Sorry for taking so long to write this review. But it was an important evening and there was so much to write about! And I apologise in advance for any typos that have crept in to this lengthy (for me, anyway) account.
Well, this was a big thing for me. I am, always have been, and always will be a massive Jeff Beck fan. To me he epitomises the electric guitar, and could get sounds out of the instrument that no other guitarist could touch. His use of dynamics, the volume control, the tremolo and his fingers on the frets, produced sounds that we will never hear again. And so, when I saw this concert advertised, I was determined to go along. It took three phones, two of us and quite a nervous wait in the queue to get tickets, which sold out almost immediately.
So, on the day three of us, Jackie, Jan (my carers) and I travelled down by train to London for the show at the Majestic Albert Hall. This was my first visit to the Royal Albert Hall since my accident. My last visit there was to see Clapton at his 70th birthday concert. And tonight, it was Eric Clapton and his band who opened and, to some extent, led the proceedings. The disabled access within the building is fantastic and we had seats quite high up looking directly down on the stage. Once we got ourselves and my wheelchair positioned, we had a pretty good view of the stage. People travelled from all of the world for this concert. I met a cool oldish guy in the bar who had travelled from New York. “Jeff Beck was The Man!” he proudly told me. Of course, I agreed.
The concert opened with a single spotlight on a white Fender Stratocaster standing proudly centre stage on a beautiful Indian carpet. Yes, this was one of Jeff Beck’s guitars. It was quite emotional looking down from our vantage point upstairs at the instrument. Above the guitar, a large screen showed images of Jeff Beck over the years, many displaying his beloved collection of classic cars.
Clapton opened the proceedings with his band and great performances of the Yardbirds classics “Shapes of Things” and “Heart Full of Soul”. Wonderful. Both favourite songs of mine and performed perfectly. Clapton took vocal duties on the former and his long-term collaborator and fellow guitarist Doyle Bramhall did a great job of singing the latter song.
The band was then joined by Derek Trucks on “Little Brown Bird”. Derek is an ace slide guitarist, to say the least Then Derek’s wife Susan Tedeshi did a great bluesy version of “Done Somebody Wrong” singing and playing lead guitar. I can see why my friend John is such a fan of the Tedeschi Trucks band. Susan continued to lead the band with the lovely song “The Sky Is Crying”.
Ronnie Wood then swaggered on stage; Clapton introducing him as “here comes the scallywag” which seemed quite appropriate. Ronnie was on stage for most of the evening. He proudly took the lead on bass guitar for “Beck’s Bolero” a favourite of mine from the Jeff Beck Group. Ronnie was, of course, a member of the band along with his old mate Rod Stewart, who would join in during the second half of the show. Ronnie reminded the audience that he often played bass guitar when he was in the Jeff Beck Group.
Next came a song unfamiliar to me: “Elegy For Dunkirk” with classical singer Olivia Safe on vocals and Robert Randolph on keyboards. The backing musicians changed from Clapton’s band to Jeff Beck’s band during the evening and sometimes involved a blend of both. All excellent musicians, particularly Beck’s female bass guitarist and female drummer and Chris Stainton on keyboards. Chris is a long-time member of Eric’s band. I remember seeing him for the first time back in 1972 when he performed as backing band to Joe Cocker who headlined the Lincoln Festival.
“Isolation” sees actor come rockstar Johnny Depp, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons (great hat and beard) take the stage. The next song is simply fantastic; a wonderful version of the Shangri-La’s “(Remember) Walkin’ In The Sand” led on sassy vocals by Imelda May, who looks (in a slinky red dress) fantastic and sounds tremendous. A highlight of the evening. Billy Gibbons remains on stage for the rest of the first half of the show, playing some great riffs. Johnny Depp looks so cool and is in his element playing along with his heroes. And this show must be so emotional for him, having toured with Jeff Beck only last year.
