From the S&S archives:
After 25 years, The Who still generating excitement

SO HOW IS the new Who?

Ten thousand people can't be wrong: They're as good as the old Who.

It's hard to describe the excitement the Who generated at the N.E.C. in Birmingham, England, recently. Sounds and images do it best.

The roar of the crowd as Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle trotted on stage, no fanfare, just the theme from Bonanza blasting over the speakers.

The cheers each time Townshend frantically windmilled his arm as he slashed at his guitar; each time he leaped into the air, kicking his legs into a nearsplit; each time Daltrey pranced around stage twirling his microphone, as Entwistle stood motionless, thumping his bass.

The unified voice of the mass singing every word to just about every song, shouting the choruses, fists beating into the air: SURE! PLAYS A! MEAN! PIN! BALL!

The smiling, flushed faces as people rushed back to their seats after the intermission — a much-needed break from the exhaustion — ready for more.

The sheer delirium of the fans, up on their feet, dancing, stomping, banging their heads, beating the air, screaming: TALKIN' 'BOUT MY G-G-GENERATION!

It was a level of excitement that, these days, only the likes of Bruce Springsteen and U2 can generate, the same loyalty and allegiance to the songs.

"The Who is not a great group, it's not the best group in the world," Townshend had said in London earlier that week. "We had a few great moments."

There were a lot of those great moments during the show, right from the first burst of songs: I Can't Explain, Substitute, I Can See For Miles. A segment from Tommy: It's a Boy, See Me Feel Me, Acid Queen and Pinball Wizard. Another blast from past: Magic Bus, Teenage Wasteland, My Generation, Won't Get Fooled Again. And some mellow tunes: Love, Reign O'er Me and Behind Blue Eyes.

Sometimes those great moments were different than before — a burst of horns here, keyboards there, Daltrey's voice smoother, more mature and mellowed out.

Sometimes they didn't turn out quite as good: Boris the Spider could have been a cover band doing a Who song, and Acid Queen just didn't sound right without Tina Turner.

And then there were those moments when the excitement level dropped — but not much — during songs from the bandmembers' solo albums: Townshend's Face the Face, Secondhand Love and tunes from his latest Iron Man LP; Entwistle's Chick of the Light.

Sure, much of the excitement was nostalgia — hordes of fans, now in their late 20s and 30s, remembering their teens when the Who was IT.

And if you took a few moments to reflect between singing along and flashing back, it was just a little bit sad to see that generation stepping back in time, holding on, kids again, if only for three hours.

They didn't care about the new-Who, old-Who argument. It was THE WHO.