The following review was published Jan 31th in ‘The Australian’ – by Martin Buzacott
IT may have been more than a decade since Rod Stewart’s last Brisbane appearance, but this first gig on the long-awaited national tour was just what you would expect a Stewart concert to be. It’s a hit fest.
Accompanied by a well drilled seven-piece band (on the 70th show of his international tour), Stewart appears in a white jacket for a mellow opening of Handbags and Gladrags, The First Cut is the Deepest and Reason to Believe. The pace is then stepped up with a rocking Some Guys Have All the Luck, Infatuation and Tonight I’m Yours, leading to the anthemic You’re in My Heart, Tonight’s the Night and a version of Rhythm of My Heart dedicated to those fighting the war against terrorism.
Nearly an hour in and Rod’s hitting his stride with outstanding versions of Tom Waits’s Downtown Train and Van Morrison’s Have I Told You Lately, until the wheels fall off as he forgets the lyrics to Maggie May and has to start it all over again.
Stewart’s voice remains an impressive white soul instrument and the material holds up well – even after 30 years in some cases. And no one seems to mind the outrageousness of this 57-year-old singer cranking out these classic tunes while awkwardly smacking his own bum.
In fact the audience is just as shameless as the star, crash-tackling each other while attempting to catch autographed soccer balls kicked into the auditorium by their football-loving idol.
Prancing, sometimes sprinting, up and down a long catwalk, Stewart works his way through about 26 songs.
After the interval there is more of a classic soul and Motown flavour (back-up singers Natasha Pearce, Ester Nicholson and multi-instrumentalist J’Anna Jacoby perform a wonderful version of Heatwave), including a searing I Don’t Want to Talk About It, and then the obligatory Sailing as an encore.
As it has for decades, the formula works. Stewart pulverises the vocal lines like a jackhammer in a gravel pit, and his genial image remains a mixture between a sophisticated lounge lizard and a lager lout out on a dare.
It’s hard to be disappointed when expectations are so completely fulfilled, but given Stewart’s interesting recent recording history (Skunk Anansie, Helicopter Girl and other young acts have provided fresh inspiration), the live show has to be careful that audience demand doesn’t turn a still great singer into a simple nostalgia act.
© The Australian