The Who, Pete Townshend has said, are nothing like they were in the old days, when he windmilled his guitar till his fingers bled and the late Keith Moon punished his drums.

Boy, they must have been something in their prime. Last night at Three Rivers Stadium before 52,000 fans they still put on a more exciting show than about 90 percent of the bands I've seen in the last year. Age and hearing loss — even death — haven't succeeded in smothering the group's fire.

The Who's 25th anniversary summer tour has engendered plenty of controversy. Moon, who died in 1978, was irreplaceable, as subsequent albums and tours proved before the group disbanded in 1982.

To make matters worse, Townshend can no longer play guitar half as loud as he once did because it would destroy what little hearing he has left.

So when the group announced a one-shot summer tour with a projected gross of roughly $100 million, a lot of people smelled a simple dinosaurs-for-dollars transaction. They smelled it even more when the group took on a corporate sponsor. Musician magazine pictured The Who on its July cover as three faces on a dollar bill.

The band admitted it was hard to refuse all the dough. But there's more to it than that, they added. Townshend felt the tour would serve as a retrospective, a reminder of The Who's accomplishments in helping to spawn punk and heavy metal and (although I think he's on shaky ground) in re-popularizing rhythm and blues in America.

Townshend also has an excellent new solo album called "The Iron Man," and he wanted to guarantee it the attention only a Who tour can give. And besides, it was hard to say no to millions of fans.

Whatever the reasons, The Who have pulled it off — albeit with the help of 12 backup musicians and singers. This time around, Simon Phillips had the unenviable task of replacing Moon. Together with percussionist Jodi Linscott, this powerful, inventive drummer was able to silence some of the ghosts.

At the other end, lead guitarist Steve "Boltz" Bolton sounded disappointingly ordinary.

Overall, the band was used a little excessively — the horn charts cluttered, rather than colored, a few of the tunes.

As for the three remaining original members, Townshend dominated the stage. The man with the morose blue eyes played excellent acoustic and electric guitar, from infectious rhythms to delicate chords to an occasional spare, biting lead. He also sang quite a few tunes in a voice as appealing as Roger Daltrey's, to my ears — sweet on the high end, nasty on the low, always intense.

The white-haired John Entwistle, meanwhile, fired manic volleys of notes in a style comparable to Moon's. Entwistle was playing bass like a lead guitar before that became fashionable.

Daltrey, who looks the youngest of the bunch, sang in his rich, if somewhat melodramatic, style. And he can twirl a microphone like nobody else.

The half-dozen songs from Townshend's solo albums might have been the most interesting part of the show. They're rarely heard live, and they don't beg a Moon/post-Moon comparison. Tunes like "Face the Face," "Little Is Enough" and "Rough Boys" are well-constructed, intelligent pieces that also rock ferociously.

The band also reached back to their early stuff. "I Can't Explain" sounded fresh and innocent. Phillips rose to the occasion on "My Generation," as did Entwistle with an awesome bass solo.

Only "I Can See for Miles" never got off the ground, crying for Moon's relentless pummeling and Townshend's original power chording.

The FM radio classics also got an airing — "Baba O'Riely," "Won't Get Fooled Again" and a particularly fine rendering of "Behind Blue Eyes" on which almost everyone in the crowd sang along.

Even the post-Moon stuff sounded good — "You Better You Bet" and the biting "Eminence Front."

Although Townshend writes most of the band's material, Entwistle got to sing a few of his songs as well.

The show began with a half-hour or so of the rock opera "Tommy." I haven't listened closely to most of it for almost 20 years now, and I rediscovered this flawed but imaginative attempt to break rock's three-minute bonds.

In fact, hearing this band's history live made me realize much more clearly what The Who have contributed to rock 'n' roll.

So hurrah for The Who's last hurrah.

Let's just hope that's really what it is, and they don't press their luck.

(Peter B. King is The Pittsburgh Press pop music critic.)

John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend had stadium rocking last night Vince Musi/The Pittsburgh Press

"I really love the Dead," Kane said. "The Who were just on the way."

To make their road trip easier and more fun, Kane and his friends constructed a party room in the back of the rental truck.

Two sofas were set up in the cargo area, forming an "L" shape in the middle of the room. A coffee table was placed between them, momentarily buried beneath an avalanche of empty potato chip bags and used plastic cups.

Grateful Dead posters cover the walls, and a continuous stream of newly made local buddies climb in and out of the truck — with cans of beer and soda in hand.

"We're just having a good time," Kane said. "We're kickin' back, waiting for the party to start."

The caravan's next stop is in Alpine Valley, Wis., for a Grateful Dead show, but Kane hadn't ruled out the possibility of attending another Who concert.

"We might hook up with them when they come to the Midwest," he said. "I liked the show, so I wouldn't mind seeing them again."

One person who was not enjoying himself much at the concert was Todd Rondeah, a 27-year-old graduate student at West Virginia University. Rondeah drove for an hour-and-a-half from Morgantown with fellow students Heike Ebaugh and Todd Mills. They came here because Pittsburgh was the closest stop on The Who's tour schedule.

But he almost wished he hadn't come.

"People are rude as hell here," he said. "I think it's the people Pittsburgh attracts — cold-hearted rednecks."

But, despite the abuse and travel time, Mills said the show was definitely worth a trip to Pittsburgh. "Morgantown never gets any decent concerts. All we get is Whitney Houston and stuff like that."

Besides the music, the concert was pretty quiet.

Police made 21 arrests, mostly for public intoxication, said Craig Merritt of the city's Public Safety Department.

Undercover agents of the state police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, working inside and outside the stadium, made 38 arrests for underage drinking, said Supervisor Jerry Farmer.

Dave Magee likes The Who so much, he drove from Cleveland for the concert.

"I had to see them," he said. "This might be their last tour. I wanted to catch them early, before they get burnt out."

Though Magee is 34, he didn't let all the young faces at the concert intimidate him.

"I've got a daughter that's 14," he said, "so I know how to handle them."

Magee said he'll probably go to see the band when they stop in Cleveland as well, because "for me, The Who takes me back to schooltime. When I was in school, The Who were the ultimate band."

Another reason why Magee likes bands like The Who, is because their music may have played a crucial part in saving his life.

Two years ago, Magee was struck by a passing motorist while working on his car. He said his love of the music of bands like The Who helped him get through the dark times during his recovery.

"When I got hit, the doctors told me I'd never walk again. I spent 38 days in the hospital, but I'm here now. What do they know, anyway?"