On the same night his former bandmate Ronnie Wood rocked Glastonbury with the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart was treating delighted fans to a greatest hits singalong at the RDS Arena in Dublin.
They were two very different snapshots of ageing rockers. While the Stones just get out there on stage and rock, Stewart likes to dress it up a bit.
Backed by a large band that features lots of leggy females, Stewart delivered a set that catered firmly for his ageing fanbase – and added in a bit of Oirish flavour with a quick burst of Riverdance-style footwork from the backing vocalists.
At 68, Stewart is still in fine, throaty voice, but not even a cover of Chuck Berry's Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller could hide the suspicion that the singer has long since left his rock 'n' roll roots behind. This was pure showbiz, glitzy rather than gritty, and it leaned heavily on Stewart's best-known pop anthems such as Baby Jane, Sailing and Tonight's The Night.
Stewart, ever the Jack-the-lad, kept up the cheeky chappie banter throughout his show. Gripping his mike stand in his trademark style, he belted out the tunes, pausing regularly to let the audience have a go – which they did at every line of every song. The mild summer's evening made the perfect setting for renditions of such classics as First Cut is the Deepest, Have I Told you Lately and I Don't Want To Talk About It
