A very frail and elderly-looking woman riding home on the light-rail train from Rod Stewart’s all-hits show at the Target Center on Tuesday said she has been going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s concerts since she was a young woman. And she added that she and Stewart are the same age, both 64.
“He’s aged,” she said sadly. “He doesn’t move like he used to.”
But then she smiled with a hint of wicked nostalgia. “But he moves a lot better than I do,” she said.
During his 90-minute show, Stewart sweated through three costume changes, strutted and twitched, wriggled a still-lean fanny that could inspire shrieks, and assured his late-40-something audience (the average age, perhaps) that they were going to get a good show.
And they did. The crowds turning out for Stewart’s concerts know all the songs and sing along to most of the lyrics. Stewart’s music has been part of their lives and has underscored memories. The fans come primed for a love fest.
And it’s artfully managed, with nostalgic psychedelic visuals projected on a big screen, a trio of Motown-like backup singers, a voluptuous blonde female sax player and a backup band of top-tier rocker talent.
Stewart’s instantly recognized singing voice has diminished power and it was obvious during Tuesday’s concert that he rations it. The backup performers pushed the songs, sometimes obliterating Stewart’s trademark rasp, then backing off for a well-known phrase. You got the feeling that the person operating the sound-mixing equipment was following a script.
But no matter. This wasn’t an interpretive performance by the man once considered rock’s best interpretive singer. This was a celebratory review of an era.
The songs, starting with “Some Guys Have all the Luck,” included “It’s A Heartache,” “Forever Young,” “Downtown Train,” “The First Cut is the Deepest,” “Rhythm Of My Heart,” “Tonight’s the Night,” “Having a Party,” “Have I Told You Lately,” “You’re in my Heart” and many others — including an encore of “Maggie May,” with whole sections sung a cappella by the audience.
And, perhaps inevitably, not all the memories evoked by the songs were wonderful. To this listener, for instance, Stewart’s upbeat rendition of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” brought back memories of the Vietnam War. Give me the Creedence Clearwater Revival version.
Of course, Stewart didn’t sing all the hits; officially there are more than 60 of them. I heard a few audience members yearning for “You Wear It Well,” or “Infatuation.” You can’t have them all.
But Stewart did kick soccer balls, effortlessly lofting them high in the air more than half-way across the Target Center floor. What legs.
