POP MUSIC REVIEW : Rod Stewart at the Forum: Da Ya Think He’s Nostalgic?

“Sing It Again, Rod” may have been a cute title for a greatest-hits album 15 years ago, but it’s a risky concept for a 1988 tour.

In his first local concert in four years Tuesday night, Rod Stewart gave his longtime fans everything they wanted--except, perhaps, a reason to go see him again.

The capacity crowd at the Forum appeared to love hearing the oldies--people hugged, swayed, sang along, danced, cheered and still yelled for more at the end of the two-hour set.

What more could you ask?

Here’s one thing: the excitement of a major talent challenging himself--either with new songs or fresh interpretations of prized old ones.

The difference between that goal and Stewart’s safe, conservative parade of memories is the difference between just another night out and a special occasion--or more bluntly, the difference between nostalgia and artistry.

Bob Dylan (one of Stewart’s own influences) demonstrated on his recent series of shows here how a veteran artist can avoid turning his concerts into mere nostalgia exercises by drastically changing the song selection each night and by vigorously revising his approach to the songs.

But Dylan also has the advantage of a storehouse of some of the greatest rock songs ever written--songs that speak about relationships and desires with an insight and complexity that make them as intriguing and stimulating now as when they first appeared on record.

Stewart, too, has written some wonderfully evocative tunes, but they are simpler than Dylan’s. Stewart’s “You’re in My Heart,” for instance, is an endearing and sentimental song that is one of the loveliest ballads of the ‘70s.

But, like most pop songs, it pretty much puts all its cards on the table the first time around. Listening to it again at the Forum, there was no new meaning or twist to explore the way there is with many Dylan songs. Instead, you tend to think back to when you first heard the song--and what it meant to you then.

The same is pretty much true of Stewart’s party-minded rockers--tunes like “Stay With Me” from the Englishman’s days with the Faces band, or “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” the 1978 song that was one of his two No. 1 hits. When surrounded by worthy new songs, these numbers work fine. When used as the heart of the show, they tend to wilt.

The retrospective nature of Stewart’s current tour--which ends a three-day Forum stand tonight--was telegraphed even before the curtain was raised as a recording of David Rose’s “The Stripper” was played over the sound system.

The instrumental was a good-natured acknowledgement on past tours of Stewart’s status as one of rock’s hottest sex symbols, but this time it only underscored the retrospective nature of the evening,

Wearing a bright yellow sport coat and black pants, Stewart--whose spiky hair style has become almost as much of a trademark as his raspy voice--opened with a couple of upbeat tunes--”Hot Legs” and “Infatuation”--that fit that sexy image.

But Stewart has wisely eliminated most of the exaggerated antics--notably the incessant fanny-shaking--that threatened on past tours to reduce him to a cartoonish stereotype of the sexy rock star.

Stewart, a likable, energetic performer, doesn’t show any signs of carelessness as a singer.

He sang the upbeat tunes, including Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Rock and Roller,” with vigor, while he approached the ballads, such as Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” with conviction and care. He has also assembled a taut, aggressive eight-piece band, including three horns.

Still, for anyone who has seen Stewart before, there was little sense of discovery in any of it. Of 10 songs in the first half of the show, seven have been part of Stewart’s repertoire for a decade or more.

“Lost in You” stood out as the most affecting number during the first hour quite possibly because it was the sole new tune.

After intermission, Stewart opened with two more songs from his latest album, but the impact was less than “Lost in You” because one song (the raucous “Dynamite”) sounds like a Stones-Faces retread and the other (the gentle “Forever Young”) is an echo of something Dylan has already done.

Before delving into another round of past hits, Stewart paused for soulful and endearing renditions of the evening’s only two surprise choices: “People Get Ready,” a socially conscious Curtis Mayfield song that was only a modest hit for Stewart in 1985, and his own folk-tinged “Mandolin Wind,” a 1971 composition that was never a hit single.

Tucked in among the string of hits, those songs didn’t draw the evening’s biggest response, but they did provide for Stewart a chance to demonstrate that he is still an artist capable of revelation and passion. It was nice to see at least a glimmer of his talent. For all the cheering of the crowd, the rest of Tuesday’s show was simply a summer rerun.