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ing his technical crew received, especially since the glitches forced Townshend to scrap most of his new rock opera "PsychoDerelict." But the screwup actually led to an incredibly free-form, improvised rock show, as Townshend reeled explosively from Who songs to solo tunes, from the flat-out mania of "Magic Bus" (a classic since the Woodstock days) to a surprisingly tender cover of Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country." Townshend did the Dylan ballad, he said, because it reminded him of his family at home in England (he has three kids), far away from the craziness of the road.

Although he suffered from a cold and was nearly ballistic at his stage crew, Townshend used last night's show as rock therapy. He played for three hours nonstop (nary a soul left the arena during that time) and ended up only adding to his legacy as one of rock's most tumultuous, most cantankerous figures.

His show started slowly. He

PETE TOWNSHEND At: Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts last night

tossed off some Who tunes (a great "Behind Blue Eyes," a bad "Pinball Wizard," a drudgily acoustic "Kids are Alright") some solo tracks (a solid "Rough Boys") and an impressively emotional tune ("Heart to Hang on To") from his collaborative "Rough Mix" album with Ronnie Lane in 1976.

He also talked strangely about the future of rock ("Stadiums are over for rock 'n' roll") and his own identity crisis from all the money he made from his Broadway show, "Tommy." He said, "Now that money isn't an issue for me for the rest of my life, what do I do? I come and see you guys." He came off as self-indulgent.

Then came the ill-fated "PsychoDerelict" songs. He did only a few tunes from this pungent tale about a burnt-out rocker who finds new life (with three actors playing the roles of the rocker, his manager and a

PETE TOWNSHEND

nosy disc jockey) before the screen projections failed and Townshend blew up.

To his credit, he fought through it and used rock 'n' roll as his escape valve. Although a bit hoarse from his cold (and wiping his nose repeatedly), he blistered through "Magic Bus" (dual guitarists Phil Palmer and Andy Fairweather-Low also blazed behind him), then hit a transcendent level with The Who's "You Better You Bet," which had the

crowd waving fists in support, knowing that Townshend had found a second wind.

The nirvana continued. Townshend, slamming out guitar chords with his patented windmill motions, roared through "Just a Little is Enough," "English Boy" (a crunching, Who-like rocker from "PsychoDerelict"), the English Beat's "Save It for Later," and Who tunes "Who are You," "Face to Face" and "Won't Get Fooled Again."

His band also rose to his intensity. Drummer Simon Phillips pounded out grooves with abandon, harp player Peter Hope-Evans ran around stage like a lunatic and backup singer Katie Kissoon (who has toured with Eric Clapton and Van Morrison) pushed Townshend to even greater heights.

He finally let the crowd go with a sterling acoustic treatment of "My Generation," then a climactic "Eminence Front." By this time he was like a stick of dynamite, but the show proved once again that an agitated Townshend may be the best Townshend of all.