Rod Stewart - Saturday 15th August - Colliseum, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada and Rod Stewart is on the second from last night of his residency at Caesars Palace. It would seem rude not to see such a Rock and Roll icon in such surroundings and we had nabbed presale front row balcony seats a few months previously which seemed better value than the large scale arena prices to see Rod in the UK. Caesars must make up for this with their drinks prices - little change from $50 for 2 alcoholic and 2 soft drinks!

One of the things I like about Rod is that he does change the setlist around slightly from show to show. The slight downside of that was we got off to a slow start here. To my ears, "Infatuation" wouldn't squeeze into my top 250 Rod Stewart songs! And a song I do normally like, "Twistin' The Night Away" was a little pedestrian. Thereafter, things improved and it was a great night. You forget that Rod is just about 70, so we can forgive him for the couple of breaks he took during the show, although a lesser kind hearted soul than I could argue that we paid to see him and not his daughter Ruby + partner or the backing singers entertain us as they tried to for 2 songs mid-set.

Revitalised after the breaks, Rod went walking around the audience during "Sweet Little Rock & Roller" and kicked autographed footballs into the crowd during "Stay With Me". One even reached our level - sadly 20 yards or so to our left.

All in all, fantastic fun - even our kids who had been dragged along under duress admitted that it had been "better than expected"! High praise indeed.

Setlist
Infatuation
Twistin' The Night Away 
(I Know) I'm Losing You 
You Wear It Well
Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
Can't Stop Me Now
Rhythm of My Heart
Forever Young
Gasoline Alley
The First Cut Is the Deepest 
Have I Told You Lately
Sweet Little Rock & Roller 
You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
Stay With Me 
Maggie May
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Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Cher - Wednesday 23rd June - Caesars Palace Forum, Las Vegas

"Ladies and Gentlemen"... Cher!

Yes, yes - Cher. Not my normal thing of course, but this is Vegas! In the cheap seats (a "bargain" $90 plus the obligatory US "convenience charge"), Cher's multi-million pound extravaganza wasn't quite what I'd expected. Rather than purely a concert, this was a collection of mini-plays / musicals acted out to Cher singing backed by a live band who played mainly in the wings.

There were a few surprises - she opened with U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and included Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" (last heard a few weeks ago by Mr Rossi!). What was no surprise was the costume change after every song. Unfortunately this led to much too much video footage which did detract somewhat from the actual show. All in all, a 7/10 for me - but an experience none the less.

Setlist

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

The Fire Down Below

Old Time Rock and Roll

The Beat Goes On

All I Really Want to Do

Half-Breed

Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves

Dark Lady

Don't Leave Me This Way

Take Me Home

Love Hurts

The Way of Love

After All

Walking in Memphis

If I Could Turn Back Time

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Believe