing has paid the price of playing loud guitar, sang well and played some of the best, rockingist acoustic guitar possible. He also sang very well and did some of his classic kicking, sliding, jumping and jigging.

Townshend’s one concession to his hearing loss was that he let guitarist Steve “Boltz” Bolton handle most of the electric work. Townshend also had a clear plexiglass sheet in front of him that appeared to be either a teleprompter or a sound shield.

Never mind all that. He was great.

John Entwistle played some of the meanest, thunderous bass he’s capable of. He also sang, from the deep voice on “Boris the Spider” to what many consider his best song, “My Wife.”

The centerpiece of the show and the tour may be the music from “Tommy.” The band played just about all the rock opera to start the show. It was seamless magic.

From “Tommy” on, there were as many high points to the concert as there were songs — and there were 40 songs.

With the Who’s set taking up much of one end of the Civic Center, there was room for only about 5,000 people. “It’s like seeing them in a high school gymnasium,” one fan remarked.

They didn’t disappoint, cruising through older songs such as “Can’t Explain,” “Substitute” and “I Can See For Miles” — then later material like “Who Are You” and “You Better You Bet.”