Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend will reprise The Who’s rock opera ‘Quadrophenia’ at The Palace Sunday. -AP FILE PHOTO

One more round for the Mod squad

By Gene Stout

N.Y. Times News Service

"John Entwistle was born a long time ago," reads the opening line of Rhino Records’ “bio” of The Who’s bass player.

"He spent his early childhood dodging dinosaurs and searching for a cave with just the right amount of echo."

Entwistle, who turned 52 on Wednesday, chuckled at the passage during a recent phone interview from London.

“I wrote that,” he said. “I got so fed up with other people writing about me that I thought I’d write a tongue-in-cheek bio of my own.”

Though he has toiled for decades behind better-known bandmates Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, the soft-spoken bassist is a man who likes to take charge of his own life.

Entwistle, one of rock’s most admired bass players, is performing with Daltrey and Townshend on The Who’s “Quadrophenia” tour. The tour, which stops at the Palace of Auburn Hills Sunday, coincides with MCA Records’ reissue of “Quadrophenia” on CD.

In July, The Who did six “Quadrophenia” shows at Madison Square Garden. It was the first time the rock supergroup successfully performed Townshend’s “rock opera,” the follow-up to 1969’s “Tommy.”

“Quadrophenia” was based on the Mods, the flamboyantly dressed English youths of the mid-’60s whose lives were often desperate.

Enhanced by synthesizers, a mini choir and videos from the 1979 movie version, the Madison Square Garden shows received glowing reviews. Clearly, the “Quadrophenia” show is a great deal more than just another rock revival in a season of reunion tours.

Joining Entwistle, Daltrey and

See WHO, D2

PREVIEW Who: The Who When: 8 p.m., Sunday. Where: The Palace of Auburn Hills, 3700 Lapeer Road, Auburn Hills

How much: $45, $70, for information, phone (810) 377-0100 or (810) 645-6666.