Still revered as one of the finest songwriting talents produced by the British Invasion, Pete Townsend helped lead The Who to legendary status long before the '60s even ended. Teamed with charismatic frontman Roger Daltry and the thunderous rhythm section of bassist John Entwhistle and volcanic drummer Keith Moon, The Who's early power-chord driven anthems like "I Can't Explain," "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and "My Generation" made them heroes of the mod youth movement in London and would inspire countless punk and power-pop bands during the decades that followed. The band's penchant for destroying instruments onstage only added to their early notoriety.

By 1966, Townsend was already taking The Who into ambitious new territory, recording the almost ten-minute mini-opera "A Quick One While He's Away" for the album A Quick One, followed by the conceptual masterwork The Who Sell Out, an album patterned after a pirate radio broadcast featuring fake commercials recorded by the band interspersed between such classic tunes as "I Can See For Miles" and "Tattoo."

The band reached an early apex of its career with the group's fourth album, the full-blown rock opera Tommy. Showcasing a new level of sophistication in Townsend's songwriting and the group's gift for complex arrangements, Tommy became a blockbuster commercial and critical success, elevating to concept of rock music as art to a new level. The Who bolstered its already stellar reputation as a live juggernaut with epic performances of the double album in its entirety during extensive tours and at such landmark festivals as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight. The band would later make its first foray into film with Tommy, participating in a cinematic adaptation helmed by maverick director Ken Russell in 1975 that earned Ann-Margret an Oscar nomination for best actress.

The group would struggle to record a follow-up effort as Townsend grappled at length with his convoluted and futuristic Lifehouse concept that would eventually be scrapped. To the band's credit, the album salvaged from the best of the Lifehouse material would be one of their biggest ever. Who's Next featured a host of indelible classics -- including "Baba O'Riley," "Bargain," "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" -- that remain staples of rock radio four decades later.

The band scored another triumph in 1973 with the release of Quadrophenia. A look back at the band's initial mid-1960s heyday through the eyes of a troubled mod teen, the double album found Townsend producing some of the most powerful songs of his career. Though problems with backing tapes used to bring the album's orchestrations to life onstage (coupled with Daltry's attempts to explain the intrinsically British storyline to U.S. audiences) made the tour promoting the album an ordeal, Quadrophenia would inspire a successful film adaptation and remains in the minds of many their crowning achievment.

The group suffered a huge loss shortly after the release of Who Are You in 1978 when wildman drummer Moon died at age 32, overdosing on a drug perscribed to help him fight his rampant alcoholism. The band would soldier on with Faces drummer Kenny Jones through two more studio albums and several successful tours before Townsend called it quits following a final "farewell" jaunt through the U.S. in 1982. The split would be relatively short lived, with Townsend, Daltrey and Entwistle reuniting for a 25th anniversary tour in 1989 and a road show focusing on Quadrophenia in 1996 that both used an expanded backing ensemble.  Later tours would strip things back down to a simple five-piece set up more along the lines of the band's concerts from '70s and '80s.

Many rock fans thought that the sudden passing of bassist John Entwhistle on the eve of the Who's 2002 U.S. tour was the death knell for the venerable British band. Instead, Townshend and Daltrey were galvanized by the tragic passing; the band's fiery concert performances were hailed a both a return to classic form and a fitting tribute to Entwhistle's great legacy. Their next world tour was the first in over 20 years to feature new material in support of their 2006 album Endless Wire. For their current tour, The Who revisits Quadrophenia, playing the album in its entirety with an encore set of classic material at this first Bay Area concert since 2006. LA-based soul/blues band Vintage Trouble opens the show.

The Who
Friday, Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m. $37.50-$123.25
Oracle Arena