Rod Stewart

Has rock and roll ever seen a comeback quite as astonishing as Rod Stewart's?A little more than a decade ago, he was the very definition of a rock dinosaur, a once-great singer who had eagerly sold his soul for celebrity.He was, as his many detractors happily pointed out, a joke.Yet now, it's as if none of that ever happened. As he demonstrated before a sellout crowd at the Merriweather Post Pavilion last night, Rod Stewart is currently at the height of his powers.It isn't just that his voice is as strong as it has ever been, or that he has a great band and a songbook most stars would kill for; it isn't even that he puts on a more energetic show than he did 20 years ago. It's all those things, and more.

Just announced O.A.R. -- Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia on July 26. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Rod Stewart -- Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Va., on Aug. 24. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Also, Brad Paisley, with Jewel, Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough, is there July 12. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. 410-547-7328 or tick etmaster.com. Alice Smith -- The 9:30 Club in Washington on May 18. 800-955-5566 or tickets.com. Goldfinger, Less Than Jake -- Rams Head Live on June 23. 410-244-1131 or ramsheadlive.

VAGABOND HEARTRod Stewart (Warner Bros. 26300)Strictly speaking, a pop singer can't make a comeback record without first going away. Yet somehow, Rod Stewart, who hasn't taken a break from singing since before his latest wife was born, has managed to make a comeback album, anyway. "Vagabond Heart" is more than a return to form for the aging rocker -- it's almost like a trip back in time. "Rhythm of My Heart," for instance, is as soul-baringly sentimental as any ballad from "Every Picture Tells a Story," while "Moment of Glory" rocks like a forgotten Faces single.

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"Old-fashioned music."Rod Stewart is sitting on a couch in a posh New York hotel suite, talking about a cassette tape that sits on the coffee table in front of him. It's titled "East Memphis" -- "Why it's called 'East Memphis,' I don't know," he says -- and consists of classic Southern soul songs, singles by Otis Redding, Al Green, Sam and Dave. In other words, precisely the sort of tape you'd expect to find in his possession.Except that it's not there for him. It's there for his wife, 23-year-old model Rachel Hunter.

"I'm down here in Palm Beach with four women," rasps Rod Stewart over the phone. "It's not going to be that much fun."Ah, the vicissitudes of stardom. Here's Rod Stewart, a man whose career is built around such songs as "Hot Legs," "Passion" and "Tonight's the Night," a man famous for asking if we thought he was sexy (and knowing full well the answer), complaining about having to spend a perfect spring evening with four women."And they're all drop-dead gorgeous as well," he laments.It's not as if Stewart has anything against the four young lovelies, a group that includes his wife, model-turned-actress Rachel Hunter; her sister; and their two best friends.

Rod Stewart is on the phone from his home in Los Angeles, apologizing for being late.Normally, the veteran rocker makes a point of being prompt about making interview calls, but not this time. He was "accosted by photographers" at lunch and couldn't leave the restaurant until the crowd was dispersed.Stewart isn't angry, really. Having spent the last three decades in the limelight, he's resigned to the fact that there will always be paparazzi lurking when he dines out. It's the price you pay for being a celebrity.

HOT FIVE 1. "We Belong Together," Mariah Carey 2. "Hollaback Girl," Gwen Stefani 3. "Oh," Ciara 4. "Just a Lil Bit," 50 Cent 5. "Don't Phunk With My Heart," The Black Eyed Peas Billboard ALBUMS 1. Out of Exile, Audioslave 2. Be, Common 3. The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey 4. Mezmerize, System of a Down 5. Honkytonk University, Toby Keith Billboard CONCERT TOURS 1. U2 2. Eagles 3. Kenny Chesney 4. Rod Stewart 5. Josh Groban ...

Rock stars rarely improve with age. Some do, of course, but most end up offering increasingly threadbare variations on what they did in their youth. Whether it's Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis or Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney, the story remains the same; read between the lines of even the most favorable reviews, and what you'll find isn't "this is the best they've ever been" but just "not bad for old guys."By rights, Rod Stewart ought to be at the head of that class. His slide began almost two decades ago, and he moved from the pre-fab disco of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

O.A.R. -- Patriot Center / Maryland jam-rock quintet O.A.R. - four members of whom have been playing together since junior high school - perform tomorrow night at 8 at George Mason University's Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. The group's most recent CD is Stories of a Stranger. Tickets are $35.50 and are available through Ticketmaster at 410-547-SEAT or ticketmaster.com. Rod Stewart -- Verizon Center / Tomorrow at 8 p.m., catch rock legend Rod Stewart at Washington's Verizon Center, 601 F St. N.W. His most recent album is Still the Same ... Great Rock Classics of Our Time.

IN THE CHANGER THIS week, we have a few recent releases I've been digging lately, revelatory albums that offer something fresh, smart and invigorating. Lewis Taylor, Stoned: For years, British musicians have admired and found inspiration in classic American blues and soul. The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Elton John, Rod Stewart -- those cats based their distinctive styles on the sounds of black folks. You can add experimental pop-soul artist Lewis Taylor to the list. When he dropped his classic self-titled debut in 1996, the singer-songwriter-musician immediately amassed critical kudos on both sides of the Atlantic.

I turned it off. The same five or six songs came on every 15 minutes, rattling my nerves, so I just kept the radio off most of the year. If you have a strong appetite for authentic, exciting music, then mainstream radio will leave you starving. It's been that way for a while now. And it's unfortunate, because quality music is still being made. But generally, on pop radio, it's not played. The industry has become so consolidated and, as a result, much of the music has become packaged with enough additives to numb you all over.

The Johns, the Pauls and the Georges have come and gone through the years, but Rolo Sandoval, beneath his mop-top wig, has kept a steady beat for all of them. He's warbled "Yellow Submarine" in dingy casinos and at a Rose Bowl benefit. He's been heckled as a fraud and cheered as a living reminder of a lost era. Rolo Sandoval, you see, is a Ringo. Sandoval has played the drums in a dozen Beatles tribute bands over the last two decades, and now he is in one of the most successful, the Fab Four.

'What's on the Hearts of Men' Get a sobering look at some of men's trials and tribulations and how men choose to react to them when actor and community activist Malik Yoba brings his musical play, What's on the Hearts of Men, to the Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave. Beginning Tuesday and running through Oct. 28, the play evaluates issues ranging from domestic violence and children born out of wedlock to deadbeat dads, fatherhood and love....