Mr. Showbiz: Rod Stewart:The Hits at Caesars Palace
Some guys have all the luck. Rod Stewart can definitely look back on his career that launched in the late 1960s and realize he was singing about himself. Now he adds a feather to his cap with his new residency, “Rod Stewart: The Hits” stationed for the next two years at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
The 66-year-old rocker backed by a nine-piece band and three singers looked spry in black pants, black shirt, hot pink shirt and tie that he slowly removed as the concert went on or the butt shaking got more vigorous. And fans couldn’t have been happier that he launched the show with one of his “newer” hits, “Some Guys Have All the Luck,” followed by “Infatuation.” Streams of fans still lined the aisles arriving late to this on-time performance.
Echoes of yesteryear paint the screen behind him with splashy ’70s graphics creating a backdrop to a large screen where Stewart’s every move is cast. Every seat in the house is only 120-feet from the stage max. Stewart quickly slowed down the show with “Tonight’s the Night” with the crowd singing along to the chorus. “Evening, all,” he finally greets the crowd. “Thank you for coming out tonight. It would have been lonely out here without you,” he says, reminding the crowd that he has two years on his contract, “off and on. I gotta have my sex life.”
Stewart proved he still has it with the cougars as he invited a bevy of them on stage as he sat on the edge and serenaded them with “First Cut Is the Deepest.” Three even stalked him after he walked off, each trying to snag a photo with the rocker while security shoed them off stage. He reminded them of their youth with “Forever Young,” rollicking his way through his hits.
He diverts off his course of hits with renditions of Sam Cooke’s “Having a Party” and Dire Straight’s “Twisting by the Pool,” but quickly returns to his deep catalog with “Downtown Train.” A four-song acoustic set gives the backup singers a chance to show their vocal range.
Stewart even sings “The Killing of Georgie,” about the murder of a gay man that stirred controversy when it came out in 1977. “No one wrote about it, but I did,” Stewart says. He pulls some classy moves when he walks through the crowd singing “Someone Like You,” glad-handing the people lucky enough to touch him.
By the end of the show, Stewart goes casual in white denim and a plaid shirt as he kicks autographed soccer balls into the crowd with gams galore on the screen as he belts out “Hot Legs.”
He saves the best for last with his hit “Maggie May.” The audience sings along and Stewart seems thrilled with the response. But the show isn’t over. The curtain rises one last time with Stewart singing his disco hit “Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?” reaffirming the Stewart still has what it takes with the ladies and his fans.
