At the start of its Monday night performance at Mountain View's Shoreline Amphitheatre, The Who came to the stage with little fanfare, as if it were any other five-piece band.

Pete Townshend picked up his guitar and ran his fingers across it to check the tune and volume, as if that hadn't been meticulously set hours before.

The first two songs, "I Can't Explain," and "Substitute" were crisp and energetic. Then, before laying into "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere," Townshend said, "I was so clever when I wrote this, now I'm f— stupid."

It was at that instant, in a moment of candid self-deprecation, that it all came back. If you believe that Townshend thinks for one second that he's stupid, maybe you are.

Like Mick Jagger, Townshend is a marketing genius. Besides that, he's greedy as all get out. He'd sell any Who song — and has — for a fistful of dollars. He's also on a never-ending farewell tour, if you haven't noticed.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Like the Stones' most recent tour, this Who tour is a back-to-basics '70s-era redux.

Singer Roger Daltrey jumped around stage like someone 10 years younger and John Entwistle still filled the role of the underdog, the "spirited third member." (He introduced his song "My Wife" as "My Dog.")

Keyboardist John Bundrick did all the right things on songs like "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Pinball Wizard," and drummer Zak Starkey, whose dad slapped skins in another British group called The Beatles, did a decent Keith Moon impersonation.

Except he has zero drum

Concert Review

solos. That brings us back to my previous point — this is Townshend's Who, a Who that will justify charging $150 for a top ticket and $30 for a basic tour shirt. It's a good time, but there's also something somewhat soulless about the whole thing.

The light show was out of the '70s and the backdrop simple.

The show featured several given hits: "Baba O'Riley," "The Kids Are Alright" and "Who Are You" — all adequate. "Pinball Wizard" was in a shortened version, but an overwhelming crowd favorite.

Like the last Stones tour, there were a few surprises, too, such as "I Don't Even Know Myself" and "Naked Eye," both lesser known tracks from "Who's Next."

"I Don't Even Know Myself," a highlight, featured Daltrey on harmonica.

But you can't invent arena rock without a few over-indulgent guitar epics, and Townshend had a handful of those up his sleeve. "The Relay," which approached 10 minutes, stopped all the momentum gained by "The Kids Are Alright," which preceded it.

Likewise, beginning the en-

core with "Naked Eye" and a dull "Let's See Action" wasn't exciting.

Still, the classics were nice to hear. "Magic Bus" ran like a funky groove train and proved to be a workout for Daltrey, who plugged away admirably. "Behind Blue Eyes" featured a tension-building introduction by Townshend before the band tore into the meat of the song.

By the end of the show, though, Townshend's clever quips became infrequent, the windmills sporadic.

Fortunately for the audience, Entwistle stepped up with a big fat bass solo on "5:15." The fact that Entwistle's one and only solo came just before the end of the set further reminded that this was Townshend's deal.

The show was a solid Who reproduction of its heyday, similar to how the Stones deal with their legendary status these days. The level of hype surrounding the tour is as big is it ever was, but the quality of the product can't measure up. It's unlike Bob Dylan, who continues to have something to offer creatively.

The Stones are still a hoot to see live — this was, fairly, a whoot.

You can e-mail Aaron Tassano at atassano@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4839.