Rod Stewart’s Enchanting Concert at WiZink Center: A Night of Quality, Elegance, and Emotion
We won’t begin this chronicle by commenting on the rivers of black T-shirts that surrounded the event area, as this wasn’t one of those nights. On this occasion, the atmosphere was rather calm, almost as if nothing special was going to happen that night. But nothing could be further from the truth. That night, Sir Rod Stewart was going to leave his mark at the WiZink Center in Madrid, captivating the hearts of the nearly 12,000 attendees.
The concert kicked off around 9:40 p.m., with some people still finding their seats, accompanied by an introduction of the popular Scottish march, “Scotland the Brave.” This led to the band consisting of six female members who took turns on lead vocals and backing vocals, violins, harp, keyboard, acoustic guitars, and even drums, as well as six male members handling percussion, bass, guitars, and saxophone. Finally, Rod Stewart himself appeared on stage, performing Robert Palmer’s classic, “Addicted to Love.” The show had begun…
At 78 years old, the man looks marvelous. Many of us would love to reach that age and exude the same level of coolness with his sparkling jackets, tight pants, and blond locks.
Songs like “You Wear It Well” and “Ooh La La” followed, although they were somewhat undermined by defective sound from our location. However, this issue was gradually corrected, and apart from some minor adjustments, such as the volume of the guitars being a bit low, everything fell perfectly into place for us to enjoy the final three quarters of the concert.
The night was filled with emotional moments, with the first one coming during “It Takes Two,” when Rod paid tribute to his friend Tina Turner. Jeff Beck, with whom he first started performing in 1967, couldn’t be left out, and Rod dedicated “People Get Ready” to him. “I’d Rather Go Blind” was the chosen song to honor Fleetwood Mac’s star Christine McVie.
The middle part of the concert was packed with singable and danceable hits that sounded absolutely fantastic, thanks to Rod’s surprisingly impressive vocal state. There has been much talk recently about the vocalist’s intention to move away from his more rock-oriented tracks and focus on styles more suitable for his age. Therefore, we don’t know if this might be the last time we had the pleasure of enjoying songs like “Maggie May,” “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” and “Downtown Train,” which made the WiZink Center come alive.
This segment wouldn’t be complete without mentioning “Forever Young.” And of course, we must highlight “I Don’t Want to Talk About It,” where the brightly colored band, adorned with roses and gold, paused to allow the entire venue to sing along to the chorus, giving us all those spine-tingling moments.
Rod concluded this succession of hits with a special performance supported by “Rhythm of My Heart,” dedicated to the people of Ukraine. Dressed in blue and yellow attire, and singing in front of images of the ongoing war, the former Faces frontman advocated for Ukraine’s freedom as a country and expressed meaningful gestures and words to the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
After this and before transitioning to the more acoustic segment, it was time for the Pointer Sisters’ version of “I’m So Excited” (don’t worry, Rod Stewart didn’t sing it; the girls took care of that while the British icon took a break and changed outfits).
Now, it was time to lower the pulse. The entire team, seated in front of the audience, also seated, performed songs like “You’re in My Heart” and “Have I Told You Lately,” among others. The tempo might have been slower, but the quality and class were still at their peak.
Another moment of rest for Rod came with “Lady Marmalade,” which served as an intro to the grand finale, featuring the lively “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and the beautiful “Sailing.”
It is clear that when a musician is knighted, it is for good reason. Sir Rod Stewart, despite having an extensive musical legacy, continues to deliver marvelous performances that make you say, “Thank goodness we came.”
It’s a fact that age doesn’t forgive, but it seems to offer some individuals a longer extension. Just ask our friend Rod, who provided us with two hours of quality, fun, and heartfelt music that was nothing short of extraordinary.
