Rod Stewart performs Wednesday at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN

Rod Stewart pleases fans with impeccable sound

Rod Stewart was the unknown gravel-voiced singer in the Jeff Beck Group when he played his first Oklahoma City gig in front of a small audience at the Civic Center in late 1968. The no-frills stage set-up consisted of amplifier stacks and the band members themselves, and Stewart's belting took a backseat to the ex-Yardbirds guitarist's extended solos that night.

What a difference four decades can make.

"The Rodfather” drew a near-capacity crowd of faithful fans to the Ford Center on Wednesday night — pretty impressive since the show was in the round — and delivered just what they came to hear: Rod Stewart's greatest hits, plus a few lesser-known, choice album tracks thrown in as a bonus.

The circular stage was curtained in plaid, in honor of his Scottish heritage and his beloved Celtic Football (soccer) Club of Glasgow, and flanked with television screens on all sides, with loudspeakers concealed beneath the huge platform, so everyone had an unobstructed view of the bushy-blond bad boy's mischievous visage, as well as all the tremendously talented players in his 10-piece band.

After an entertaining bagpipe serenade from Oklahoma City's own Highlanders Pipe and Drum Band, the gigantic "kilt” rose to reveal Stewart on raised center platform, resplendent in glittering black plaid jacket and white tie (the first of several costumes to come), surrounded on the lower stage by his accompanists, as he plunged into the upbeat 1981 dance hit "Tonight I'm Yours,” followed by the more rustic 1972 favorite "You Wear It Well.”

The latter showcased the silken fiddle artistry of J'Anna Jacoby, who also shone on the melancholy beauty "Reason to Believe” along with nimble-fingered pedal steel guitarist Robin Ruddy.

Saxophone slinger Katja Rieckermann added brassy class to the steaming funk of "Infatuation” and such disco-period tunes as "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy” and "Hot Legs” as mirror ball lights swirled, and all the while Stewart worked the crowd, walking the edge of a looping runway, touching upraised female hands, even signing autographs here and there while never missing a note.

The charismatic Stewart, 62, is still the consummate crowd-pleaser, giving fans all their radio favorites, and they willingly reciprocated whenever he cued them with the mic, with mass a cappella sing-alongs on tunes such as "Tonight's the Night” and "You're in My Heart.”

But to these ears, Stewart's inimitable sandpaper tones sounded best on the earliest gems, like the heart-punching "I'm Losing You” and the brawling barroom rockers "Every Picture Tells a Story” and "Maggie May,” his signature smash from those raunchier years.

Surprisingly, that song was his only encore offering before the tartan came down a final time and the screens flashed the disappointing message that "Mr. Stewart has left the building.”

— Gene Triplett