Electric Again, Pete Townshend Leads Who Down Memory Lane

At one point during the Who’s sold-out appearance at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday, guitarist Pete Townshend launched a preemptive strike against anyone who might have regarded the band’s current reunion tour as something other than classic-rock redux. Referring to the “inestimable wealth” garnered by “selling my music to Japanese car companies,” Townshend seemed to be reassuring the crowd that it was OK to still revel in music that’s been devalued by commercials and the passage of time.

Boomer nostalgia may be a cheap money grab (Townshend himself thanked the crowd for paying stratospheric ticket prices), but its power is drawn from something enduring. In the Who’s case, it’s Townshend’s song catalog, which sketched the perilous passage toward teenage self-identity in songs of epic, ear-rattling sweep. Performing their most beloved material with the brash brio of their own youth, Townshend, singer Roger Daltrey and bassist John Entwistle (joined by Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey on drums and John Bundrick on keyboards) proved that veteran artists can rock with dignity if the spirit is willing.

The Who tore into a trio of ‘60s-era songs to open its set. “I Can’t Explain,” “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” and “Substitute” wobbled on slightly shaky legs, with a couple of missed cues and mismanaged harmonies.

But the band gathered strength as it settled into material (“Drowned,” “The Real Me,” “Behind Blue Eyes”) from its early-’70s masterworks “Who’s Next” and “Quadrophenia.” The insurrectionary thrust behind such songs as “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Baba O’Riley” dissipated long ago, but for sheer drama they remain two of rock’s most affecting anthems.

Townshend, who has recently switched back to electric from acoustic guitar, was a force of middle-aged nature, slashing through power chords with his trademark windmill arm maneuver, plucking out staccato leads, bounding impishly as in the days of yore.

Daltrey, who proudly displayed his well-sculpted torso, worked gamely to hit his old upper register, and succeeded remarkably well most of the time.

* The Who, with Unamerican, plays tonight at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m. $31.50-$146.50. (949) 855-2863.