Rod Stewart

Monday 27th February. The O2. Rod Stewart. First time for me to see Rod at this rescheduled gig from last November. It’s not a shock that the majority of the audience are middle aged women and I am indeed with one myself who has proclaimed Rod as her first love.

We are sitting at The Deck, an area in the O2 with bar stools on level one with waitress service. Very civilised and good views too.

After a twenty minute set from the UK Mariachis who didn’t overstay their welcome we sit back waiting for Rod.

What follows is two hours of Rod classics, covers and American standards all wrapped up in a slick production. The stage is bedecked in black and white checkerboard, the band are identically dressed as are the coordinated backing singers and female string section. The lighting and video walls are impressive without being over the top projecting images of Rod throughout the years.

We kick off with Sam Cooke’s ‘Having a Party’ and that’s what the crowd does all night. The band are tight and all are given an opportunity to shine with extended solos to allow for the various costume changes. The set tonight is well paced taking in all eras from Rod’s career with a couple of Faces numbers through to a track off of the new album. The acoustic section was particularly good and was one of the highlights for me especially his version of ‘I’d rather go blind’.

Rod’s voice is still an impressive tool considering his age and he bemoans the mimers and auto tuners in pop music at the moment.

It’s all over too quickly and seems to end abruptly with the band playing ‘Enjoy yourself it’s later than you think’ as the curtain comes down. Well its only 10 o’clock which is hardly late but I suppose the oldies have to get home for their Ovaltine.

I’m glad I’ve now seen this legend who is still going strong. Here’s hoping for the much talked about Faces reunion.

Keep of soft rocking y’all

I think it is disgusting the way I was given one days notice of the show being cancelled.
Having booked this in February 2016 we had lots of time to plan a weekend that we have never done before, and was a much needed break and I so wanted to see Rod Stewart. As we are foster carers with 2 children with disabilities and 2 main stream very damaged children, so you can imagine how difficult this was to organise, We also have a dog that needed to go into kennels . Having organised respite carers for the children ,booked hotel, and train and dog kennels and clipper to get to the o2 and paid for these things and one child had already gone into respite care and dog had gone into kennels before we where told that it had been cancelled .
You cannot imagine my disappointment and upset, I have never been able to go before due to commitments to see such an event and was so excited to see Rod Stewart, being our 37th wedding anniversary in October and my birthday in December my Husband organised this this with help from family and KCC Social services.
I do understand people get ill and things get cancelled ,but one days notice is not good enough to be able to cancel hotel, and every thing else, we have lost a lot of money and then to say we can go in February on a Sunday or Monday and to arrange this again is impossible.
This is the second time we have had this with the o2 , the other time was when we booked 6 tickets to see Little mix which was the first disaster , these are the only two times we have booked and never thought this would happen with such a large organisation , our families have been to the 02 many times and have never experienced any of these things .

Whatever you think of Rod Stewart, you can’t reasonably accuse him of lacking a sense of humour. On his last arena tour of the UK, in the summer of 2013, his performance of "Do You Think I’m Sexy" saw an array of old newspaper cuttings about him flash up on the giant screens, with one proclaiming “ROD: I DON’T WANT TO BE SINGING ‘DA YOU THINK I’M SEXY’ WHEN I’M SIXTY.”
Next January, of course, he’ll be seventy, and yet like so many of his contemporaries - his old Faces bandmate and drinking partner Ronnie Wood springs to mind - he’s still going strong. It’s actually astonishing how well his husky style of crooning has held up over the years, especially given the struggles he’s had with his throat in recent years; he’s still touring hard, though, and frankly sounding better than ever. These days, you can expect all the hits - "Maggie May," "You’re In My Heart," "Hot Legs" all present and correct - and, of course, a slew of covers. He’s still up to some of his old stage tricks, too, kicking footballs into the audience, and wearing his heart on his sleeve with an exquisitely-designed Celtic FC drum logo. Rumours of a Faces reunion continue to swirl, if Wood ever does get time off from the Stones; if so, Rod should be game - he’s a long way from reaching for the pipe and slippers yet.

Rod Stewart, one of the UK's most successful recording artists is now 70 years old. Whilst most british pensioners his age are applying for their free bus pass, he is continuing to perform to fans in arenas all over the globe. Having sold over 100 million records, Rod clearly has no monetary obligation instead he tours for the sheer love of performing and delighting his fans.

Stood in the middle of a huge stadium, the iconic crooner commands the stage and laps up the adoring cries and cheers his appearance evokes and kicks off with a huge rendition of 'Infatuation'. He has had an impossible amount of hits on both the singles and albums chart but Rod chooses his setlist wisely to hopefully please the many thousands gathered. The charismatic and cheeky way in which he conducts himself is also a huge crowd pleaser.

