ROCK OF AGED STONES HIT ANGELS STADIUM, BUT FALL SHORT OF A-GAME.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Critic 

Everyone wants to be an insider at a Rolling Stones concert.

There was so much flashy Stones-wear being strutted around Angels Stadium in the hours leading up to the act's concert Friday, you'd have thought the entire crowd of nearly 40,000 was part of the entourage.

And that was exactly the feeling Mick Jagger and his self-mythologizing sidekicks imparted in a two-hour, hits-packed set that saw dancing in the aisles and singing in the stands as a multigenerational mix soaked in the sheer professionalism of one of the concert industry's few sure bets.

The Stones were in high-stadium mode in Anaheim, and that meant a combo of guaranteed crowd pleasers and mediocre new material that seemed to be designed to give everyone a bathroom break.

Fireworks crackled the moment Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts and a select group of ringers kicked off with ``Start Me Up,'' bringing the teeming baseball venue to an early boil. After four decades in the spotlight, these guys are still, in some fashion, rocking - even though top tickets went for $450 and special access was afforded to American Express ``black card'' holders (for customers who charge $150,000 or more a year).

Of course, the Stones went corporate decades before the phrase ``corporate rock'' was even invented.

The band still managed to hit the right notes - a fantastic ``Tumblin' Dice,'' the evergreen ``Honky Tonk Women,'' a still-compelling ``Sympathy for the Devil'' and a tribute to Ray Charles in a cover of ``(Night Time Is) The Right Time.'' Certainly, a more appropriate Charles tune from the same era would've been ``Greenbacks,'' but it was plain enough who the moneyed classes were Friday in Orange County.

Demonstrations of camaraderie on stage were minimal, suggesting relations are still stormy in the old Mick-'n'-Keef partnership, although Wood and Richards seemed to enjoy squinting at each others' fret boards. The biggest response of the night came when Watts, the man in the engine room, was introduced. His drumming, complete with intros that seem on the edge of disaster and equally outrageous outros, is the beating heart of the enterprise.

While the majority of ticket holders were gray-haired, a number of fans were far younger, and they were among the most enthusiastic. Others brought young kids, and by the time Jagger began preening to ``Brown Sugar,'' a caravan of dads carrying sleeping toddlers was already moving toward the exits.

Staging for the current ``A Bigger Bang'' road show wasn't as elaborate as previous Stones jaunts like ``Voodoo Lounge,'' but top-quality video screens and perfectly tuned pyrotechnics held attention even from the most distant seats. A nice touch was a mobile ministage that traveled out onto the arena floor, giving fans a closer look at the wrinkled rock gods in full flow for ``Miss You,'' before the group returned to the big stage for an impressive encore of ``You Can't Always Get What You Want'' and ``Jumping Jack Flash.''

Job well done, but you couldn't help thinking the guys were saving their A-game for star-studded Hollywood Bowl date on Tuesday.

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Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) The strutting stage presence of Jagger, here wrapped in sequins, was still in form Friday, after 40 years. Rolling Stones guitarists Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards rock in a concerted effort during the Angels Stadium showm, left.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer