The Who's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was still 22 years in the future when Edmonton Journal city editor Eddie Keen called me over to ask if I'd heard of the band.

It was 1968, and I wasn't long off the cargo boat that had brought me across the Atlantic.

Behind me was the miniskirted London of the swinging '60s. I'd interviewed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones there in my Carnaby Street suit.

"It's a pyrotechnic band that has broken away from the 'greaser' music favoured by rockers," I told Keen.

In 1965, the band had vaulted to fame with their My Generation album, which contained the famous line: "Hope I die before I get old."

In 1967, they appeared on the Smothers Brothers Show, drawing world attention with an especially fiery demonstration of their routine of wrecking their instruments.

The destruction seemed spontaneous, but it was carefully planned.

A giant smoke machine was fired up behind the amp rack and Pete Townshend jammed his guitar into his speaker, apparently causing it to short-circuit.

While he smashed his guitar to smithereens in the resulting ball of fire and smoke, drummer Keith Moon used triple the amount of explosives he normally did to make a volcanic-like eruption.

Townshend is said to have sustained severe ear damage in the explosion. But it signalled the band had given the performance everything they had.

Keen hauled me off my beat covering what was then the Supreme Court of Alberta to join some 6,000 fans headed for the March 2 concert at the Edmonton Gardens.

Inside, an army of teenyboppers stood on their seats, screaming. There was such pandemonium that the lights were switched on again and it was announced the show wouldn't go on unless fans sat down.

What hadn't helped was the group was 15 minutes late, delayed mainly because the electronics triggering the smoke bombs weren't working.

Onstage at last, the lads enthralled us with their greatest numbers to date, such as Substitute, which included the line, "I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth."

See THE WHO / C2

CONCERT PREVIEW The Who With: Inward Eye When: Friday at 7:30 p.m. Where: Rexall Place Tickets: $57.25, $87.25, $127.25 and $202.25 (plus service charges) at Ticketmaster, 451-8000 or www.ticketmaster.ca

■ Friday: Interview with Pete Townshend ■ Saturday: Concert review by Sandra Sperounes and more from Nick Lees

SUPPLIED: TOM WRIGHT The Who's tour photographer Tom Wright snapped this shot of guitarist Pete Townshend on the balcony of an Edmonton hotel when the group first played here in August 1967. Above: Journal columnist Nick Lees in 1968.