As the Rolling Stones rolled along on their 1978 tour, people were calling them old.

After all, most of the members were in their mid-30s, long past the age when anyone should be playing rock 'n' roll. And they'd been together for more than 15 years, which seemed like eons compared with the shelf life of the average band at the time.

So when I saw them that summer at the late JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, it was with the sense that they just might be nearing the end of the road. What was next, a rock group lasting 20 years?

When the Stones hit the road a decade later, the title of their then-current album lent itself to an obvious joke, and everyone started calling it the "Steel Wheelchairs" tour. Here were guys in their mid-40s who had stuck with each other for a quarter century. Enough was enough. Right?

No such joking was apparent as the sixtysomething version of the Rolling Stones took the stage at Pittsburgh's PNC Park last night. From what I gathered, the folks in attendance were overwhelmingly grateful to hear songs they know so well performed by the guys who did them in the first place.

I mean, Mick Jagger still is belting out "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," a song that often tops lists as rock's greatest, just as he did 40 years ago. And the litany of selections from Classic Rock playlists: "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Honky Tonk Women," "Sympathy for the Devil," "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)" ... these are the Stones still doing it, and doing it well, no matter what their birth certificates might say.

Let's not forget Mick's other half. Keith Richards is alive, well and playing those chords that only he could have come up with, plus giving his vocal chords a workout here and there.

And let's certainly not forget Charlie Watts, the one Stone who's always looked like a respectable citizen, looking grandfatherly but keeping time like noboby's business, as he's done since meeting up with Mick, Keith and another kid named Brian Jones some 43 years ago.

(I'll mention Ron Wood, too, because I like his work with the Faces.)

About the concert: It was the extravaganza that's become synonymous with the Rolling Stones, featuring a stage that was surreal in its massiveness, especially considering that it became portable midway through "Miss You." The sound seemed to be about as good as it gets for a ballpark, which was no mean feat considering the sludge coming through the speakers when the opening act, Pearl Jam, started playing. The technicians did wonders in adjusting everything so that we could enjoy it.

As far as the song selection, the Stones got a few '80s-era numbers out of the way quickly before tapping their most revered album, "Exile On Main Street," for a reading of "Tumblin' Dice." Perhaps the highlight of the show followed, when Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder joined Mick for a vocal duet on "Wild Horses." The crowd sing-along kicked into gear for "You Can't Always Get What You Want," then came the night's cover, Ray Charles' "The Night Time Is the Right Time." (What happened to doing Chuck Berry songs?)

A few new songs and a few old songs filled the bill for a while before nonstop Classic Rock filled the evening, beginning with "Get Off My Cloud" and concluding with the encore of "Brown Sugar" (I called it). They didn't play "Gimme Shelter," unfortunately, but made up for it by doing "Paint It, Black."

The well-oiled Stones machine played mostly everything just as we've known and loved it for decades, rarely straying off the beaten path. But that's OK when you're responsible for so many true rock 'n' roll standards.

All things considered, the night was almost worth the second mortgage I took out to cover it all. But I wanted my kids to have a chance to witness history.

After all, there will come a time when the Rolling Stones actually are too old to keep being the Rolling Stones. Fortunately, it's not just quite yet.