Rod Stewart live in Athens December 2025

As I have already said, before Bruce there was Rod. He helped me go through early adolescence before Bruce took over the job in its later stages. Therefore it was fitting that I should see him live given the fact that I became a fan by means of a live album, namely “Absolutely Live” from 1982. And I did see him live, six years ago in Brighton. For years I was under the impression that he had given up on the hits and dedicated himself to the so-called “Great American Songbook” focusing on songs from the 30's 40's etc like other artists had done in their later years (Bryan Ferry comes to mind).That was because he had released a few albums in that series in the early 2000's. But no, a friend who had already seen him live reassured me he was still playing the hits and he was still kicking footballs towards the audience at the end of his shows. So, seeing him at Brighton was a wonderful and rewarding experience. And suddenly, earlier this year, it was announced that he would finally be coming to Greece on his “One Last Time” tour, a tour whose name made it feel like a farewell. I couldn't afford to miss this opportunity so I went to see him again.

As I entered the venue I noticed the big stage with a red curtain draped in front of it with “Let The Good Times Roll” projected on it. Rod was right on time beginning with “Addicted To Love” while his usual female musicians were mimicking the original Robert Palmer video. He performed quite a few covers, which meant that some of the familiar hits were left out, but that did not reduce the enjoyment of the show. “It's A Heartache" was especially suited to his voice while “People Get Ready” brought back memories of Bruce from earlier this year (yes, that Bruce) who often sings a snippet of it while performing “Land Of Hope And Dreams”. My personal favourite “Young Turks” was still there, the song that made me a fan back in 1982 when I saw the video with it's images of teenage escapism... As was “Maggie May”. And who can forget “Da Ya Think I'm Sexy”? Not even Rod himself. That was the song that angered rock purists in Greece back in the day who accused him of selling out to disco. Nobody seemed to mind now, though. There was a small disagreement with an audience member at the beginning of it but it was quickly resolved. And it was before that song that he kicked footballs towards the audience.

 

It's Rod's habit to let his band play some songs without him. In Brighton they played Mark Knopfler's “Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)” and Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way". Now, they performed ”I'm Every Woman” and "Proud Mary" with lead vocals by one of his backing singers. And since Tina Turner is not with us anymore that backing singer sung her part when Rod came back on stage to perform "It Takes Two"

As you would expect there weren't many young people in the audience. That meant that the arena was filled with people who knew him from back then. And they were proud that they had finally seen him live. He rewarded them (I mean us) by ending the concert in the best way possible: With “Sailing”. The first Rod Stewart song I had ever heard when I was still a little kid. Following that, "Love Train" was the very final song.

Bye bye Rod! Enjoy your retirement! Unless you want to come back. Then we'll come to see you no matter how old you (or we) are... (Come to think of it he didn't say "goodbye" at the end of the show, did he? He said "see you"...)

 

SETLIST:
01. Addicted To Love
02. You Wear It Well
03. Ooh La La
04. Having A Party
05. It's A Heartache
06. Rollin' & Tumblin'
07. Forever Young
08. The First Cut Is The Deepest
09. Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
10. Maggie May
11. I'd Rather Go Blind
12. Young Turks
13. Downtown Train
14. I'm Every Woman
15. I Don't Want To Talk About It
16. People Get Ready
17. Have I Told You Lately
18. Proud Mary
19. Baby Jane
20. It Takes Two
21. Some Guys Have All The Luck
22. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
23. Sailing
Encore:
24. Love Train

Rod Stewart live in Brighton

As I have already mentioned back in July, Rod Stewart's “Absolutely Live” was my favourite live album until “Live 1975-85” by Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band came along. That was the main reason I had always wanted to see him live. I never did until this summer, though. At first, it was because, like several other artists who are getting older (Bryan Ferry comes to mind), he had discovered “the great American songbook” and I thought I would be disappointed. I didn't want to listen to that, I wanted to hear the old classics that were included on “Absolutely Live” (and several others that came before and after that album). Later I thought that he would probably not be fit enough to perform (he's older than Bruce you know). Well, I needn't worry. A couple of years ago, if I remember well, he toured Europe and played in Italy and everyone was stunned! Friends who had attended told me that at the end of his concerts he was shooting footballs from the stage to the crowd, even at indoor arenas! So, I decided that I had to go and see him. 

When the tour was announced at the beginning of the year, I looked through the dates and settled on an indoor concert in Paris. I bought the ticket, but much later, parliamentary elections were announced in Greece for that weekend. This pushed the price of plane tickets way up, since many Greek expats living in France would be coming back for the weekend in order to vote. I could not afford them, especially if I was to be able to make my other concert trip, the following week in England for the Happy Mondays. So, I tried something that has worked well in the past for me before. I looked to see whether there were any dates on that tour in the south of England on that next weekend. And I found that there was one in Hove the day before the Happy Mondays gig in Margate. Hove? “Where's that?”, I wondered until I realized that it was practically next to Brighton. In fact, it is one town, Brighton & Hove. I was delighted that I would have the chance to see Brighton again, 18 years after my last visit, while I was still at university! So I bought the ticket and started preparing for my English summer seaside holiday.

