(Continued from Page B7)

The band. No longer were they feeling their way through the songs. What’s more, they’d tightened up their show, casting out the clunks and plugging in upbeat numbers.

“Tommy” had been trimmed by five minutes (gone was “Fiddle About”), and Townshend’s acoustic selections from his new solo album, “The Iron Man,” were eliminated entirely. The only uncertainty of the entire evening came at the start of another “Iron Man” number, “Dig,” which was sandwiched into the middle of the three-song encore.

In place of the “Iron Man” songs were a couple of dance numbers from their ‘80s studio albums, the slow funk of “Eminence Front” and the full-tilt “Face the Face,” which inspired a Townshend jitterbug across the stage. Townshend followed that with a series of slashing windmill strums in the hard blues rendition of Bo Diddley’s “I’m a Man,” which appeared on their first album.

Unchanged were the sure-fire trio of early songs which came next — “Can’t Explain,” “Substitute” and “I Can See For Miles.” Entwistle still had his two-song segment also, but this time with clever strobe effects to accompany the “creepy-crawly” chorus to “Bo-ris the Spider.”

The high energy level of “Who Are You,” with which the band exited for intermission, was cranked up a couple more notches when they returned with “Magic Bus” and a truly transcendent “Baba O’Reilly,” with Daltrey’s vocals hanging in the air over the 35,000-voice chorus of “teen-age wasteland.”

Daltrey’s finest moment, however, came in “Love Reign O’er Me,” his Greek-god-like features contorting classically on the giant video screens as his voice soared.

Daltrey, first in a white tank top, then shirtless in a black leather jacket, totally fulfilled his role as the band’s physical frontman.

Townshend, embodying their brains and their quirks, looked like a churchman for the first half of the show in a gray suit over a black collarless pullover. After intermission, he struck a working-man’s air in suspenders over a blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves.

And work he did. Townshend danced, jumped, sang and generally broke every promise he made in the name of good sense and moderation before the tour began. He’d abandoned his no-windmilling edict on that first date in Toronto, but now he attacked his guitar without concern for the strings or his fingernails. He did a Jimi Hendrix turn in the encore, blazing through one of Hendrix's signature songs, “Hey Joe.”

The crowd was as charged up as the band. Those in reserved seats on the field stood on their chairs for the entire show. Many in the stands leaped the wall and surged toward the stage. They danced, smoked, threw firecrackers, sang along with massive enthusiasm and, for the quiet moments of “Behind Blue Eyes,” filled the stadium with the magic glow of thousands of cigarette lighters held aloft.

The only people who didn’t have a good time were the promoters, who fell considerably short of their break-even point. They didn’t even open the stadium’s upper decks. In a tour where coliseum sell-outs are the rule, this was said to be the biggest loss.

Concert-goers show their enthusiasm during Tuesday night’s show.

A view from the stands showing the crowd, which was as charged up as the band. Those in reserved seats on the field stood on their chairs for the entire show. Fans, below, bounce a large silver-colored ball through the crowd as The Who plays its popular "Pin Ball Wizard."

Roger Daltrey hits some high notes, above, and with the tambourine, below, during The Who concert at Rich Stadium Tuesday night. Daltrey fulfilled his role as the band's physical frontman.

PHOTOS: JAMES P. McCOY / Buffalo News