How do you follow a reunion of the World’s Greatest Ever Rock ‘n’ Roll band? Easy – the following weekend you play your lesser known hits at Hyde Park in front of 60,000 people.
Rod Stewart was in amazing form last night storming his way through the best gig I’ve seen him play for around 20 years. He’d promised a unique set, and did he deliver! Songs that not even the most optimistic fan could have dreamed of hearing live were reeled off, one by one… Angel, You Can Make Me Dance Sing Anything, Gasoline Alley, In A Broken Dream, What Am I Gonna Do?, Killing of Georgie, I Was Only Joking, Tom Traubert’s Blues and more.
The voice was in cracking form, the performance packed with energy and the new material sounded as good as the old. In fact it is clear that 2013’s ‘Time’ album and the new songs from the forthcoming ‘Another Country’ have won back Rod’s core male audience. I haven’t seen so many geezers at a Rod Stewart show since the late seventies – I’d say it was around 60% male last night. And it was great to see so many 20/30-somethings enjoying the man alongside those of us who first picked up on him four decades ago.
Rod Stewart “has-been” jokes will need to be put away for another year.
Review by John Gray
Photos by Yve Paige
Montage by Tommy Kevitt