Then the mood changes substantially towards jazz and the elder statesman of the guitar, Jon McLaughlin who plays two instrumentals from the Wired period of Beck’s work. McLaughlin takes guitar playing to another level. He really is a master of his craft and looks a cool gentleman at 81 years young. Billy Gibbons continues to lead the band after McLaughlin departs, and the first half of the show concludes with a rocking version of “Train Kept A Rollin’” bringing back memories of the appearance of the Yardbirds in the 100 Club during the classic 60s film Blow Up, featuring Johnny Depp, Kirk Hammett, Ronny Wood, Billy Gibbons, Imelda May and the Jeff Beck Band. A great finish to the start of the proceedings.
During the Intermission there is a little time for some people watching and another double whiskey topped off with some lovely salted popcorn! The screen shows more video of Jeff Beck and many clips of fellow guitar heroes commenting upon his genius including fellow Yardbird Jimmy Page.
Soon we return to the music with Eric Clapton and his band. “I Put A Spell On You” features fantastic, soulful vocals by Joss Stone. ”‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” and the very cool looking Gary Clark, Jr. adds more bluesy guitar to the mix.
A song or two later Ronnie Wood’s old mate Rod Stewart takes to the stage, starting with “Infatuation” and then moving into two songs which he sang with the Jeff Beck Group: “Rock Me Baby” and “I Ain’t Superstitious ”. It’s great to see the two old mod rockers jamming together again. Brings back memories of The Faces.
The concert closes with the entire cast performing the Curtis Mayfield classic “People Get Ready”, followed by “Going Down” which ends the concert and brings back memories of the first time I saw Jeff Beck live at Grangemouth Festival in 1972; I feel sure Beck, Bogert and Appice played that song there.
As we left the Hall, the sound system played Jeff Beck’s sublime version of “Moon River” with Clapton on vocals. It took me back to the Clapton/Beck concert at the O2 Arena in London which I attended some years ago and during which they performed the song much to my surprise and delight. A fitting way to close the evening. After a short wait we caught a cab back to the hotel. The next day we caught the train back up north, memories of a great night still ringing through my head.
It really couldn’t have been much better and was a fitting tribute to a true guitar warrior and legend. Yes, I would have liked to have heard “Morning Dew”, “Hi Ho Silver Lining” (but then Jeff never really liked the song) and it would have been great if Jimmy Page had appeared. But none of that mattered. I will remember this concert for the rest of my life.
Thanks to Jan for taking the photos and to Wikimedia Commons for the picture of the Royal Albert Hall.
Setlist: Blue Rainbow; Shapes Of Things; Heart Full Of Soul; Wee Wee Baby; Little Brown Bird; Done Somebody Wrong; The Sky Is Crying; Beck’s Bolero; Elegy For Dunkirk; Isolation; Walkin’ In The Sand; Goodbye Porkpie Hat; You Know You Know; Stratus; Rough Boy; Rice Pudding; Train Kept A Rollin’
– Intermission –
Freeway Jam; I Put A Spell On You; ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers; Let Me Love You; Infatuation; Rock My Plimsoul (Rock Me Baby); I Ain’t Superstitious; People Get Ready; Going Down
This picture of Jeff Beck is from the Sage Gateshead which is the last time I saw the great man in concert. RIP Jeff Beck. We will never see your like again.
My search for Rob the Mod continues. Or, to put it another way, has Rod the Mod survived Las Vegas and returned to the UK intact? 
Every time I go to see Rod, I go in the hope that he will return to some of the old classic songs. And he never lets me down. Newcastle Arena is packed with 10,000 Rod Stewart fans on a cold winters evening. Christmas looms and everyone is out to have fun. The set list is a mix of old and new, as always. The show is clearly a paired down version of his recent Las Vegas run, complete with big stage set including screens, a first-class backing band suited and booted and great girl backing singers. The introductory music is the classic Depeche Mode track “Just Can’t Get Enough” (great choice) followed by “Scotland the Brave” (as usual Rod includes a lot of Scottish flags, and Celtic icons throughout the concert, displaying his allegiances to the joy of the Scottish contingent within the crowd).
