With the Steelers up 7-3 going into halftime, energy was running high last night during the Super Bowl. And what better way to keep the momentum going than with a rock band decades past their prime?

When the Rolling Stones took the stage for its halftime set last night, the key word was uninspired, offering up only a skimpy 13-minute plod through two hits and one new song.

The camera unfortunately focused on Mick Jagger, the band's weakest link. The medium shots may have been hiding the wrinkles in his face, but it couldn't hide the wrinkles in his voice.

The set kicked off with "Start Me Up," an otherwise energetic song ruined by Jagger's sleepy vocals (sounding more like a drunken karaoke singer's rendition) and the rest of the band aimlessly wandering around the massive stage.

The stage, in the classic Stones lips logo, was only utilized by Jagger, who occasionally ran around and danced while the rest of the band stayed huddled together near the drum kit.

The band itself sounded OK. It was competent musicianship, backing a dancing and out-of-tune front man; basically, it was a bad Stones cover band.

The Stones also broke a cardinal rule of playing a set at a special event: trotting out new material. Casual listeners only want the hits -- especially casual listeners at the Superbowl.

Instead, the band played "Rough Justice," a weaker cut off its newest album. The least they could have done was spend the four minutes butchering "Brown Sugar" or something.

My parents just saw the Stones in October, and raved to me about how great they sounded.

Maybe the Stones were just having a bad night, or maybe my folks' judgment was impaired by the fact that they were hundreds of feet away and blinded by special effects.

"Here's one we could have done at the first Super Bowl," Jagger quipped as he introduced "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

I wish they would have. The 13 minutes would have been better spent listening to the original recordings, singing the songs yourself, or slamming your head on a desk.

Anything but suffering through a once-great band parading around tarnishing its legacy.