POP/ROCK - June 23, 1989

The British rock group the Who launched a 25th anniversary tour of North America Wednesday night before an audience of about 5,000 at Glens Falls Civic Center in Upstate New York, playing 40 songs during a three-hour show. Dressed in a baggy gray suit with his hair in a ponytail, lead guitarist Pete Townshend leaped in the air and banged power chords on his instrument with his trademark windmill motion. But in a concession to age and hearing damage caused by years of loud music, Townshend strummed an acoustic guitar for most of the show. The quartet was supplemented by 11 musicians, including a five-piece horn section, and played on a huge stage with gleaming mirrors as a backdrop. Except for two indoor performances of the rock opera “Tommy” in New York and Los Angeles, the 24-city tour will play in outdoor stadiums. The band tonight will be in Toronto, the city that hosted the Who’s last performance before their breakup in 1983.