Friday May 14 2010
Seeing as Modfather Paul Weller is back, Rod Stewart has taken to calling himself the Rodfather. Normally, such behaviour would flag someone just about to be sectioned but, of course, this is Rod the Mod we’re talking about.
The former singer for the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces must have enjoyed his visit to the RDS last summer, as he’s already back for two sold-out nights in the O2 to launch his European tour, which he mistakenly claims opened in Dubai at the weekend.
An opening salvo of ‘Love Train’ and ‘Some Guys Have All the Luck’ already have the packed auditorium in the palm of his charming hands. “I spend so much time here I really should have a look at some property,” he remarks. You’d have no shortage of potential estate agents Rod.
Indeed, Stewart famously said after his third divorce: “Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house.”
For the most part, Stewart sticks to the script of hits, seeing as he has a whopping 62 of them, with 31 top 10s and six number ones. ‘The Rhythm of My Heart’, ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’, ‘Maggie May’ and ‘Sailing’ have them singing and swinging in the aisles.
The pace is slowed down with some tender interludes, such as ‘Have I Told You Lately’. Not everyone is as impressed. One punter loudly exclaims: “Rod, play some proper stuff for ****’s sake!”
The proper stuff comes in the sound and shape of the perennial crowd-pleaser ‘Hot Legs’, complete with Rod kicking footballs into the crowd, despite the fact that a fan was awarded €15,000 for whiplash injuries after being struck by a ball here when his show was in the Point in 2005.
It’s a great show, but I can’t help feeling that the encores are a little stingy. Almost everyone has a set-list complaint after a concert, especially when it involves a legend, but it’s disappointing not to hear ‘Handbags and Gladrags’. Having said that, the Rodfather still has it in spades.
Reproduced with thanks to Eamon Sweeney and The Irish Independent