Rod opens the show with an excellent cover of the late, great Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” complete with girls in black dresses and playing white guitars, emulating Palmer’s video. Classic! A great opener. Then the years roll back and Rod sings “You Wear It Well”. See, I told you, the mod is still in there! Another Faces classic follows: “Ooh La La”, you know the one that goes “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger” and was written by Ronnie Wood and the late, sadly missed looner Ronnie Lane. Memories of seeing the Ooh La La tour at Newcastle Odeon, surrounded by the Newcastle football team, flood back. A few more classics follow: an excellent cover of the Isley Brothers “This Old Heart of Mine”, “Forever Young” and Rod’s version of Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is the Deepest”. Now Rod looks great, sounds great and is as active as ever. The guy is simply 110% energy, dancing along while he sings those great tunes. The crowd loves it and sings along, hanging on to every word.
Then what I’m waiting for comes, as I knew it would and always does. Rod sings “Maggie May” and explains it was about his first encounter with an older lady at a folk Festival in the early 1960s. And he can still do the song justice. “I’d Rather Go Blind” is dedicated to Christine McVie and her days in Chicken Shack, the lady sadly having recently passed. Too many of our heroes are leaving us. The first set ends with the girls singing Donna Summers’ “Hot Stuff” while Rod has a break and a costume change.
An acoustic set follows with everyone taking a seat at the front of the stage, Rod in the centre. This includes “I Don’t Want to Talk about It”, “Tonight’s the Night” and “Have I Told You Lately”. Rod leaves the stage for another break and final costume change while the girls deliver an excellent version of “Lady Marmalade”…… “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?”. You know the one.
We are on the home straight now. Rod do you really need to sing “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”? Is it still appropriate today? I think not, but anyway he does sing the song opening with a typical late 70s picture of Rod “back in the day” on the screen. “Baby Jane” (still a favourite of mine) follows and the inevitable singalong “Sailing” closes the proceedings with the curtain dropping around Rod and his band. In a few moments the curtain rises and the years roll back once again for “Stay with Me”. Everyone sings along. And then it is over. Everyone finds out, happy and fully satisfied by a great performance.
So, in conclusion, Rod the Mod remains intact and didn’t let me down. The guy is a powerhouse who just keeps on going. Till the next time. Thanks to Jan for the photography for the evening.
I continue my search for the old Rod (the Mod) Stewart, as I have previously written about. Whatever twists and turns there have been in Rod’s career I know that deep inside of the guy there remains a 60s and 70s core that loves rock ‘n’ roll and soul music, and that his voice is still as gravelly, soulful and amazing as ever. And sometimes, in every concert I go to, that mod soul singer who loved Sam Cooke, the Isley Bros and football comes out, the years roll back, and all is good in the world again. I guess you realise by now that Rod is one of my heroes, and always will be. Period.
And now Rod returns back to Newcastle, bringing some of Vegas with him. This is a big Vegas type show. The screens are massive, the videos superb, the backing band top notch and the girl singers range from rock through soul through gospel. This is a number 1 spectacle, with our number 1 hero out front. My carer Jackie loved it and we were both totally knocked out.
So once again Rod delivered. This time in true Las Vegas style. Until next time.
So there I was, this time in the lovely surroundings of 
Is the Deepest” and then rolling back again to “Ooh La La”. After a few more songs, Rod took a break while the band and the great vocalists sang “River Deep Mountain High”. Then “Rod The Mod” was back to treat us to “Stay with Me”, his voice as strong as ever. Rod finished with the aforementioned “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (do you really still have to sing this one Rod?), Followed by the crowdpleasing, singalong and lots of arm waving “Sailing”. Rod left the stage at this point and the band closed the show. Another great Rod experience, with glimpses of “Rod the Mod” still emerging now and then. My search goes on, and will continue to do so, as long as Rod continues to grace our stages.
Vintagerock's Weblog. 