That was 22 years ago. Summer 1989, at the old Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough.
Flash forward more than two decades later, to Saturday night at Agganis Arena. Daltrey - still fit, fair-haired, and fiery at 67 - was in the respectably filled house, still twirling his microphone cord as a lasso; still singing (and hitting) most of the high notes; and yes, still ably performing “Tommy,’’ his band’s most iconic work (plus a clutch of Who classics) with a pretty fair bunch of ringers. Those included songwriter-guitarist Pete Townshend’s almost disconcertingly capable younger brother, Simon, on guitar and, eerily, Pete’s vocals (“It’s a Boy’’; “Going Mobile’’).
Of course, this wasn’t the fearsome four-headed hydra and thrilling live spectacle that was the Who in its prime - or even the revamped 1989, 2000, or 2008 versions. And, despite Daltrey’s stated intention to explore the legendary rock opera’s richer, deeper musical elements in ways his other band couldn’t due to the technical limitations of an earlier era, Saturday’s stamina-stretching two-hour show was, essentially, the kind of lovingly straightforward presentation of “Tommy’’ we’ve heard before. And while “Tommy’’ long ago became a relic of a bygone age, robbed of much of its daring immediacy and game-changing drama, it was nevertheless heartening to hear Daltrey - who has recently struggled to maintain that canyon-clearing voice and sparred with a throat cancer scare - sing his history with grizzled power and heart-on-sleeve sincerity.
