Rod Stewart kicked off his Hilton performance Wednesday night using home video clips as evidence of his new “family man” lifestyle. Stewart also took it upon himself to prove that at 51, he still can party.

The legendary rock artist appeared on stage sporting a look from the generation that treated him best, complete with a classic pair of black Chuck Taylor high-tops.

Stewart opened the evening with a ’90s rendition of the Beatles’ “Get Back,” a perfect opener for a majority audience of middle-aged rockers.

The crowd proved it was young at heart as roses and even bras were launched at Stewart during the the follow-up, “Some Guys Have All The Luck.”

The British singer showed right away that his 10-piece ensemble could pull off the circular stage set-up without a problem. An energetic Stewart managed to cover it all, leaving few bad seats in the house.

Drummer David Palmer took an almost too early solo halfway through “Stay With Me.” Leaving time for Stewart to kick a dozen soccer balls into the crowd, Palmer lifted a good portion of fans behind his pounding bass/snare trickery.

After a memorable performance of the classic “Maggie May,” Stewart kept the crowd on their feet with a funky version of “Twisting The Night Away.” It wasn’t until “Tonight’s the Night,” when the singer’s beautiful voice was truly displayed.

From album cover to album cover shown on the four big screens, the concert more or less chronicled the last three decades of Stewart’s career. Todd Sharp’s guitar handling of “Hot Legs” stole a bit too much time, stretching out what seemed to be the down-beat portion of the evening.

Jimmy Robert’s soaring sax solo on “Downtown Train” was just what it took to get things going again. The artist jammed on the horn for a good eight minutes, an amazing feat in the eyes of the crowd. From the funkadelic pumping of the lower octaves to the screeching blares of the higher notes, a remarkable display of musicianship was born into the night.

The unfamiliar “Lost In You” was the surprise of the evening, giving Stewart and his band a final chance to jam.

The songwriter’s beautiful “Have I Told You Lately” took the goose bump award for the night, creating a perfect setting for Stewart to cap off the evening.

And just when we thought the night was coming to an end, Stewart’s back-up vocal trio finally served a purpose as they blended each part into the chorus of “It Ain’t Over” (never mind the pun).

After a strong two-hour performance, Stewart thanked what he called a “small crowd” of 6,223. The artist returned shortly to encore with Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Rock ‘n’ Roll,” but never managed to recapture the excitement from earlier in the evening.

With a massive song list to choose from, Stewart had no problem impressing his crowd of lifelong fans. His voice sounded as good as ever behind a band that, at times, stole the show. Singing hits from three decades, the evening was more of a history lesson, but an exciting one at that.