Sir Roderick Stewart keeps winking at us.
On Tuesday, he brought his “One Last Time” tour back to Tampa.
One more time. Two more times. Who can keep track?
As his backing band filled the stage at the Hard Rock Event Center, it was actually the fourth straight year he’s played the venue.
The first two times weren’t part of this official goodbye tour — one that’s now stretched further than his ski-slope schnoz.
At 81, I wondered how that trademark raspy voice could possibly hold up after all these years of wear and tear. Call me an ageist, but my expectations are low for presidents, performers and anointed knights at this stage of their careers.
There he stood, however. Still rasping — and not sounding half bad.
On Tuesday, that would have to suffice.
With no warm up act, Stewart ambled on stage precisely at 8 p.m. dressed all in black, opening with the 1984 hit “Infatuation.” His chaotic head of hair spiked in a thousand directions.
Whatever work he’s had done, he looks pretty darn good. How does he do it?
And did he just wink at me?
His supporting band features more than a dozen multi-talented musicians and backing vocalists. With that many people filling the stage, it helps mask the imperfections. And there were some notable ones.
He struggled at the start of a campy, jazzy and, frankly, sort of weird version of his signature hit “Maggie May.” And he messed up the start of “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” These flubs were eyebrow raising, given that he performs both tunes religiously every show.
Stewart, a part-time Florida resident, is past the point of wooing new generations of fans. No one under 21 was allowed through the doors anyway — fitting, perhaps, because when I polled a bunch of our youthful newsroom employees earlier in the day, none of them knew much, if anything, about him. “Maybe that he’s British?” one recent college grad offered. She didn’t sound confident.
Generations ago, Rod Stewart was a very big deal. He served as Jeff Beck’s lead singer until Stewart and his dark-haired doppelganger Ronnie Wood formed Faces, a reboot of Small Faces. Almost immediately, Stewart launched a massively successful solo career before Faces even put out their first album. His style and distinctive voice made him one of the most alluring frontmen in music. He packed stadiums in the ‘70s, ‘80s and into the ‘90s.
That long run of success has left him with a slew of chart toppers to draw upon, and he summoned many of them Tuesday night during his 20-song, 95-minute set. Songs like “Young Turks” had the crowd on their feet.
There would be no Faces songs, however. At his last show a few days ago in Hollywood, he featured two. Not tonight. This would be one of the shortest Stewart sets in some time.
But there were covers galore — including “The First Cut is the Deepest” (Cat Stevens) and “Have I Told You Lately” (Van Morrison), which he made into hits eons ago.
“I do believe my recording was far superior to his,” he quipped about Morrison’s song. His fans sang along.
All 1,500 seats inside the event center were accounted for. Older fans denied their aching joints if only for an hour and a half. The room felt full of newspaper readers. God bless every one of them.
He ended with the O’Jays hit “Love Train” — the last of 15 covers during a 20-song set. Over the last six decades, he’s recorded pretty much all of the songs in his setlist and made them his own. But they will always be covers.
In spurts, there were energetic moments Tuesday. (Give the man credit. He’s 81!) But often, Stewart faded into the background, resting on the drum riser or letting his band assume the heavy lifting.
He was off stage completely while his backing vocalists sang lead parts on the Chaka Khan cover “I’m Every Woman” and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary.” After “Proud Mary” he came back on stage just as the song had ended and waved to the applauding crowd as if he had something to do with it. He really didn’t.
There would also be little acknowledgement of the audience. Four straight years in Tampa, but he behaved as if this could have been Topeka, Kansas. “Thank you, Tampa” was as intimate as he got as he walked off stage without an encore.
At a concert hall attached to a casino, it’s a safe bet Stewart gets a fat stack of chips written into his performance rider. But is this what his audience deserves? An aging icon playing with house money?
I think he just winked again!
Rod Stewart March 3 setlist at Hard Rock Event Center
“Tonight’s the Night (Gonna be Alright)”
“The First Cut is the Deepest”
“Handbags and Gladrags”
“I’d Rather Go Blind”
“I Don’t Want to Talk About it”
“Have I Told You Lately”
“Some Guys Have all the Luck”
“Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”