Rod Stewart
Qudos Bank Arena, March 29
★★★★
If this really is Rod Stewart’s last Australian tour, then the 78-year-old legend is throwing himself a pretty spectacular leaving party.
Granted, there was a wobble when he cancelled a gig in Geelong and just this week he didn’t make it back for the encore in Brisbane. But when Stewart shimmied out tonight in a leopard-skin jacket, hair almost as luxuriant as it was on the cover of Blondes Have More Fun, and ripped into Addicted To Love with backing singers made up like the models from Robert Palmer’s music video, there was a sense of business as usual.
Rod Stewart performing at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney last night as part of his ‘Hits’ Australian tour in 2023.Credit: Wolter Peeters
A Robert Palmer cover was admittedly a strange place to start for an artist who’s had 14 top-10 hits in Australia. But then Stewart, the smirking godfather of lad culture, can still get away with just about anything – he later revealed he’d been out with one of his backing singers until 4.30am the morning before this gig.
Despite that, Stewart’s trademark raspy tenor was in as good a shape as one could expect as he and his band – all 13 of them – launched into a brace of classic rockers. Hips can’t help but sway to Ooh La La by The Faces, the pub rock pioneers whom critics wish Stewart had never left, while 1988’s Forever Young has morphed into mission statement, the singer raging against the dying of the light as he belted out the chorus.
Rod Stewart belts it out on his 2023 Australian tour, pictured on March 30th at Rod Laver Arena.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Yet, it’s Stewart’s ballads that sold out this arena, and we got three corkers in a row – The First Cut Is The Deepest complete with harp, Maggie May with a stunningly slowed-down intro, and a cover of Etta James’ blues classic I’d Rather Go Blind, which inspired Stewart’s most heartfelt singing all night.
Then there was a gorgeous Downtown Train, taken over the top by Jimmy Roberts’ rapturous sax solo, and an acoustic set which, apart from giving Rod a chance to sit down, showcased the power of his louche charm when he got everyone singing along to the dodgy lyrics of 1976’s Tonight’s The Night.
Rod was more right-on when he donned a yellow jacket and blue shirt, yelled “F--- Putin!” and dedicated Rhythm Of My Heart to the people of Ukraine, but the real activism was in Cyndi Lauper’s support set.
Almost a septuagenarian herself, the New Yorker was in fine voice but also fine sentiments, turning Girls Just Want To Have Fun into a rallying cry for abortion rights in her home country.
A cultural guide to going out and loving your city. Sign up to our Culture Fix newsletter here.