Into his trademark virtuoso solos. Zak Starkey continued to prove himself a worthy successor to Keith Moon with his tirelessly complex drum patterns. The rest of the band 6 guitarist-vocalist Simon Townshend and keyboardist John 2Rabbit2 Bundrick 6 held down the fort as Palladino found his way. No, he doesn 27t have Entwistle 27s flourishes, but he kept the late bass legend 27s place warm with stalwart panache.

Highlights included 2Sea and Sand2 and the ever-popular 2Baba O 27Riley,2 whose 2teenage wasteland2 coda the audience chanted back at the stage like gleeful schoolkids.

The band 27s energy slumped with 2Behind Blue Eyes,2 whose themes of personal loss and isolation obviously cut too close for comfort. 2I don 27t know if you know how I feel, because everyone feels differently,2 Townshend admitted before starting the song. 2There were three of us in the original Who who had blue eyes, and one of those was John Entwistle.2

The next three minutes found Daltrey struggling to stay on key and Townshend bravely slogging through riffs like a shell-shocked foot soldier. But two numbers later, with a retooled version of 2The Kids Are Alright,2 they channeled their emotions into a bittersweet duet about the inevitable, and necessary, gap between generations. Fittingly, it was followed by a blazing rendition of 2My Generation.2

In spite of 6 or perhaps because of 6 the week 27s dark mood, Townshend dared to inject humor into his stage banter: He rhapsodized about the auto-erotic pleasures of listening to his own voice on tape; labeled himself a 2decomposer2; chatted about gremlins; and bellowed at his guitar tech.

By the time the Who left the stage after an encore medley from 2Tommy,2 questions of whether the band will continue beyond this tour, or whether it should have started this tour at all, seemed suddenly incidental. They were simply blown away in a final explosion of rock 9 roll grit that left the band drained and audience roaring.

Again, paradoxes. Faced with death, the Who sound more alive than they have in years. Maybe it 27s that grief has pushed the band mercilessly out of its comfort zone and into a more daring space. Or maybe it 27s just that, for the first time in decades, the Who have something to prove. Judging by Wednesday 27s performance, they 27re up to the challenge.

E-mail Neva Chonin at nchonin@sfchronicle.com.

Photos by JOHN STOREY / The Chronicle

The Who 27s Roger Daltrey told the Shoreline crowd that 2it is best to just get on with it2 after the death of bassist John Entwistle.