Concert Review: Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks at the Bell Centre; April 1, 2011
 

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Concert Review: Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks at the Bell Centre; April 1, 2011

By BERNARD PERUSSE SAT, APR 2 2011 COMMENTS(0) WORDS & MUSIC

Filed under: Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart


In the dying moments of the Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks show at the Bell Centre Friday night, 11,000 people used the last shreds of their vocal cords to howl out the distinctive keyboard line from Do Ya Think I’m Sexy over and over again, wordlessly begging Stewart and his 13 musicians to come back.

But the outburst was in vain. Stewart had delivered that song as his sole encore.

In truth, Rod the Mod had already given the fans their money’s worth in a two-hour set filled with his most well-known songs. They had come to sing along with the hits and he gave them the opportunity to do so at every turn.

This was an evening far more defined by nostalgia than music.

It’s hard to imagine anyone seriously arguing that Stewart’s recordings after the mid-70s --- clunkers like the aforementioned disco chart-topper, Hot Legs and Some Guys Have All the Luck, all on Friday’s set list --- are on a level with his early work. Sure, there are exceptions, but the point was dramatically illustrated when he followed up the hall-of-famer You Wear It Well with the highly ordinary You’re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim).

To the fans, it’s all the same, one song as singable and easy to remember as its predecessor. And if you put aside the artistic gap between his groundbreaking first albums and everything that followed, their point is taken. They came for a show and Rod Stewart proved he’s still a master showman, from the opening cover of the O’Jays’ Love Train, through high-spirited versions of Sam Cooke and Chuck Berry songs and passing through his own career milestones. He kept the audience under his spell until the curtain went down for good.

Stewart does, to quote his own classic, wear it well. All of it: his age, his fame, his clothes. He is as comfortable in his own skin and as charismatic as ever. In fact, few performers of any age can compete with him on the level of using and owning every square inch of stage.

And what a stage presentation: lit as the song required, it burst with colour and theme-related animated backdrops, with an energetic band strutting on it, looking like they time-traveled from the British Invasion and a 60s soul revue. At no point was the audience allowed to get bored.

There were a few missteps, notably when Stewart ruined Rhythm of My Heart by handing a few bars of the chorus to his back-up singers and letting them ham it up and go all diva in succession.

Another ill-advised move was bringing Nicks out for duets on the wrong songs: Passion, one of Stewart’s weakest, and the undistinguished Young Turks. In the latter song, Nicks mostly danced and handled the mic while he sang, ultimately joining the backup singers.

Unlike Stewart, Nicks is not a visual performer --- although she still looks wonderful. Apart from the requisite spacey witch moves and shawl-wielding twirls, she just sings her songs. And as her opening set revealed, a few of them -- like the tuneless Stand Back and the rambling piano ballad Love Is, which bookended her performance --- can be tedious. Others definitely still have legs.

A stripped-down version of the Fleetwood Mac evergreen Landslide, with photos from Nicks’s past providing a touching backdrop, was a highlight, as were the consecutively played rockers Sorcerer and Gold Dust Woman. Edge of Seventeen was extended beyond its proper life span by some serious wailing by Nicks’s longtime default guitarist Waddy Wachtel, but no one was complaining.

Griping, in fact, was the very last thing on the minds of the faithful. As the doors of the arena flew open, they went home without a second encore, a few of them carrying one of the soccer balls Stewart kicked into the audience during Hot Legs. And they were as happy as could be.

an honest review

I have to say I agree with his review. Rod was better by far. He really knows how to work the crowd. The best part was when Stevie sang the new single and then she yelled out finally a new song!!! The crowd looked puzzled like they didn't know or didn't care. It felt awkward.

Matt

When she does that on her solo dates, the crowd will erupt in thunderous clamor and emotion.

Michele

this is like the third or fourth time that a critic has slammed Love Is... have to agree there.

Sunday, April 3, 2011
 

Entertainment Music
Rock legends join at the ACC
By JANE STEVENSON, Toronto Sun
RATING: **** (4 outta five)
Rod Stewart/Stevie Nicks
Air Canada Centre
Saturday night
Two raspy-voiced, blond-haired rock legends for the price of one.

Not bad for an evening of music at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night as Fleetwood Mac vixen Stevie Nicks - still looking and sounding great at 62-years-old - co-headlined with rockin’ Rod Stewart, now 66, who was also in good voice and great flaxen hair.

