There was a moment during the final encore of The Who's performance of Quadrophenia last night in Toronto that it seemed 20 years had vanished from time.

With the band pounding out the final full-energy chords of "Who Are You", there bobbed Pete Townshend, tossing his guitar twirling in the air, missing the catch, then grabbing it from the stage by the neck and raising it ready to smash it to bits.

The crowd, already on their feet cheering, roared in anticipation of witnessing something the rock legend had swore he would never do again.

Then the 52-year-old Townshend looked up at the near capacity crowd of 16,000, feigning shock at himself and lowered the guitar slowly to the speaker at his feet sending off waves of feedback.

It was the perfect metaphor for the band's newest rebirth, a world tour solely devoted to performing their 1973 rock opera. Because time doesn't stand still. And, although music can play some neat tricks sometimes, we inevitably snap out of it and reality comes streaming back.

The evening started out simply enough. It even had the potential to be just another in a series of disappointments featuring a bunch of long-in-the-tooth superstars cashing in on their former glories. God knows The Who could top the list in that category.

Toronto is famous in the annals of The Who. It was here in 1982 that the band played what was to be their final show ever. Of course it wasn't and here they were back yet again.

But this show was far from disappointing.

Original members Townshend, singer Roger Daltrey and bass player John Entwistle, were joined by a 10-piece band (a bloated abomination to the Who purist). The most notable additions were Townshend's brother Simon on electric guitar and Zak Starkey filling in on drums where the inestimable Keith Moon once sat.

Starkey, son of another drummer/legend Ringo Starr and a better player, was introduced by Townshend as having "studied in the school of Keith Moon...luckily he's not dead, yet."

From the opening notes of "I Am The Sea", the band tore through their 90-minute rock-opera, offering up such classics as "The Real Me", "Doctor Jimmy", "Love Reign O'er Me", and a particularly potent solo acoustic rendition of "Drowned" by Townshend.

The reason The Who chose to tour Quadrophenia, Townshend explained to the audience, was because they couldn't previously perform it live due to the complexities of the arrangements and performances required.

"Technology has taken a long time to catch up to us. But it finally has," Townshend said late in the show.

The show featured a video screen projecting images from the film version of Quadrophenia and an updated version of the story's main protagonist, Jimmy, adding in narrative details. There were also cameo appearances on stage by P.J. Proby as an aging Elvis-type singer and Ben Waters as a Mod gang leader.

Though the energy level was true to what Who fans would expect, there was also something lacking. That something was Pete Townshend, one of the first musicians to use his electric guitar to express pure anger, strumming away on an acoustic guitar.

Mind you Townshend can pull sonic chords from an acoustic guitar better than most, but it wasn't until "I've Had Enough", their ninth number, when Townshend strapped on the electric guitar, that the trip through time really began.

Arms windmilling in patented Townshend fashion, Daltrey swinging the mike (although he seems to have lost some of his previous grace in that department), and Entwistle steady off at the side, they were all that they had ever been in concert and probably a lot more sober.

The ageless and toned Daltrey strained his voice through a few of the numbers, but still put in a solid performance, while Entwistle proved himself once again one of the great rock bassists of all time.

But this night was Townshend's. Looking every bit the middle aged man he is when the evening began, he took centre stage and never once relinquished it. By the time the show was done, you'd swear he had even grown back some hair.

Set list

• I Am The Sea
• The real Me
• Quadrophenia
• Cut My Hair
• The Punk And The Godfather
• I'm One
• The Dirty Jobs
• Helpless Dancer
• Is It In My Head
• I've Had Enough
• 5.15
• Sea And Sand
• Drowned
• Bell Boy
• Doctor Jimmy
• The Rock
• Love Reign O'er Me

Encore

• Won't Get Fooled Again
• Substitute
• Behind Blue Eyes
• I Can't Explain
• Who Are You