CELEB Rhythm of star’s heart got stadium rocking
ROCK legend Rod Stewart thrilled thousands of fans at Emirates Riverside in Chesterle-Street.
Belying his 72 years of age, the global superstar entertained the crowds with a selection of his biggest hits on Friday night.
The Durham County Cricket Club concert was one of only two mainland UK shows for Stewart in the UK this year and proved a big hit with music lovers.
Some Guys Have All The Luck indeed, but it was both lads and lasses who enjoyed the British singer’s The Hits show, fresh from his sold-out residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Fans were treated to decades’ worth of top tunes, including Tonight’s The Night, Downtown Train, Rhythm of My Heart, The First Cut Is The Deepest, Baby Jane, Maggie May and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.
It was a show that included pyrotechnics, the use of several giant video screens and a set from Stewart’s daughter Ruby and her band The Sisterhood. No stranger to performing in the North East over the years, it was obvious Rod was enjoying playing here again as excited fans lapped up the atmosphere.
Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide. At one point he achieved six consecutive No 1 albums in the UK and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the Top 10, six of which reached the No 1 position.
The charismatic superstar has been a regular visitor to the region’s music venues since the mid-1960s.
It was back then that he first appeared at Newcastle’s Club a’Gogo as an unknown singer alongside Long John Baldry.
His last Newcastle Arena show came in 2013, and in the five decades leading up to then he’d appeared at the City Hall, Mayfair, Odeon, Gateshead Stadium and St James’ Park, among other North venues. Rod Stewart salutes the crowd during his Chester-le-Street show