Right from the curtain going up on the opening number, it is clear that Tommy the musical is here to rock Bradford.

As the curtain rose on last night's performance, my stomach began to rumble - not from a lack of food, but from the tremendous opening bass lines!

Even for those, like me, who barely know the story, have never seen the movie and recognise just the most popular songs, such as Pinball Wizard, this production at the Alhambra, showing all this week, is a real treat for music fans.

Pete Townshend's rock opera tells the story of a young boy, so traumatised after witnessing his father murder his mother's lover that he becomes deaf, dumb and blind. He is later abused by his uncle and beaten by his cousin, only to find solace in playing pinball very, very well.

Created originally as an experimental album by Townshend and The Who, it feels very dated today and a definite product of its time.

The story has the main character Tommy, played by three actors including Jonathan Wilkes, rise from a young boy to teenager, adult and then some sort of Messiah-figure over the two-hour show.

If you are already a fan of the musical or The Who, and not put off by the strange storyline and religious iconography, Tommy does survive quite well on its rock origins - the original concept album was released in 1969 - and still proves that The Who wrote some fabulous music.

Jonathan Wilkes' performance is a little understated and tends to be overshadowed by other cast members with more powerful voices. However this may have been intentional as he really shines during the finale.

Tom Newman's turn as Uncle Ernie during the song Tommy's Holiday Camp is one of the show's highlights.

Sets are very minimalist but lit to good effect. The whole feel of the show is more rock concert than musical theatre with some pieces of moving set giving expectations of something special about to happen but never delivered.

All in all, as someone new to the music and the musical, I really enjoyed the show and would urge anyone equally unsure whether they would enjoy Tommy to watch with an open mind and remember the era in which it was written.

Tommy rocks and that's all that counts, as the enthusiastic response from last night's audience proved.