Here’s what we thought of Sir Rod Stewart’s show and his contagious energy as a 78-year-old rocker

Sir Rod Stewart served a generous singing tour in front of 13,000 already conquered admirers who drank all his words, Thursday, at the Bell Centre.

Despite all the visuals and the tightly-tuned staging, the 78-year-old British singer took time to play around a little at the bend of a chorus to show the natural stage beast in him.

If we had the impression before the evening of going to hear a wedding singer more sophisticated – and especially richer – than the others, we have to admit that Sir Rod has no equal to get the party started .

From the first bagpipe notes in the introduction, it was delirium at the Bell Centre.

And it continued with his cover ofAddicted to Love by Robert Palmer, embellished with a staging somewhat evoking the sexism of the original clip.

Stewart announced from the outset that he was going to offer us no less than 24 songs. The already feverish assistant suddenly turned hysterical. With reason.

During Infatuation, his swaying young first did not give him the air of a singer on the return who does not assume. No, he was having fun. Quite simply.

To stay within the theme of youth as a state of mind that animated him throughout his career, he continued Young Turks And Forever Young. In both cases, it was a success.

When Rod Stewart revisited the arrangements of Maggie May with an incredible bare intro, it was to better swing us its original instrumentation with the mandolin before the chorus. He even allowed himself to tell the context of the lyrics dating back to… 1961!

Before announcing that he was going to sing Downtown Train taken over from Tom Waits, he amused the crowd by saying that the latter thanked him for this recovery which allowed him to buy a swimming pool for his children…

Moreover, versions Rod Stewart was going to serve us some during the evening by going to dip into the repertoire of performers he admires.

Without of course forgetting his own successes such as Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright) And Some Guys Have All the Luck (which is still a Persuaders piece) and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?

Cheap Trick don’t give their 100%

Before Rod Stewart came on the scene, we were cold to the veterans of American power pop/hard rock: Cheap Trick.

After polite applause from an audience waiting for their Rod, the Cheap Trick show began to lift with The Flamethe beautiful big slow of the end of the 80s.

Small problem: Robin Zanders, the singer-guitarist, got stuck in his arpeggio in the intro and he distorted considerably just a few seconds before the rest of the group embarked. Ouch!

Luckily, the band got on straight after with their killers like I Want You to Want Me, Dream Police And Surrender.

Even if their ballads are humming to perfection, Cheap Trick stays better at the bottom in front of a wall of amps. The guys must have said to themselves after their performance: “It wasn’t our best…”