Rod Stewart Hits Treasure Island With a Return of the Roses

Rod Stewart returned on his Blood Red Roses Tour, this time taking his act outdoors at Treasure Island’s Amphitheater!

Starting out the evening was veteran classic rock Little River Band, even though Wayne Nelson is the longest-tenured in the band, joining LRB in 1980.

They played just over an hour of classic hits, featuring songs like “Man On Your Mind”, “Reminiscing” and “Cool Change.”

Saving their two biggest hits for the end, they dedicated “Lady” to all the women in the audience, who acted like the song was meant for them only. Of course, all the guys got the butt end of the dedications, as the final song “Lonesome Loser” was dedicated to all the guys. Ouch.

Stewart last appeared in Minnesota at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center (review here) back in October of 2018.

His Vegas-like show featured several outfit changes and a band that featured two sets of drums, guitars, a harp, and an all blonde, all-female crew as his backup singers.

The charismatic and chatty Stewart was also flirtatious and engaging, sometimes a little too much. Everything didn’t quite go as planned for Stewart, who complained (or explained) that he was out of breath on a few occasions, saying it’s been a while since he’s been on stage.

Other than that, Stewart was in fine form for most of the night, as he played many hits including “Maggie May,” “Young Turks,” and “Some Guys Have All The Luck.” The show was basically a live version of his greatest hits with a few other songs thrown in.

He really shined on what he calls his stripped-down set, playing hits like his cover of Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” Van Morrison’s  “Have I Told You Lately,” and “You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim).” The stripped-down set included drums, violins and a harp. 

So many different hits throughout the night, including the encore song “Do You Think I’m Sexy,” left the audience wanting more. And I mean literally, they wanted more. A large portion of the crowd didn’t realize the show ended, hanging around for another encore that never happened. Only when the stage crew started stripping down the stage did they realize that it was time to head home.