Bringing his everlasting romantic hits to Indonesia for the first time ever, the legendary pop mega star Rod Stewart enthralled the audience with sheer charm and captivating performance at the Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, last Tuesday night, 31 January 2012

The atmosphere was romantic and exclusive that night, with a simple yet elegant stage set and a giant screen as backdrop coupled with a portrait screen in front of it that captured all the actions of the performance.

The audience was placed in well arranged seating and tribunes, adding to the intimacy of the show, and was dominated by those in their 40’s and 50’s, who apparently had been waiting for decades for the legendary pop singer to perform live in Indonesia.

At around 20.00 hrs.Western Indonesia Time, the neatly suited band members appeared one by one on stage. The attractively dressed backing vocal ladies followed quickly and Rod Stewart himself then finally appeared singing  “Love Train “, thus commencing the show under a rain of applause. “Tonight’s the night” perfectly answered the fans longing, then Rod greeted the audience: “Thank you ladies and gentleman, welcome to the show, we’re going to be here for two hours”, which was replied by roaring excitement from the crowd.  The show rolled on with “Havin’ a party”, “It’s a heartache”, “Some guys have all the luck”,” The first Cut is the deepest” and “Baby Jane”.

The audience turned into a massive choir as they sang along with every part of the everlasting hit “I Don’t Want to Talk about It”.  Rod even stopped the music and let the crowd sing for him during the refrain. “Very kind, ladies and gentleman, very generous, very generous as well for the air conditioning, I got a frostbite when I came in” said Rod joking about the freezing air conditioning, which was met by roaring laughter from the audience.

The show did not only present Rod’s flawless singing abilities, but it also showcased the  splendid play of the band members in performing music instruments solo  such as on saxophone and violin. Even with a plaster cast over some of his fingers -due to a prior accident- guitarist Paul Warren still managed to pull a captivating solo. During the “Down Town Train” a double solo drum was energetically performed by drummer Dave Palmer and percussionist Matt O’Connor.

The stage was altered into a more intimate set, when chairs were pulled out for the acoustic session. As the band members gathered, Rod jokingly said “This is very similar to the last minutes of the Titanic, here” which was replied by laughter from the band and the audience. As the piano intro was played, the audience went again into a frenzy, because it was “Have I told you lately”, a romantic hit that was sure to melt every woman’s heart. With his raspy and soft voice, Rod mesmerized the audience as they sang along and drowned into the romance of the song. The session went on with “Reason to Believe”, “Rainy in Georgia”, and “Ooh La La”.

The atmosphere was heated up again with the classic three-chord rock n roll tune “Sweet Rock N’Roller”. Rod changed his costume into a batik patterned suit which received enthusiastic ovation as he played “Rhythm of My Heart”, while “Twisting” and “You’re in My Heart” followed. Rod intimately introduced his family members to his audience as the screen showed pictures of his daughters, sons, and granddaughters, all wrapped in the jerseys of Celtic Football Club, his favorite football club. As “Hot Leg” was played, Rod showcased his football skills when he kicked and gave away over 40 exclusively signed footballs to the audience. Hilariously, one of the balls that he kicked bounced back onto the stage ridge and hit his head.  The crowd went crazy as they competed to catch such valuable souvenir from the legendary artist. After “Sexy” was played Rod said thank you and good night to the audience, and left the stage, -but the show was not yet over.

Craving for more, the shouts of “We Want more” grew louder as the lights were dimmed. Rod Stewart and the band appeared once again on stage with the phenomenal hit “Sailing”. The audience turned into a massive choir once again as they were carried away with the beautiful voice of Rod Stewart. The audience even got up off their seats and stormed to the front of the barricaded stage. The performance hit its pinnacle with the song, while Rod, the backing vocals and the band took a bow, but still generously presented one last encore with a classic blues tune “Shake Your Money Maker”, before finally ending the splendid show.

Opening the year 2012 with such a fantastic performance, the Rod Stewart show has confirmed Indonesia’s position as an ideal place to stage grand scale performances of international stars. If 2011 was decorated with a slew of international shows, this year the number can only grow as more and more international artists are lined up to take the stage live in Indonesia.

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