In 1982, when The Who brought its "farewell" tour to San Diego Stadium, the legendary but aging English rock band appeared tired, irritable and ready to hang it up.

The San Diego stop in particular was so bad for The Who, the band ended the show abruptly when vocalist Roger Daltrey got fed up with the shoes and bottles being thrown from the crowd — which, by the way, was trampling the stadium grass beyond repair.

Funny how things change in seven years. The Who showed up again at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on Tuesday. It was the first concert at the stadium since the 1982 Who show, and showed how time certainly doesn't slow the aging process, but can heal the troubles of the past. The Who also showed the relatively young art of rock 'n' roll has yet to establish an age limit.

More than 40,000 spectators eased into an expanded and protected stadium on Tuesday to hear The Who celebrate 25 years together. The three-hour show spanned almost three decades of Who material, and was a living presentation of rock's several distinctive eras.

Opening the show was a half-hour tribute to "Tommy," the rock opera that established The Who as a worldwide force when it was released in 1969. While The Who had been releasing albums since "The Who Sing My Generation" in 1966, it was "Tommy" that suggested rock 'n' roll could elaborate on its primitive format.

Following a brief respite, the band pounded through the 1982 song "Eminence Front" and guitarist Pete Townshend's songs "Let My Love Open the Door" and "Face to Face."

It's the updated, rap/funk version of "Face to Face," in fact, that serves as a prototype for the new image The Who has cultivated this summer during its extensive tour. That image was at first feared by longtime Who fans who worried that Townshend's hearing problems and lack of enthusiasm might dampen the spirit of the band some call the greatest live rock act of all time.

But those fears have proven unfounded as The Who has gathered both popular and critical support on the tour. It's true Townshend spends half his time on acoustic guitar and that his trademark windmill motion has been cut back. It was only last week, in fact, that Townshend was rushed to the hospital after cutting his hand doing the windmill.

But while the body of one of rock's original bad boys has taken a beating, his enthusiasm seems genuine. Townshend, Daltrey and bassist John Entwistle truly seem to be getting along this time out, and the pleasant result is a stripped-down, concentrated approach to some of rock's classic anthems.

Most were presented last night by The Who and its accompanying multi-piece band, which includes drummer Simon Phillips, longtime keyboard player John "Rabbit" Bundrick, a horn section, back-up vocalists and guitarist Steve Bolton, who can handle the loud parts that have become too painful for Townshend's damaged ears.

The pain was perhaps more present for Who purists, who have the choice of accepting The Who in present form or staying home. Those purists have a point when they decry the loss of The Who's early punk spirit. The anger in many of these songs just isn't there anymore.

The Who, however, accepts that change and makes the best of it. The energy is still there, in a different form. On Tuesday, the band put a simpler feel on pop classics such as "I Can't Explain," "I Can See For Miles" and "Substitute."