When the unlikely pair of Rod Stewart and Carlos Santana joined forces to tour, appropriately titled: The Voice, The Guitar, many were left scratching their heads as to if this would work? I mean you couldn’t get two more opposite types of music under one roof. I periodically checked Ticketmaster and good floor seats could have been had right up until show day. The show sold healthy but probably due to it being a nice day and a they probably had a really good walk up.
Santana was the opening act and played almost a solid hour and 20 minutes. Some of the songs segued into others like “Black Magic Woman” into “Gypsy Queen” and “Smooth” into “Dame tu Amor,” but never did Santana lose any of the audience at any point. His proficiency on the guitar remains as poignant as ever. Highlights were “Maria Maria” and “Dame tu Amor” where one of his vocalists donned a blonde wig and the entire band seemed to be going off on this track. Lots of maracas and bongos, along with some percussion instruments, women dancing and men getting into the groove truly made Santana’s set a “Spanish Harlem,” if you will.
Another thing to add during Santana’s set was that his wife Cindy Blackman made quite an impression for the short time she came on behind the kit. Coming out for just one song “Corazon Espinado,” she blazed and killed the skins while delivering one of the best drum solos I have ever witnessed. Yes, she was that good and in fact, it was the second time ever I had witnessed a standing ovation for a drum solo (Neal Peart being the first).
This made it a tall task for “Hot Rod” to deliver the goods! Stewart took to the stage promptly at 9:30pm to a bevy of beautiful women in blue sequins who were his backup vocalists, and also a few others dressed the same, while belting out on saxophone and trumpet. As Stewart came out decked out in a slick yellow suit coat the band started playing “Infatuation.” I believe it took a few songs for Stewart’s voice to warm up. By the start of “Stay With Me,” a song by his old band The Faces, he started to sound pretty solid. He also brought out the same microphone he used when with The Faces to sing the song. He paid homage to all the vets around the world when dedicating “Rhythm of My Heart.”
He mixed up the set a bit, leaving and coming back with a slick silver suit. Then he and the band proceeded to perform 3 entirely acoustic covers; “The First Cut is the Deepest,” “Reason to Believe,” and “Have I Told You Lately.” The stage he had was massive and had lots of areas to roam. No amps or monitors or anything, allowing for almost a soccer field of space.
Speaking of soccer, or football as Stewart would call it, was heavily represented throughout the entire set. His drummer had the emblem of the Celtic football team. Various clips of Rod playing were shown throughout and to top it all off, he kicked or tossed about 30 autographed Wilson soccer balls into the audience during “Hot Legs.”
This was my first time ever seeing Stewart and the set was what I thought it would be, fun and entertaining. It was a solid show by a performer who “wears it well” and showed the audience that he still can deliver a quality performance after all of these years!
Rod Stewart setlist:
Infatuation
Twistin’ the Night Away (Sam Cooke cover)
You Wear It Well
Some Guys Have All the Luck (The Persuaders cover)
Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
Stay With Me (Faces song)
Rhythm of My Heart
I’d Rather Go Blind (Etta James cover with Carlos Santana)
Forever Young/Drum solo
The First Cut Is the Deepest (Cat Stevens cover)
Reason to Believe (Tim Hardin cover)
Have I Told You Lately (Van Morrison cover)
Can’t Stop Me Now
Sweet Little Rock & Roller (Chuck Berry cover)
Proud Mary (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
Hot Legs
Maggie May
Encore:
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?
Carlos Santana setlist:
(Da Le) Yaleo La flaca
Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen
Oye como va (Tito Puente cover)
Maria Maria
Foo Foo
Corazón Espinado (Cindy Blackman drum solo) Jingo
Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile)
Smooth / Dame tu Amor
Encore:
Woodstock Chant
Soul Sacrifice
Saideira
We would like to thank Erin Cook from Jensen PR and Tracey Mancini for their assistance in providing credentials to BackstageAxxess for this show.
