There is no shame in giving your fans precisely what they paid for. Rod Stewart did exactly that in a stunning and glorious 90 minute plus trip down memory lane, played so well, taken earnestly but without an ounce of camp, it was a lesson in superstardom. Elton John should be forced to see where great pop and great art meet.He could learn a truckload.
The back up band was standard issue session guys, the chick fiddler and horn player nothing special, and, at least at first, the mix off.
None of it mattered.
Center of a white lit stage with three HD screens so everybody could see, Stewart was a magnificent force of popular pleasure. Opening with the weakest moment, an iffy cover of the O'Jays "Love Train", he soon regrouped with "Tonight's The Night" and it's here where we can see precisely why Stewart's performance was so great: he has sung "Tonight's The Night" so many times, but even while allowing the audience to hijack verses and choruses, he returned to them, and he sang his heart out. This wasn't a going through the motions, singing in your sleep, it wasn't an overlong re-working: Rod Stewart gave a perfectly performed, well played, sincere and yet fun version of a classic number.
And he did it all night long.
Two songs later, he brought out his opener Stevie Nicks for an OK "Passion" and a brilliant "Young Turks" where, finally, the inclusion of Nicks made sense. My friend Sandy deBellis (she promises to review this as well at a later date) and I were wondering why he had brought her along.
1. He didn't feel like a three hour extravaganza
2. Both Fleetwood Mac and Stewart were switching #1's in the mid -70s.
Good reasons but:
3. They share a rasping, tender singing voice. They complement each other aurally.
This "Young Turks" kills the recorded version dead.
Wonderful but really, just another highlight. SO many. Every song, he dances, tapdances, moves his feet and dashes around the stage so nimbly, so well. At SIXTY SIX YEARS OLD. Amazing.
"New York always seems to bring out the best in us" Rod claims, and it is hard to deny.
On "Downtown Train" -with a beautiful graphic of the Brooklyn Bridge lit behind him. Rod sits on as stool but can't remain sitting for more than half the song, and suddenly starts moving about the stage; he covers Sam Cooke and Chuck Berry; he dedicates "Forever Young" to his six week old son Aiden;, he dedicates a wonderful version of "Rhythm Of My Heart" to the servicemen overseas, kicks soccer balls out to the audience for "You're In My Heart", and he tells us that this is the 42nd time he has played MSG and he played the following song with the Faces the very first concert he performed. "You Wear It Well". Which would make that concert 1972.
And for an encore he brings "Maggie May" to life?
How?
How can Rod Stewart bring "Maggie May" to life after all these years? He does. Great version, fresh as a daisy.
Concert of the year.
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