Here are my thoughts on my first ever Rod concert at St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton.
I have been a Rod fan since the 70s, but I have never had the opportunity t0 go to any of his concerts. Being in my 70s now I never thought I could ever dream of going until one day last October my husband told me he had bought tickets for the Southampton concert. I was over the moon.
Although the tickets were paid I still couldn’t believe it was going to happen until a few weeks ago when the envelope containing the tickets dropped through the letterbox.. We were really going!
Well the 31 May arrived, We had booked a hotel but we weren’t due to leave home until 12.30pm. I was up and dressed by 8am I just couldn’t wait to go.
Well here we were now at St Mary’s soaking up the atmosphere, there were food vendors blasting out Rods songs and even men dressed as Rod lookalikes, I couldn’t believe it, it was fantastic.
When it was time to go in we found our seats, the whole thing was so well organised, 8.30 Arrived, it was time for Rod to start. Unfortunately we were further back than we wanted to be, but because of the big screens around the stage, we didn’t miss a thing, this man was even more fantastic than we could have imagined, from old songs like Maggie May and You Wear It Well to new ones like Rollin’ and Tumblin’ brilliant, the way Rod had got the audience to sing along was one of my favourite bits. He had a wonderful rapport with everyone could have been the guy next door chatting to you, he was unbelievable.
The backing singers were so talented and the musicians amazing, I just could not fault anything. Rod had everyone on their feet singing and dancing from the minute he started singing. Also had some entertainment when a little old lady in her 80s sitting in front of us took out from her pocket a pair of knickers that she wanted to throw at Rod she had everyone in stitches.
Unfortunately every good thing comes to an end. All I can say is how come I had to wait so long, but you know what, that evening will remain with me forever. Thanks Rod for not letting me be disappointed. You were absolutely AWESOME.
Review By Sylvy Thatcher
Photos By Yve Paige
Montage Tommy Kevitt