Review: Rod Stewart at 'nice little' Trent FM Arena

By rod stewart trent fm arena mike atkinson

"THIS is a nice little arena" said Rod Stewart gazing out over his audience of ten thousand.

"This is what we consider an intimate crowd", he added, by way of explanation.

But everything is relative, of course – and for a stadium artist of Rod's stature, we must have seemed like quite a cosy bunch.

According to Rod, this was his first date in Nottingham since an appearance with the Jeff Beck group in 1967. This might have come as a surprise to anyone who enjoyed his last appearance at the arena, in 2002 – but who could expect a touring veteran of nearly fifty years' standing to remember all the details?

After four platinum-selling Great American Songbook albums and a collection of rock classics, the 65-year-old superstar's most recent release, Soulbook, has seen him return to the soul music which first inspired him. Just three cuts from the album were aired, including an energetic version of The O'Jays' Love Train.

1960s classics aside, there was still plenty of room for the hits, which spanned from the early 1970s (the evergreen Maggie May) to the early 1990s (a well received Rhythm Of My Heart). The only slight disappointment was a rather lacklustre You Wear It Well, performed before Rod had fully warmed up and before the initially muddy sound mix had been adjusted (things improved dramatically after the interval). Returning to the stage for Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, his tender, sincere rendition did Van Morrison's song full justice. Handbags And Gladrags was a particular highlight and by the time we reached The First Cut Is The Deepest and I Don't Want To Talk About It, Rod had us eating out of the palm of his hand.