Rod Stewart ‘One Last Time’ Tour Hollywood Bowl Review: Is He Done?

“This is my last time here, so let’s have a party tonight” Rod Stewart said Wednesday night to an ecstatic 17,500 filled Hollywood Bowl, prompting some immediate groans.

Fans didn’t want the show to end last night at the LA stop for his latest “One Last Time” Farewell tour, nor from the looks of it did the 81-year old rocker who counted his 14th time at the Bowl; a venue he first played in 1972 with the English rock band Faces (which the former busker joined in 1969). Despite being called “One Last Time,” Grammy winning Sir Roderick David Stewart has already extended the tour since the first leg began back in 2024.

Is Stewart tired? Don’t you even dare say that as he constantly moves across the stage (read, his 1981 tune “Young Turks”) in what was a 25-song set list.

Stewart even ribbed those critics last night who’d assume he’s taking a nap during his five costume changes: “Having a rest? I’ll have you know I can run 100 meters in 19 seconds!” Those get-up change-ups included myriad sequin retro coats including a leopard-one at the start of the show, culminating in his red suit from the 1980s.

“So, I’m wearing a red suit now,” Stewart exclaimed to the crowd who were quick to sing-along throughout the night, “Men at my age should know better. But I don’t (bleepin’) care.”

Stewart is one of several octogenarian (or near) rockers who continue to perform publicly, including James Taylor, Paul McCartney (who was here at the Fonda back in the spring), Cher, and Kenny Loggins to name a few. Quite often the barometer of success is whether vocally they still got it; meaning, they’re not merely speaking their lyrics during a show. Loggins gets by having male back-up singers who emit a wattage ala his “Danger Zone” days. The most honeydew of them all remains Taylor who if miss on the road, you can find easily with his All-Star band at Tanglewood in Massachusetts over the July 4th stretch. Cher remains multi-platinum in her sound as well, one of her last performances for us being the marquee act at AmFar 2024 in Cannes. However, Stewart prevails as the king of soulful rasp, his signature tenor-baritone evident and glowing in such near a cappella moments last night as “Rhythm of My Heart” from 1991 (which the singer dedicated to the Ukraine, the screen flashing New York Post articles against Putin, and Stewart ending the song with a salute to Zelensky) and the slow-dance nostalgic song form the same year “Have I Told You Lately”. When Stewart slowed down the onset of “Maggie May” from his “Every Picture Tells a Story” album portion of the show, why, it’s pure seduction. Some guys still have more than all the luck.

And if your ears and eyes weren’t on Stewart last night, then you were captivated by his back-up band comprised of six back-up female singers (who also doubled as string players), in addition to another eight string female players, saxophonist, keyboardist, a harp player (at one point), longtime drummer David Palmer, and guitarist of 13 years, Emerson Swinford, in addition to Don Kirkpatrick. Before anyone took the stage last night, Richard Marx took attendees down memory lane with such songs as 1989’s weepy “Right Here Waiting”, not to mention a surprise appearance by John Stamos (who played congas on the singer’s After Hours album). Soon after three bag pipers ramped up the anticipation for Sir Rod at the start of the show with a trio of Celtic and Scottish hymns, that motif lasting through the night in such tunes as his 1988 ‘Forever Young”. That performance boasted a sublime oasis in the middle punctuated by rapid fiddlers, Irish step-dancing and a booming marching band bass drum. The character of Stewart’s band alone arguably rivals that of the electric blue uniform entourage who are currently on tour with David Byrne in addition to Paul Simon’s 17-piece Latino-African band from his 1991 “Born at the Right Time Tour”.

Which song was the quintessential time warp in regards to Stewart’s sound on Wednesday? “Some Guys Have All the Luck”? He played that 1980s fave quite early in the Bowl show (sometimes it’s left toward the end at other stops). Or was it his opener, the sexy 1984 noirish “Infatuation” which got everyone on their feet? So many darlings. But when Stewart ventures into his Faces phase of the show, his chilling take of “Ohh La La” with its classic lyrics “I wish that I knew what I know now/When I was younger;” it gets ya emotional because his crooning is so intact. Stewart joked before that song and “Stay With Me’ that he was still working on a Faces album, due out in 12 years.

With his next stops being Chula Vista, Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO; West Valley City, UT, and more including Niagara Falls, Canada in August and Mexico in early September, it’s clear this tour is far from over and Stewart isn’t stopping. Even those close to him whisper to Deadline that they can’t see an immediate end.

He leads us away from home, just to save us from being alone. He steals your heart, and that’s what really works.

Wednesday night’s set list at the Hollywood Bowl: