nicked from the blog Go Fug Yourself
(it's a wee bit scary that they look like wax dummies in this pic, don't they?)

I'm writing this via a blog post from January and what I can remember for nearly 4 months ago, so bear with me please :)

This was the first gig I'd been to since 14 May 06 (London Palladium to see Moz), which was the only sour note on my first trip to England, as he didn't do an encore and got booed. I don't know when I'm going to see him again, because nothing can compare to my excitement seeing him at the Manchester Apollo on 06 May 06 but until then in my mind, Rod Stewart would have to foot the bill.

When the tickets went on sale last autumn, I was unsure if I wanted to go. $128 seemed like a lot of money, and I'm not a huge Rod fan in any stretch of the imagination. Mind you, I love classic rock and I know all the lyrics to "Maggie May" but I wouldn't count myself a superfan or anything. But my work colleague Linda loves him and has seen him numerous times, vouching for his showmanship - something that I have now come to appreciate having seen Morrissey 5 times in my life so far. Having already been thwarted in my quest to see Dirty Pretty Things in Birmingham, England for my birthday in November, I figured, why not, especially since she offered to get the tickets (since anyone who knows me knows I have such bad ticket karma and usually have to resort to evilBay). She ended up scoring seats in row H in the 101 section, which was a marked improvement from the last time I had been there - nosebleeds in the 400s in the very back row for Backstreet Boys in September 1999 (I kid you not). That BSB show was also in the round, which guaranteed our seats were actually better than the floor seats, since any sections in the arena proper were elevated.

As we were seated, we noticed the circular stage was completed swathed by a red-and-white plaid that I guessed was the Stewart clan plaid. I've been unable since to find a suitable replica of what I saw Friday night but the photo above - with Rod resplendent in plaid - will have to do. I guess this is ANOTHER one of the Stewart plaids b/c there are over 1700 of them according to tartanstore.net. Ornery clan, I suppose.

Rod had an ace crew of musicians, ranging from the standard guitar axemen and drummers, but a pretty woman playing an electric mandolin; a gorgeously long-haired woman piano player; a female saxophone player who might as well not worn any pants b/c the pants were so high up her legs and short; and a heavily-lipsticked female with a mean fiddle. He was also accompanied by three black backup singers who get my props for dancing and running around the circular stage in knee-high stiletto boots, very tight jeans, and very tight tops. Anyone notice a pattern here? ::guffaw::

It was hilarious to see the beginning movie montage of "the Rodfather" (mostly b/c Morrissey fans know that Moz is sometimes referred to as "the Mozfather" - this all coming off the heels of Paul Weller being called "the Modfather"). Yes indeed, for those who don't know Rod's background, he had to choose between "kicking balls and kicking ass." The footy image seems to come up in many a British boy's childhood, hmm? Doesn't this sound familiar with most of the British blokes we've come to know and love as music gods? We know which one he picked, and thank goodness. :D (And I also say thank goodness based on the manufactured sludge that comes out of the pop music machine nowadays. Hence why I don't even bother with the radio anymore.)

The following is a list of songs he did. it's not in any particular order, as I didn't write them down like I would as a Morrissey fan reporter. I hadn't brought my camera, figuring I wouldn't be close enough to take pictures anyway - which was a major mistake, b/c we had an unobstructed view of the the stage. There were several tunes that I just didn't recognize, and I was disappointed he didn't do "My Heart Can't Tell Me No," but if he had done every single one of his hits, we'd probably be camping out there for a couple days (so said Linda).

setlist out of order

began with some song I didn't recognize
Some Guys Have All the Luck
Infatuation (complete with a disco ball that lowered from the ceiling of the arena and me laughing hysterically - come on now, you remember "The Sure Thing," don't you?)
Give Me Just Another Little Piece of Your Heart (by the Rodettes)
This Old Heart of Mine
The First Cut is the Deepest (the start of the second half - yes, this wasn't a Sheryl Crow original, folks!)
Dirty Old Town (Rod played acoustic guitar on a stool for this, and introduced it as the first song he ever recorded)
Hot Legs
Forever Young (woooo!)
Downtown Train (::faints::)
Have I Told You Lately (requiring all the couples in the audience to snuggle, awww)
The Rhythm of My Heart
It's a Heartache (Bonnie Tyler cover)
Have You Ever Seen the Rain (CCR cover, accompanied by fake, purple rain on the monitors, *giggle*)
Reason to Believe (woooo! times two)
You're in My Heart (I dunno why but this song's chorus always cracks me up...)
Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Father and Son
Tonight's the Night
Young Turks (woooo! times three)
--
Maggie May (also known as the "Kick in the Head" song by my mother)

There must be more songs, the show started around 8:10 and didn't finish until about 10:35, when there was a mad dash to the Metro. But sorry, I don't remember them all. There was a 20-minute intermission, when Rod advised us "to go to the toilets and get a beer." I had to laugh at that. The couple behind me had already imbibed a couple before the show had started - my nostrils had been assaulted by the smell of alcohol and the peanut shells that littered the seats directly above ours. You know people have drunk too much alcohol when you can smell them from several feet away and there's no breeze! There were several certainly drunk 40-something women, trying their best to walk in a straight line up the stairs and not fall over, to get back to the concourse, presumably to buy more beer. They had been holding up signs that read "We Love You Rod" and single long-stemmed roses all night in an attempt to get Rod's attention. I silently reminded myself NOT to look that way in 10 to 20 years when Duran Duran starts heading that age downhill.

At one point, he appeared to be doing "D'Ya Think I'm Sexy" but then changed his mind, much to the fans' disappointment. He couldn't have done it without spandex anyway, could he? Also during the concert, various photos splashed across the screen: Rod and his baby son "playing" football; young Rod dressed up in his football kit looking athletic; putting back a couple pints with his dad; green and white striped football youths running around football grounds; and various other montages of anonymous people acting out what I suppose was supposed to go with the themes of certain songs (odd, out of place, and purposefully cheesy if you ask me).

Oh. I *have* to talk about the merch. Morrissey fans mourn the fact that usually at his gigs, there is so little merch to speak of, and it's usually so dang expensive, you don't want it anyway. Thank goodness for bootleg t-shirts, two of which I proudly hang in my closet from the 2006 England tour. However, there was a whole wall of Rod Stewart merchandise available for purchase. There had to have been at least ten t-shirts fitting the whole spectrum of possible buyers. Not everyone wants to wear Rod's face on their chest, do they? I wouldn't. (So says the girl who won a 'N Sync t-shirt that has J.C. Chasez's huge head in blue squarely in the center. Any takers?) I saw there were a couple tasteful earth-toned shirts, presumably for men. Huge programs were $20, the "new" Still the Same CD was available at $15. There was also a teddy bear wearing a t-shirt for the kids I guess ($20) and with the crush of people too massive, I couldn't get any closer to the merch table. It wasn't like I was planning to buy anything anyhow.

I did, however, double-over laughing with Linda when we overheard two fathers consulting one another, one of them saying to the other, "I'm not buying my daughter that thong! It's perverted!" The thong in question was black, but I couldn't tell if there was a Union Jack or Rod's head squarely in the, ahem, codpiece area? Just thinking that someone would actually buy that - now THAT gives me the heebie-jeebies! ::shudder::

So ends the story of my night with the Rodfather. Would I see him again? Maybe. But I think I still need to some other old favorites first! (Macca?)

posted 05/23/07
gig-going habits