John Heller, Post-Gazette Pop music legend Rod Stewart took the stage last night at Mellon Arena for the performer promised the crowd would be "a rock 'n' roll show all the way through.". Click photo for larger image. WHAT HE PLAYED Tonight I'm Yours You Wear It Well Lost In You Reason To Believe Infatuation (I Know) I'm Losing You Father And Son I Don't Want To Talk About It This Old Heart Of Mine Having a Party Have I Told You Lately Piece Of My Heart Hot Legs Cut Across Shorty Dirty Old Town Intermission The First Cut Is The Deepest Tonight's The Night You're In My Heart Fooled Around And Fell In Love Have You Ever Seen The Rain? Forever Young It's A Heartache Downtown Train Do Ya Think I'm Sexy Young Turks Rhythm Of My Heart Encore Maggie May

This isn't exactly breaking news, but we've hit a strange era of pop culture where the rock icons who launched in the '60s have now hit their 60s.

And not all of them have held up like Mick Jagger.

Rod Stewart, who played Mellon Arena Saturday night, is a bit more mortal. Mind you, he looks amazing for 62. His blonde hair still spikes up and he can still squeeze himself into a tight pair of jeans and make the ladies scream.

There's only once place where he's lacking in the "wow" department -- the voice. It's always sounded raspy and worn, as if he gargled with Scotch. Now, it's more so. Hitting the stage with "Tonight I'm Yours," Rod also hit a few bad notes. Frankly, his version of "You Wear it Well," one of his classics, sounded more worn than well.

But Stewart eventually got on track, even if he was wrestling all night with his limitations. He shied away from the upper register, never really achieving a vocal that blew you away. It was like a quarterback put out there to "manage" the game.

He had a lot of help in that department. At one point he joked, like a carnival barker, that he was offering "real value for your money up here." Indeed. He had an elaborate stage in the round with a highlander plaid curtain, multiple screens and a variety of ramps on which to play. His band, decked out in matching suits (for the first set), featured two drummers, two guitarists, two keyboard players, bass, three lively backup singers, a fiddler, a electric banjo player and a totally hot female sax player with whom Stewart seemed to have absolutely no rapport.

If you came because you like the "Great American Songbook," you were out of luck, as Stewart said early on, "this is a rock 'n' roll show all the way through." It was indeed a rock 'n' roll show, albeit one with a Vegas feel. How much of a rock 'n' roll show could it have been when he left out his two most rocking songs, "Every Picture Tells a Story" and "Stay With Me"?

The first set took on a soulful oldies quality with a Temptations songs -- "(I Know) I'm Losing You" and the Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart of Mine" -- plus Sam Cooke's "Having a Party," and the girls taking center stage on "Piece of My Heart," so he could slip into something more comfortable. Stewart also managed to swing from a countrified "Reason to Believe" to the throwback disco of "Infatuation" and "Hot Legs" to the Irish folk of "Dirty Old Town."

Set two was with a midtempo hits festival starting with "The First Cut is the Deepest" and rolling through "You're In My Heart," "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" and "Tonight's the Night," on which he really should reconsider singing the line about "my virgin child."

The arena crowd was responsive, but, for the most part, wasn't exactly going wild over this spectacle. He managed to hype them up at the end with "Young Turks" and a classy finish on "Maggie May."

In there at the end was a song he introduced as one you "either love or hate" -- "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy." That's a dangerous question for a 62-year-old rock star to ask.

Then again, what are they gonna say?