His live band are incredibly skilled and he has a great rapport as they play classics such as 'Maggie May' to rapturous applause. The finale of 'Baby Jane' receives a mass sing-along and gives Rod's raspy vocal a little break as the audience takes over yet he is back at centre stage to perform a tongue in cheek rendition of 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?'. A class act with a great sense of both humour and integrity.

I paid 132 euro each for the best view. BIG MISTAKE.
No seats and the the area was overcrowded. Stewards were useless. Lots of people without Front Stage Passes came into the area which meant we had a very poor view.
Police refused us access to disabled parking even though we showed them the badge so we had to park at the Miramar and get a taxi. When we were drooped off we were next to the disabled parking where there were still spaces available. No doubt being saved for friends of the police.
We could not see the support act as they were not on the stage but performed at the far side of the venue. We could not leave our position or we would have had no view at all for the main show.
The main show was due to start at 10pm but started at 10.25. We were told by Rod Stewart he would play for 2 hours. The show ended at 12.05 !
Our friends who paid 85 euros for seats fared little better being surrounded by noisy drunks who the stewards refused to deal with.
When you promote an artist who is over 70 you should realise his fans are the same age and the facilities were woeful. Standing for over 4 hours is unacceptable.
malcolmkays@btinternet.com

WOW!!!!! I loved seeing Rod and all of his talented Musicians onstage. This was my first time seeing him live, and I was thrilled. I had a floor seat just in front of the Sound System, center to Stage. It was high energy right from the start. I heard the distant D Drone of the Bagpipes, and knew right away that I was in the right place. It wasn't long before, they were Marching in Full Quilt around Budweiser Gardens. The lights went down...the stage was lit...the curtain went up...and there they were!!! The girls...." LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MR. ROD STEWART " My heart was beating like a Drum !! The Concert was FANTASTIC.. Rod was FANTASTIC... I loved the backdrop...The movements, the colours, the History, the stories. I was very surprised. SIR Rod Stewart was AWESOME !! I loved the Drum Solo....the Whole Concert !! I am going to try and get tickets for his show coming up in August with Cyndi Lauper!!!
THANK YOU ROD STEWART AND BUDWEISER GARDENS, LONDON ONTARIO.

Rod as always was wonderful and the concert was amazing. This is my 100th Rod concert. Concert was great as I said, the venue was rubbish. Got an email telling us where to park, when we got there after a 2 hour drive, this particular car park was off bounds. We had to park 20 mins walk from venue. In my experience there were not many TRUE ROD fans so there was no normal Rod atmosphere, people just standing around and not singing or seaming to enjoy themselves, like you would get from say a London venue. I think Rod felt this as he did not even come out for an encore which he has never done this before. Supporting act with 4 fat Mexicans was a joke, thank God Rods daughter (Sisterhood) followed with a brilliant performance, the atmosphere spoilt this concert for us and after paying over 200 pounds this was a shame. Will be going to see Rod in London for make up for this.

Awesome evening with Rod!

The musicians were outstanding! Rod was impressive and made everyone feel included and entertained.

The show started right on time. There was no lead-in group. I think some folks thought there would be a lead-in act because several people arrived late and missed the first half hour of the show. Also, the show lasted just under 2 hours. There was no break. This was perfect for our group who enjoyed the experience in Calgary.

I had tried to find the following info before the show and didn’t find it anywhere so I am posting it here:
1. No Lead-in Act, if you are late you will miss some of Rod’s act.
2. Show is approx 2 hrs if you are taking a limo, taxi or uber after the show.

Great concert!
LizyW

This was amazing! A true honour to see Rod in full flight. It was the first night of a 5 month tour and there were a few minor technical glitches but Rod, as the charismatic entertainer he is managed to make a joke about them and and make the audience feel like we were all participating in the show together. He made relatively large stadium feel like a small intimate gig. At 74 I dare say he doesn't have the physical stamina of a Bruce Springsteen but it balances this out by giving plenty of time for solos and individual performances to his incredible band. This was a well crafted show that had the entire audience on their feet dancing by the end. Will definitely see him again if I get the opportunity!

Took my daughter for her birthday absolutely amazing show we danced all night. Well worth the aches this morning. Rod sang all his old ones and a few new ones and really got the crowd singing along.
I would definitely recommend to go see him before he stops touring although I don’t think he will. The only bad point which will have nothing to do with rod himself was that leaving the carpark was horrendous. Not very carefully thought out at all badly organised. It took us an hr and 40 minutes just to get a few yards out of the car park and on to the road. Great night though wouldn’t have missed it for the world.