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Maybe it's the toll taken on his pipes after a summer of vocal gymnastics. Either way, the strain of reaching for notes he used more than 30 years ago added a graceful, mature texture to those songs.

Most unchanged was bassist Entwistle, who may be bearded and gray like a wolf, but flicks his bass gazelle-quick next to the lead men. At any moment, he can scale several octaves of bass when needed.

Replacing deceased drummer Keith Moon is Zak Starkey, who has studied his lessons well during multiple tours with the band. It's not easy replacing an icon. But it's probably also not easy being the son of Beatles skinsman Ringo Starr. Starkey handles both duties with aplomb.

The set was laced with 20 hits,

pulling generously from the Who's 1971 pièce de résistance, Who's Next. The frame was adorned with tracks from Tommy and Quadrophenia. Cries of "teen-age wasteland" on the classic Baba O'Riley were followed with the glorified rock stomps of the lesser-known Bargain and My Wife.

For the Who aficionado, it was a spirited revival thought nearly impossible 30 years after greatness. For the newly introduced, it proved that Townshend's musical genius at that time was no fluke.

On an acoustic solo of Drowned, Townshend gave a brief preview of the stately Richard Thompson-like Brit he may become when he grows up. Minutes before he was slugging his guitar with caustic windmills on the '70s amplified excess of Pinball Wizard, proving that won't be anytime soon.

Pinball Wizard was the only major nod to the first successful rock opera, Tommy. Instead, the Who changed gears mid-set, al-

lowing Houston keyboardist and longtime band sideman John "Rabbit" Bundrick to scale a psychedelic keyboard on You Better, You Bet and Who Are You.

These latter cuts have benefited in the past from the Who's more expanded touring lineups of strings and backup singers. This current quintet allowed for focus on Townshend and Daltrey's chummy vocal give-and-take and Townshend's guitar noodle masterclass.

Nods to youth like Won't Get Fooled Again and the simpler Brit-pop of Kids Are Alright closed the show. It was a nice blast from the past but shouldn't yet be mistaken for nostalgia. The Who is one of the few from the first generation still cranked up and current.

As Daltrey uttered the line, "Hope I die before I get old," on the final encore, My Generation, it was clear he felt that time hadn't come.