ON Saturday I am off to the Royal Albert Hall to see an old chap I know who is playing in a concert.

His name is Al Stewart (whom you’ve probably never heard of), and to me he’s up there with The Beatles (whom you definitely have).

There aren’t many opportunities to see Al play as he lives in America and only comes over here every couple of years.

If I tell you I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen him in concert but it is at least 20, you’ll get some idea of how long I’ve been a fan.

In fact, I was 15 when I first heard of him, when he was already 32.

Later this year he will turn 70.

Al is not exactly a ‘rock star’, being more from the folkie tradition – a sort of Bob Dylan with style – but it does beg a question that has been bothering me, ever since the Year of the Cat (that being his biggest hit, way back in 1976).

It’s all about whether people should grow old gracefully, or whether we should take a leaf out of The Rolling Stones’ book and do it disgracefully.

But it’s all very puzzling because we all know that rock ’n’ roll was supposed to be a young person’s game, yet the only rockers who have stopped rocking are the ones who are dead.

Ever since Elvis, rock was supposed to be a way for youths to put their mark on the world and somehow put two fingers up at the establishment, including older generations.

Now that all those rockers have become the older generation, it just doesn’t add up.

Also just about to get back on stage again (for those lucky enough and rich enough to get tickets) is Paul McCartney, who is 73, three years older than Al Stewart, but obviously also in no mood to swap his guitar for a bus pass.

Both of them could be said to be past their sell-by dates, and obviously won’t deliver as youthful a show as they once did, but I don’t care.

What I love about rock music is that while it may have started out as a way of widening the generation gap, now – thanks to those ageing rockers – it has actually brought us back together.

My son, who makes his living from music and will also be in the audience at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, is proof of this.

He’s abreast of everything new on the music scene, but his appreciation of the true greats of musical history, regardless of their era, knows no bounds, and that’s wonderful to see.

When he pays to see a pensioner playing old stuff, he considers it a privilege and doesn’t notice any grey hairs.

By the same token, The Beatles, whom our parents told us wouldn’t last, are probably now even more popular than during Beatlemania, because not only does our generation still love them, but so do our children and grandchildren. And so they should.

Al Stewart is renowned for his songs on historical themes, which is the main thing that ignited my own interest in history, and one of the songs he is due to sing on Saturday is called Old Admirals, which is apparently about Admiral Lord Fisher before the First World War.

In fact, it’s really about all people growing old, and contains a sad but beautiful line about “old admirals who feel the wind but never put to sea”.

May all of we old admirals put to sea as long as we have wind in our sails.