With the Who 6 that most epic of bands 6 even small moments can seem majestic. In a strong two-hour show at the TD Banknorth Garden Friday that picked up momentum as it progressed, some of the group9s most meditative, introspective passages were also some of its best.

The sense of elegant calm that resided inside 3mazing Journey 4 and 6etting in Tune, 4 for instance, was striking. 3ea and Sand, 4 a questing half-ballad, half-rocker about family dysfunction, was a potent reminder that for all its legendary Sturm and Drang, the Who was and is a frequently vulnerable band: guitarist-songwriter Pete Townshend9s sensitive artistic soul wrapped inside surly singer Roger Daltrey9s gruff, tough (but since softened) exterior.

The Who is down to two 6 officially, anyway. The deaths of original drummer Keith Moon in 1978 and bassist John Entwistle in 2002 have cost them dearly. But just as they demonstrated here two years ago, Daltrey and Townshend are still capable of delivering a boom and a bang bigger than themselves.

It was always about the live spectacle with the Who, and so it was before a near-capacity crowd of 12,000 Friday night. They9re far less staggering a storm now 6 more a collective of professional companions, capably delivering a catalog as deep and wide (to paraphrase a lyric from one of the Who9s anthems) as the band itself once was. But occasionally 6 when they brilliantly lit out for the territories of 3parks, 4 for instance 6 you got a glimpse of the Who as fearsome force of nature.

Backed by Townshend9s younger brother, Simon, on second guitar, bassist Pino Palladino, keyboard player John 3abbit 4 Bundrick, and drummer Zak Starkey, the band opened with a clutch of early classics: the confusion-as-bliss salvo 4 Can9t Explain 4; a nonchalant version of 4he Seeker 4; and the Mod anthem 4nyway, Anyhow, Anywhere. 4

There were fewer tunes from the Who9s perfectly fine 2006 album, 4ndless Wire 4 6 only 4ragments 4 and the tender encore-closer, 4ea & Theatre 4 made an appearance. But that, thankfully, meant more selections from 19739s classic 4uadrophenia 4 album: 3ea and Sand 4 soared; 5:15 4 roared; and 4ove, Reign O97er Me 4 was an Olympian elegy built on power chords and yearning.

Now 64, Daltrey, as always, had nowhere to hide when singing his partner9s towering melodies and sky-high choruses. Although he began somewhat sluggishly, reaching for the high notes of his youth, his grizzled voice further burred by the decades, Daltrey grew improbably stronger with each declara-

EVAN RICHMAN/GLOBE STAFF

Roger Daltrey (left) and Pete Townshend Friday at TD Banknorth Garden.

tion. By the time 4aba O97Riley 4 and 4on97t Get Fooled Again 4 rolled around, he had hit his stride.

Speaking of youth, Townshend turned the brazen impudence of 4y Generation 4 back on itself and himself. 4ey, kid, 4 the 63-year-old guitarist ad-

libbed with a smile, 4 think I9m far too old for you. 4 Despite the song9s infamously stated desire to 4ie before I get old, 4 the far trickier and tougher task 6 as the Who has discovered 6 was finding a way to survive and connect. On this night, they met the challenge.