Sir Rod Stewart is an absolute legend. A performer who has been thrilling audiences for over fifty years and shows no sign of slowing down. Stewart brought his current tour to The North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista on Saturday night and it was glorious. A warm summer night under the stars, a 22 song set with songs from eight of his albums and a slew of great covers that he just makes his own, made for a night no-one is going to forget. This show had something for all his fans.
The lights go down and the sound of ‘Scotland The Brave‘ on the bagpipes starts to play, it’s show time and the crowd is on their feet and ready. The opening notes of Robert Palmers “Addicted to Love” start to play as five woman musicians walk onto the stage dressed as if they were in the famous video for the song. The stark black outfits with the white instruments were a great counter to Rods tiger stripe metallic jacket and light shirt as he walked out to join them. The very first thing I noticed is that Rod Stewart, at age 78, is still having a blast on stage. I have photographed Rod before, and the man does not seem to age at all. He is obviously doing what he loves and it shows in every step he takes, every dance move he makes, and every note he sings.
The 22 song setlist spanned a huge variety of music and along with his solo albums, he covered songs from the Faces era along with a huge number of covers from the opening number (Addicted to Love) and one of my favorite tunes “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” (Creedence Clearwater Revival). There was the costume change during “Forever Young”, and maybe the greatest last song / encore in music, the “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”, followed by the Faces song, “Stay With Me”. I can still hear the packed amphitheatre singing along to “Stay With Me” as I sit here and write this.
Setlist
1.) Addicted to Love (Robert Palmer)
2.) You Wear It Well
3.) Ooh La La (Faces)
4.) Infatuation
5.) Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival )
6.) Young Turks
7.) Forever Young
8.) The First Cut Is the Deepest (Cat Stevens)
9.) You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
10.) Maggie May
11.) I’d Rather Go Blind (Etta James)
12.) Downtown Train (Tom Waits)
13.) Rhythm of My Heart (Marc Jordan)
14.) I’m So Excited (The Pointer Sisters)
15.) People Get Ready (The Impressions )
16.) Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
17.) Have I Told You Lately (Van Morrison)
18.) Lady Marmalade (LaBelle )
19.) Some Guys Have All the Luck (The Persuaders)
20.) It Takes Two (Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston)
21.) Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?
Encore:
22.) Stay With Me (Faces)
Alan Hess is a photographer based in San Diego, where he lives with his wife and two rescued boxers.
Alan is currently the house photographer for a large concert and event venue in Southern California where he photographs everything from major musical acts to ice hockey. When he isn’t out taking photographs, he spends his time writing books and is an accomplished photography educator and trainer.
Alan’s images have been published in a variety of places including news papers, magazines, websites, promotional materials, album artwork, and press releases. His clients include The Associated Press, Fox Television, FX Network, USA Network, Hasbro, Framus Guitars, Gibson, The Dead, Picture Group, Photoshop User Magazine, Steel Pulse, Ziggy Marley, and many more.
He is the author of sixteen photography and technology books covering everything from night and low light photography to multiple shot techniques. His books are sold around the world and have been translated in other languages including: Chinese, French, Polish, Japanese, Thai, and Italian.