I arrived in Brighton one day before the concert so I had the chance to take a swim at the beach. Very refreshing, it gave me energy for the whole of the following year!

The following day, after doing more sightseeing, all I had to do was walk to the cricket ground. 

Because it is in a residential area the concert had to finish by 9pm, so it started really early. Of course the residents of the nearby flats took advantage of this fact and were watching the concert from their balconies, together with their guests!

First on stage were Johnnie Mac And The Faithful, handpicked by Rod himself as a support band. The music they play fitted perfectly with Rod's and they even treated us to a cover of “The Handbags And The Gladrags”.

Next up, in a fanfare with fireworks in broad daylight was Rod. Now, I think I had missed whatever had been billed as a “Greatest Hits” tour in the past, so I imagined that he was mainly going to promote his latest album “Blood Red Roses” and with luck I would get to hear some of the old favourites. Imagine my surprise then, when for just his second song of the night he launched into “Young Turks”, the song that had made me a Rod Stewart fan when I was 14!

He did exactly what I wanted him to do; he played almost all of “Absolutely Live”! And then some! “Tonight I'm Yours”, “Sailing”, “I Don't Want To Talk About It”, “Maggie May”, “Rhythm Of My Heart”, “You're In My Heart” and more; all the favourites were thrown in the mix! And “Grace”, from the new album was also brilliant and has now become a new favourite of mine. He did seem to have a bit of trouble hitting the high notes on “Baby Jane” but his backing singers more than compensated for it.

In fact he gave his backing band their own time to shine when they played Mark Knopfler's “Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)” and Fleetwood Mac's “Go Your Own Way” by themselves.

And he did seem to enjoy the whole thing, talking to the ladies in the audience (“Alright Mrs Jones?”) and even acknowledging the guys in the nearby houses who were enjoying the show for free.

No football kicks this time, but fittingly enough, he closed the show with “Stay With Me”. Just like “Absolutely Live”! The customary firework display at the end of the show was performed in broad daylight!

As, once again on foot, I was making my way back to Brighton, I was thinking that this had been something that I would like to experience again. Yes, I would go to see Rod Stewart live again, even if he was to deliver the exact same show!

SETLIST:
01. Having A Party
02. Young Turks
03. Some Guys Have All The Luck
04. Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)
05. Forever Young
06. Twistin' The Night Away
07. Rhythm Of My Heart
08. The Killing Of Georgie (Part I and II)
09. It Takes Two
10. Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)
11. I'd Rather Go Blind
12. Rollin' And Tumblin'
13. Going Home (Theme From Local Hero) (band only)
14. Grace
15. I Don't Want To Talk About It
16. Dirty Old Town
17. Have I Told You Lately
18. Go Your Own Way (band only)
19. Baby Jane
20. Sailing
21. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
22. Maggie May
23. Stay With Me

Probably, the second best live album in my collection

We all know that the greatest live album of all time is of course "Live 1975-85" by Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band. But three years before I bought that, I saw another live album at my local record store which captured my imagination and decided to buy it there and then: Rod Stewart's "Absolutely Live". One of the reasons why I decided to buy it was that it contained "Young Turks" from Rod's latest, at that time, studio album "Tonight I'm Yours". I had seen the video on Greek television, on a show called "Musicorama", with the lyrics translated. I was so moved by the story of Billy and Patti running away from home together (remember, I was a teenager at that time). Moreover, the album featured other Rod Stewart songs that I already knew: "Passion", "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" and, of course, "Sailing".

"Passion" I had heard on Greek radio, on the "Pop Club" show hosted by Yannis Petridis. This show, together with Greek music magazine "Pop + Rock" (also managed by Petridis) were my two main sources of information on pop and rock music. It was on "Pop + Rock" magazine that I learned about "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" even before I heard it. The reason? The readers of the magazine, almost all of them rock fans, were complaining about this song and also about "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones, accusing both artists of "selling out" by "going disco". All these years later both of these songs are considered classics and Greek rock fans are complaining about different things these days. As for "Sailing", well, I knew it, because it was already considered a classic back then.

However, by listening to the full album after I had bought it I got to discover other songs that I immediately fell in love with: "Tonight I'm Yours", "Tonight's The Night", "You're In My Heart", "Maggie May" and "I Don't Want To Talk About It" (later covered by Everything But The Girl who also covered Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than The Rest"). Also featured were "Stay With Me" with Kim Carnes and Tina Turner and a cover of "The Great Pretender", four years before Freddie Mercury covered it.

Moreover, I got to experience the feel of a big live concert something that I thought that I would never experience first-hand with so few rock concerts taking place in Greece. (I had only attended two concerts at that time, the most important being one by The Boomtown Rats - Bob Geldof's band). This is exactly the same way I felt four years later when I bought Bruce Springsteen's "Live 1975-85". I thought "I will never get to see him live". Fortunately, 22 years after buying "Live 1975-85" I finally saw Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band live in Paris. It took me 22 years for Bruce but, if all goes well, 36 years after I bought "Absolutely Live" I will finally see Rod Stewart this summer!