Review of “Rod Stewart – The Hits” – Las Vegas. Nevada, November 22 & 23, 2014 I WAS ONLY JOKING MY DEAR……………….. Rod Stewart provided the best concerts this Rodette has ever witnessed him perform in her life. Full of energy and all smiles to the capacity crowd from the U.K., Scotland, the U.S., Canada, and countless other countries, he was totally without boundaries. Opening with “Having A Party,” in silver jacket, black trousers, white shirt and black tie, he commanded the stage from the first note. The crowd stood, sang, cheered, waved their arms and provided merriment for Rod as well, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. “It’s A Heartache” came next, followed by “You Wear It Well,” “Tonight’s The Night,” and one of my absolute favourites, “You Can’t Stop Me Now.” And this Rod Stewart, was clearly unstoppable as the songs simply flowed from him with great ease. Next came “Rhythm of My Heart” with Rod’s touching tribute to the troops and his urging once again of our support, one and all, of the “Wounded Warrior Project.” Rod exited the stage announcing the arrival of his beautiful daughter Ruby, and ladies and gentlemen, she is still gaining ground. She now has that familiar rasp and grit to her once shy voice that we recognize from her famous father. Ruby once again sang “Just One More Day,” a beautiful song written by Ruby herself. She was wearing a black jacket and black and gold striped trousers, which she remarked, quite seriously, that they were her father’s trousers from the 1980’s. Yes, I guess it is true. Rod simply does not throw anything away. Rod joined Ruby on stage for their now familiar performance of “Forever Young,” and as always when they looked at each other you could see the sense of pride they shared with each other. Rod had changed to a silver suit, polka dot shirt, silver socks and silver shoes. He remarked if his Dad could only see him now he wouldn’t believe it. A new sensitive side of Rod then emerged. He remarked that one of his road crew “Boiler”, who has been with him for now 40 years, was celebrating his birthday today, and Rod called him out onto the stage and presented him to the audience for a singing by one and all of “Happy Birthday” and Rod presented him with his own gift. Unplugged and seated songs came next with “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” Ooh La La,” “Have I Told You Lately,” and a beautiful rendition of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Up on our feet again we were as Rod broke into “Sweet Little Rock and Roller” as he exited the stage and up into the audience he went. He then returned to the stage to complete this stellar performance of the classic and left Di Reed to entertain “Proud Mary.” Rod came back on and said that he had a special request to sing a song that he usually doesn’t perform anymore. He broke out into “I Was Only Joking My Dear” and the audience went wild. Wearing black shirt, black trousers and a black cowboy hat which Debbie Chambrella had so kindly provided decoration for with a yellow lei all the way from Hawaii, had been delivered to Rod by Lucy Woodward. Next came “Stay With Me” with the kicking of the footballs and Rod was once again in fine form hurling the balls into the 2nd balcony of the venue with ease. The curtain dropped and came up once more for my personal favourite, “Maggie May,” which I have loved for over 30 years now. All wonderful things must come to an end, and that was the end of the concert. It was ageless and it was timeless. Memorable events for me occurring during the concert included, while performing “I Was Only Joking” Rod said “How could I walk away from this”, motioning to the audience. I personally think he will not be leaving us any time soon. During the performance of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” Rod wore the Christmas hat provided by our own Tammy Southern who had traveled all the way from Liverpool, and the entire band was then presented hats by our own mad hatter “Vicky Marrow” who surprised me last evening with her unexpected visit, which brought me to a scream of “Vicky” and then many, many happy tears. My cohort in crime, Joy Deltiempo, was presented with another football by Rod, after she gave Rod an early birthday present from her and me of a cd of Muddy Waters, and Rod looked at it with gratitude and slipped it into his pocket, thanking us for an early birthday present. Sunday night the set list was basically the same, however if it was possible, Rod was even better than on Saturday evening and so was the crowd. Highlights of the Sunday concert included the presentation of the huge football to Rod by the Rod Stewart Fan Club and he was clearly touched. Also, Rod called Mike and Susana onto the stage after a beautiful outdoor wedding in the afternoon and serenaded them with “Have I Told You Lately.” After the performance, Rod and Sean came to Gordon Ramsey’s Restaurant and greeted all of his adoring fans and allowed a few photo opportunities and signatures for us. The Rod Stewart Fan Club held a fantastic party on Friday evening prior to all of the concert festivities, raising over $3,000 for the Wounded Warriors Project. A warm welcome and fun was provided and had by all. Memories are such treasures, and I will have this memory with me for the rest of my life. Cheers dear friends. Ginni Foxx
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 23:22:38 +0000
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