University of Virginia Library

MUSIC

Rod Stewart In Richmond

By Jeffrey Ruggles
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

If you have ever been to a
concert at the Mosque, you get a
pretty good idea where the
Richmond bureaucracy stands in
regards to rock music, long-hairs,
etc.

Approaching the main entrance
from the back of the building, you
pass two cops with dogs on leash.
At least they aren't dogs trained to
sniff, you think.

Through the main doors and
you wonder if maybe you haven't
wandered into the Armory on
dress-up night or something. At
every doorway stands a ticket taker
and a guard, with hand casually
placed on hip, ready for a fast
draw. In the lobby are several more
regiments standing at ease. But
finally you are in - breathe out.

Bluish Numbers

Friday night's show began with
someone named Jerry warning up
the crowd with a few bluish
numbers on guitar, vaguely
sounding like Joe Cocker, and then
the Grease Band came out, minus
Joe Cocker and with a new bass
player. Except for a gig in Albert
Hall four days ago ('knocked the
crowd out' said Jerry), this was
their first performance in a year.
All of the bands had just flown in
from England, this being the first
stop on their American tour, and it
took a little while for the Grease
Band to get it together.

Finally, in the middle of their
third number, something clicked
and the group began to sound like
it could do some pretty nice things.
It was without a single standout
performer; those sorts of bands
usually sound best after they've had
a chance to get warmed up. The
Grease Band ended sounding pretty
good; by the third stop on the tour
or so it ought to be knocking them
out again.

Smashing Set

A short delay, and then
surprisingly, the top bill of Rod
Stewart and the Small Faces came
out. Their set was smashing, by far
the finest of the evening. Rod
Stewart was vocalist for Jeff Beck;
he split, along with guitarist Ron
Wood, and joined the Small Faces,
who had just lost their
leader/vocalist/guitarist. The Faces
put out an album, First Step; then
Stewart, Wood, and a few other
musicians put out The Rod Stewart
Album and Gasoline Alley. First
Step is fine hard rock, slightly
Beckish but very much an original
sound. The other two albums are
very personally Stewart, with
excellent arrangements of songs like
"Street Fighting Man," "Country
Comforts" by Elton John, and
original Stewart songs, and with a
feeling similar to that found in such
earlier Traffic songs as "Crying to
be Heard."

For the concert, songs from all
the albums were performed.
"Country Comforts" was first, and
then the Faces went into several
medleys of numbers. They would
play from a song such as "Street
Fighting Man," then jam for a bit,
then move into another piece like
"You're My Girl," then jam some
more and so on. Ron Wood on
guitar was tremendous, playing
bottleneck, inventing riffs, playing
the leads. The Original Faces, on
drums, bass and organ, were solid,
playing the often complex parts of
Stewart's arrangements with a lot
of spirit. The only thing which
might have been missing was some
of the beautiful piano from the
Stewart albums, but I'm not
complaining.

In performance, Rod Stewart is
best compared to Mick Jagger,
swinging the mike around, but he is
not an imitation by any means.
Where Jagger has a theatrical side to
him, Stewart has blues. They are
present in all his work, even when
not directly visible, and when he
has to he can sing in a gutty wail
almost like Janis. At the concert he
said, "I've got a cold and sound
pretty shitty tonight, so listen to
the band, they're fucking good."
Ha — he was fucking good himself.

Second-Billed Group

The last group to play was the
second-billed one, Savoy Brown,
probably due to travel
arrangements. Understandably,
following the Faces they were at a
bit of a disadvantage, but they
managed a set of boogie blues
which was the tightest of the night
— the Faces did have a tendency to
get apart sometimes. While the
music-lovers in the upper balcony
might have considered the Brown
set anticlimactic, the teenyboppers
in the front rows began to dig on
the music, and started dancing in
the aisles and in their seats.
However, Jerry had to come out
and tell them to clear the aisle and
sit down. You see, there is a rule in
the Mosque about dancing in your
seat — it is illegal. If the teenies
didn't stop, "They" would turn
electricity off. The house lights
came on and off a few times, finally
most sat, and Savoy Brown played
one last song.

Leaving, we glanced at several
dogs holding cops on leash.