Stewart, ever the British gentlemen, popped out on stage early to introduce Nicks, who he called “one of the greatest rock voices of the era and the 21st century.”

Nicks’ 80-minute set was composed of solo, Fleetwood Mac and Buckingham-Nicks hits plus Secret Love, the first single from her new solo album, In Your Dreams, due May 3.

“Welcome Toronto - I’m so glad you’re here,” said Nicks, backed by a nine-piece band. “We don’t get to come up to Canada that often. It’s so exciting to be up here in this beautiful city.”

Nicks, in a sequined, corsetted and ruffled black dress, and wedge-heeled black boots - a downgrade from her signature black suede platforms of the ‘70s - could also still move, if more gingerly, as she performed a signature twirl just minutes into her set opener, Stand Back.

And with her interpretive dance moves, long hair, and numerous accessory changes in a little black tent at the back of the stage that saw her work her way through two gold shawls - including one for set highlight, Gold Dust Woman - she conjured up her image from Fleedwood Mac’s heyday, especially when she hovered around guitarist Waddy Wachtel with her arms outstretched.

Other set standouts included Fleetwood Mac’s classics Dreams and Rhiannon - which included a video of unicorns and produced the first crowd clap along of the night - the poignant Landslide, which featured pictures of Nicks family including her late father, and Edge of Seventeen with a loving, long walk around the stage by Stevie, waving to her fans and paying tribute to her musicians.

Stewart, meanwhile, transformed Nicks stripped-down stage into an impressive gleaming white production reminiscent of ‘60s British music variety show, Ready Steady Go!, with 13 musicians joining him, including three horn players (two women in heels), for his set opener, a cover of The O’ Jays’ Love Train.

“Good evening my friends, what a night!” said Stewart dressed in a gold blazer, white shirt, black tie and black dress pants, a shiny black patent shoes.

He then delivered his own, Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright), prompting a major crowd singalong, before returning to another cover with Sam Cooke’s Havin’ A Party.

Then it was time for two collaborations with Nicks (now in her signature black suede platform boots) with one slightly improved over the other but neither great - Passion (not so good), and Young Turks (only marginally better).

How about them doing Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, Whenever I Call You Friend, or Leather and Lace - i.e. a proper duet from Nicks’ back catalogue - instead?

Stewart, who ditched the blazer and untucked his shirt pretty early in the show, also dug deeper into his five-decade long stash of well-known covers with Cat Stevens’ The First Cut is the Deepest and Bob Dylan’s Forever Young, the latter which he dedicated to his six-week old son - and eighth child - Aidan.

But mainly he seemed intent on having a good time over the course of an hour and 40 minutes, dancing around the stage, and swigging red wine, as he returned to such covers as Sam Cooke’s Twistin’ The Night Away, Tom Waits’ Downtown Train - complete with a Brooklyn Bridge backdrop - Tim Hardin’s Reason To Believe, and Chuck Berry’s Sweet Little Rock And Roller.

“I do love my job!” said Stewart after changing into a light blue blazer and matching tie.

And when someone threw up A Celtic Football Club scarf to him on stage, he prompty threw it around his neck and belted out You’re In My Heart while footage of the club played on the video screen behind him. (His drum kit also said The Celtic Football Club.)

Stewart second dedication of the night was “to all servicemen, past and present,” during Rhythm of My Heart, which prominently featured his three female back up singers.

His standout outfit, however, was a purple suit and lavender shirt, which he donned for his cover of Van Morrison’s Have I Told You Lately, his own Hot Legs, the latter which saw him kick soccer balls into the crowd in his trademark move, the show-ending Maggie May and the encore number, Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?

STEVIE NICKS SET LIST:

Stand Back

Secret Love

If Anyone Falls

Dreams

Sorcerer

Gold Dust Woman

Fall From Grace

Rhiannon

Landslide

Edge of Seventeen

ENCORE:

Love Is

ROD STEWART SET LIST

Love Train

Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)

Havin’ a Party

Passion (with Stevie Nicks)

Young Turks (with Stevie Nicks)

The First Cut is the Deepest

Forever Young

Some Guys Have All The Luck

Twistin’ The Night Away

Downtown Train

Reason to Believe

You’re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim)

Sweet Little Rock and Roller

Rhythm of My Heart

Knock On Wood (by his backup singers)

Have I Told You Lately

Hot Legs

Maggie May

ENCORE:

Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?

http://www.torontosun.com/entertainm.../17856016.html