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Though the impact was of yet another stadium concert, far from the pin-you-to-your-seats power of my first Who concert 19 years ago in a concert hall with 48,000 fewer fellow listeners.

The Rolling Stones may be more popular, but to die-hard rock fans the Who is the real heart of rock ’n’ roll.

“No way is this music for old people!” exclaimed Kevin Davis, 26, of Sacramento. His wife, Kim, 21, added, “I don’t listen to today’s rock. I like the lyrics and the old bands better.”

The three surviving members of the original Who quartet worked with a 12-member backing band, including drummer Simon Phillips, percussionist Jodi Linscott, lead guitarist Steve Bolton, five horns and three vocalists mostly assembled from Townshend’s 1986 Deep End band.

Far from acting over the hill, the aging trio performed longer than in their heyday, polishing off three hours’ worth of hits and favorites, with a 15-minute intermission in the middle, designed as much to give the audience as well as the band a chance to recover.

Daltrey led the crowd in Bo Diddley’s “I’m a Man,” and later the band roared through such hits as “My Generation,” “Can’t Explain” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

The Who’s 25th anniversary reunion tour ends tonight at the Coliseum, the same place the band performed locally on its 1982 “farewell” tour. The 25-city tour began June 24 in Toronto.

With 51,000 tickets sold at $25 (plus service charge) each, the Who will gross $2.5 million in two nights at the Coliseum.

Oakland is home turf. This is the band’s third time at the stadium. They played a two-day stand with the Grateful Dead in 1977, and by themselves in 1982. They also performed at the indoor Coliseum Arena in 1980.

For the anniversary tour the Who didn’t bother recording a new album, although the band made a guest appearance on Townshend’s new “Iron Man” solo concept album.

So the show focused on mostly older material, with only a minor nod to the ’80s. This was the band’s chance to share the musical high points of its past with its new and old fans.

Most of the songs are still staples of rock radio. The hard rock approach that the Who used to rail against an older generation of parents and authority figures when they were just out of their teens still has validity, especially if you were born after 1970, as was a good portion of last night’s crowd.

And, while countless bands have come along in the past 25 years and built careers on borrowing from the Who sound, hard rock hasn’t really improved or progressed. The Who was one of the first that said it the best in incisive, biting and usually brief outbursts of screamed or shouted lyrics and feedback guitar blasts.

Townshend donated $10,000 to the local HEAR (Hearing Education Awareness for Rockers) organization, launched by Contractions bassist Kathy Peck who, like Townshend, suffers hearing damage from exposure to loud music.