In the 2000 feature film, “Almost Famous,” a business manager is lecturing a 1970s rock band about their financial future.

“If you think that Mick Jagger will still be doing the whole rock star thing at age fifty, well, then, you are sorely, sorely mistaken,” he says.

I’m sure the irony of that statement wasn’t lost on anyone who saw the film. Doing the whole rock star thing at 50? Heck, Jagger is 62 and bopping around stage with more raw energy than he did at 23.

I know because I saw the Rolling Stones in the fall of 1965 in Greensboro, and Jagger kept his gyrations to a minimum. It was, in fact, a terrible show. There are pickup trucks that have bigger sound systems than the Stones used in those early days. At one point in the concert I was certain that Jagger was singing one song and the band was playing another.

But never mind. They were the Rolling Stones, the bad boys of rock ’n’ roll. They were the enemy of The Establishment. They were surly. They said and did whatever they wanted, and there was nothing the big shots could do about it. Pretty cool.

Now there’s a new album, “A Bigger Bang,” and a new tour during which the gazillionaire rockers will appear in Charlotte and Durham with tickets prices on the Internet ranging anywhere from $150 to $1,500. Whew! My ticket in ’65 cost me $4 — and I was feeling put upon.

So I put the new Stones CD on the player and sat back waiting, just waiting, to be disappointed.

Hey, for first time in years, I wasn’t. The CD is almost completely listenable, in a kind of old-fashioned Stones sort of way. Sure, there are junk filler tunes — “It Won’t Take Long,” “Driving Too Fast,” “Streets of Love,” and anything on which Keith sings lead — but every Stones’ album has that garbage. It’s part of the deal when you lay down your dollars to purchase their recorded music.

But for the most part, “A Bigger Band” is worth more than one listen, and no doubt better than most of the junk I hear these days.

Having said that, I must warn you there’s no “Memory Motel” or “Angie” or “Tumbling Dice,” but the new songs build on the best the Stones have produced over the years, and the more you listen, the more the songs reveal their funky “it’s-only-rock ‘n’ roll” state-of-mind.

Of course, the big news here is “Sweet Neo Con,” which is obviously about our bumbling president. “You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite/ You call yourself a patriot. Well, I think you are full of ….” You get it. This isn’t a great song. Moreover, the Stones, are telling us what many already believe about George W. Bush.

Beyond this obvious ploy there’s some pretty good stuff, most notably “You Got Me Rocking” with its great guitar riffs, “Rain Fall Down” which I’d love to hear in concert, “Back of My Hand” with its wailing, whining can’t-stop-my-foot blues harp, “Oh No, Not You Again” with a touch of necessary humor, and “Laugh, I Nearly Died,” which takes the tired material in a new direction.

Yeah, this is the best studio recording — 16 original cuts! — the Stones have turned out in recent years. If it needs a little something, perhaps it’s more attitude, more of the old surliness and indignation.

Am I going to attend the Stones concert in Durham? Naw, $150 is a little rich for my blood. Mick has been knighted. The band has donated $1,000,000 for Gulf Coast flood relief. And when Keith gives an interview these days, you can almost understand what he’s saying.

I’ll sit this one out.