Rod was fabulous on Saturday night at Bramall Lane in Sheffield. It was the 4th concert I attended this tour (MK, Wolves & Bolton) and whilst they were all excellent, with Rod on good form, the intimacy of Bramall Lane made it my favourite.
There were about 13,000 there, with the stage on the side, not the end of the pitch; it didn’t sell as well as the other venues but it was added late after Northern fans would have bought tickets for York and Bolton. We probably wouldn’t have bought them either but my husband is a Sheffield United fan, so of course we were going! We had pitch seats – 5 rows from the front – how pleased was he to have spent the evening on his hallowed turf! We appear to have lots of photos the stands from the pitch! Rod gave the team a shout out wishing them all the best for their promotion to the Premiership.
It rained heavily for the start of Johnny Mac’s set but we ended up dry for most of the concert (same happened at Bolton) Loved Johnny Mac; best support for a very long time after the abysmal jazz, mariachi & Sisterhood in previous years. He’s fab and really got the crowd ready for ‘the man’
Rod was as great as ever; but let’s be honest, he’s is still doing the ‘greatest hits’ – Maggie, Sailing, Baby Jane etc. He gave us a Georgie and Rather go Blind but die hard fans will always be up for some other stuff. I can’t fault the performances of Rod or the band, they were tight and polished and the new singers are great too. Superb voices and very ‘gelled’
I bought one of the ‘Wake Up Maggie’ hoodies (had to didn’t I? But a bit steep at £50) and some badges for my 21 year old student nephew who will probably wear them ‘ironically’ There were no programmes this tour and only one merchandise stand at each gig.
I really loved every minute of this tour (besides the rain, drunk people, empty corporate seats, extortionate drinks prices and ridiculous queuing at Bolton…)
Sheffield was my #68 – Rod never lets me down and I was just as excited on Saturday as I was for #1 in 1976.
Thanks Rod, not just for the last 45 years but for it all.
Review By Maggie Smith
Photos By Maggie Smith
Montage By Tommy Kevitt