After Rod’s fantastic performance last night [Sat] I must admit I was a little worried that if that bloody virus had not completely gone it might be back with a vengeance tonight!
Early reports came in that Rod had not played in the Sunday morning football match for his Vagabond Old Boys team due to a virus, and to make things worse Allan Smart had scored four goals to help Watford Legends win 6-4 so not the best of starts to the day for Rod!
But any fears he would not be at his best were soon allayed as he launched into opener Can’t Stop Me Now, that like on the other dates of this tour went down a storm with the crowd
I had not got tickets for this concert until the last minute [Thanks Tommy!] so we were sat half way up on the right hand side, it gives a great view of the crowd as well as seeing all the stage, Rod seemed genuinely pleased to see the crowd reaction and participation on all the big hits,watching from here it makes you proud to be a Rod fan, if any other artist has better fans than this I would love to see them.
The set was pretty much as it has been so far so I won’t go over it again, but one thing I really think works for the Rod of today is the band, back in the day nobody could touch the Faces or later when the RSG were the loudest touring band they were out of this world, but the mature Rod is no longer the loudest and this band fit the mature Rod perfectly,
The girl singers would have looked ridiculous on stage with the RSG but they fit in just right now, stunning looks and great singers, even the guys all look good!
The acoustic set is a brilliant showcase for Rod and his latest band members,Don Kirkpatrick has taken on a bigger role on this tour and there is no Spinal Tap moments from new guy Emerson Swinford, most of the people who visit SMILER will already know how good the long term band members J’anna, Chuck, Katja, Conrad, David, Anne and the returning Jimmy Roberts are and if not there is plenty of footage on you tube to check them out, but Rod has added a real gem with the inclusion of harpist Julia Thornton.. has First Cut ever sounded better live?
I also loved Emerson’s solo on the encore Sailing and the crowd took it up another level too!
For me to review Rod’s performance is probably pointless, in all the hundreds of concerts I have seen I can truly say I have never seen a bad one, and tonight was no exception ok I would love to see more of the new album and something totally unexpected like In A Broken Dream but how could Rod drop Sexy or Hot legs.
Rod had teased us a couple of times through the night about an extra number at the end ‘we can’t decide which one to do’
he said..And he did not disappoint as the curtain came down after the second encore Da ya think I’m Sexy, a few people started getting ready to go but soon came running back and were treated to a blistering version of Stay With Me.
Yet again it was an honour to see Rod live in Manchester.
Pictures Rod and the crowd by Yve Paige
SMILER’s by Yve Paige