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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Given the breadth, longevity and eternal relevance of his catalog, perhaps it should have come as no surprise that Sir Rod Stewart is the only artist I’ve ever encountered who played their own music in the hour leading up to their concert. Unlike most artists, the additional hour of multi-generational Rod the Mod classics posed no threat to the concert selections or to challenge the performance he gave to the second of two sold-out crowds at Saratoga’s Mountain Winery on Wednesday night.
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
January will find Stewart turning 80 and mark his 63rd year of performing as one of the most recognizable and dynamic lead singers in the history of music. The audience ranged from their twenties to octogenarians – representing the timeline of a career that spanned the Jeff Beck Group, Faces and – of course – a solo career that began in 1969. While his age must be mentioned, it’s with a grand tip of the cap to a man that appeared to perhaps have aged five years since I had last seen him in 1988 at the Santa Barbara County Bowl.
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Stewart hit the stage with a 13-member backing band behind him to his 80’s hit “Infatuation” – elegantly clad in a black polka dot dinner jacket over a white polka dot shirt and black and white striped pants. The male band members wore white sports coats and ties over black slacks and shirts. The six female backing members changed costumes throughout the show to align with Stewart’s attire. At the outset they wore short black polka dot skirts, white shirts tied at the midriff with matching polka dot handkerchiefs around their neck. Stewart wasted no time going from there into a cover of Sam Cooke’s “Having a Party.” The night leaned heavily into cover songs. While he would only play six of his original songs, many of the covers were songs that have become so directly associated with Stewart by now that the average audience member would struggle to know to assign an original author.
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“We usually play on a stage twice as big as this,” Stewart told the crowd. “It was great here last night. Let’s have a great time tonight. Here’s a song for happy times.” With that intro, he delivered a fun and playful version of The O’Jays “Love Train” – an old song that many may have recognized for its current incarnation as the song in many Coors Light commercials.
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Here’s a country one,” he said as his female backing members all added cowboy hats. He had a brief false start to the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” “So sorry. I was partying too late last night and my voice is just getting warmed up.” Successfully relaunched, Stewart shed his jacket and was supported by terrific fiddle and telecaster solos as the audience helped sing some of the chorus. “Forever Young” – a Dylan song that Stewart by now should rightfully be declared owner of – came next. As Stewart pranced and danced across the stage in his tight pants and polka dot shirt, it seemed to be one of the best matches of lyrics to moment in my recent memory. The song led to Irish dancing, dueling fiddles and a large marching bass drum.
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Thank you for coming out. I know it’s a Wednesday night. Hopefully you’ve had a drink or two. I’m having a drink now,” Stewart told the audience and raised a glass in toast. With that intro, he delivered a tender, syrupy version of 1976’s “Tonight’s the Night” as the moon rose over the vineyard and dusk settled in. “It’s a Heartache” his cover of the Bonnie Tyler classic followed to close out the show’s first 30 minutes.
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“When I was sixteen, I had a torrid sex life,” Stewart told the audience. “Not a great deal of sex, but when it happened it was pointed, deliberate and quick. The first time it lasted 22 seconds. That’s the subject of this song.” The crowd rose to their feet as the familiar intro to “Maggie May” began and many in the crowd sang along.
“We’ve never played this small little place, but this has been so fun to play a small venue these last two nights,” as Stewart said that, a man from the front row stood up to the stage to give him a fist bump. “We’re too close for that, here,” Stewart smilingly scolded him. “We can hug.” And with that, he gave him a hug.
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
A beautiful cover of Christine McVie’s “I’d Rather Go Blind” featured the background singers in sparkling blue mini dresses, saxophonist Jimmy Roberts with a big sax solo and Stewart stretching his pipes as he sang “baby, baby, baby” over and over. He put his foot back on the throttle for a revved up “Young Turks” that featured the background singers spread across the stage and taking a prominent role. After “Downtown Train” (a Tom Waits song that as much belongs to Stewart now), his backing singers Becca Kotte, Holly Brewer and Joanne Harper took center stage for a big, engaging cover of Chaka Kahn’s “I’m Every Woman.” The three would also later perform a terrific cover of “Proud Mary.”
After “I’m Every Woman,” Rod strutted back onstage in a sparkling blue suit to cover Cat Stevens’ “First Cut is the Deepest” with a big audience singalong to “Baby, I know.”
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Violin solos from Andrea Young and J’Anna Jacoby and a harp solo form Julia Thornton. He then surrounded himself with only the male musicians and - accompanied only with acoustic guitars, an upright bass, drums and piano – brought a soulful “Have I Told You Lately” to the cooling night under gorgeous pink lighting of the stage. “C’mon guys. Let’s not fuck this one up,” he chided his band members before they obliged with guitarist Don Fitzpatrick bringing a delicious acoustic solo and bassist Curt Schneider spotlighted on the standup bass.
After the female performers took “Proud Mary” out for an impressive drive, Stewart brought the night home with a fun “It Takes Two,” a tender “Some Guys Have All the Luck” and then a rollicking, soccer ball-flying free for all with the disco-era classic “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.”
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| Rod Stewart @ the Mountain Winery (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
All in all, the show clocked in at about 100 minutes as Stewart performed for the second night in a row in his first concerts back from a brief bout with what he deemed “Summer Covid.” The audience buzzed out of The Mountain Winery, humming their way out of an impressive performance.
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