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| Paul Metcalfe as Rod Stewart, Some Guys Have All The Luck |
Easter Bank Holiday weekend in England, the seaside town of Cromer is bustling with visitors, despite the rain and the cold weather. And the Pavilion Theatre at the end of Cromer Pier, full at 8 p.m. for an evening of
Rod Stewart's music, presented by
Paul Metcalfe and his band: Some Guys Have All The Luck.
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| Some Guys Have All The Luck, Cromer, 2018 |
There's a huge difference between tribute bands and covers. The tribute band takes on the personality, the voice, the charisma of the personality they are emulating, throughout the entire show.
Some Guys Have All The Luck does this, very, very well.
Mr. Metcalfe sounds, and moves, like Rod, for the entire evening. And the first half of the show is an interesting and educational mix of music and anecdotes from Rod's life story, with some wonderful archive photography on the big screen. The second half (yes, there's an intermission, it's theatre after all) is a rocking Rod Stewart concert, plain and simple.
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| Some Guys Have All The Luck, Cromer Pier Pavilion Theatre, 2018 |
Beginning with songs from early in Rod Stewart's career--Handbags and Gladrags, and the wonderful contribution to Python Lee Jackson, In a Broken Dream--a snippet of Maggie May, and on through the years... You Wear It Well, First Cut Is The Deepest, Tonight's The Night... all of Rod's biggest hits. The poignant Killing of Georgie. The amusing Do You Think I'm Sexy? All the goodies, not forgetting Baby Jane... finishing off with the inevitable Sailing, and then the full version of Maggie May.
(Maggie May was "my first" Rod song--and my first
Top of the Pops! A schoolteacher set us some statistics homework: go home, watch Top of the Pops and then report on how statistics are used in the music charts. That night,
Maggie May was number one--with Slade's Coz I Luv You soon to follow. Go ahead, do the sums, I don't care one bit.)
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| Some Guys Have All The Luck, Cromer Pier, 2018 |
The most important part of a tribute show is that it be fun, and
Some Guys Have All The Luck was definitely that; there was dancing in the aisles, the band were very obviously enjoying themselves, and we were all singing along. A very enjoyable and entertaining evening!
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| Some Guys Have All The Luck, Cromer, 2018 |
Catch the show at another of their tour dates:
full schedule is on the band's website. Many shows all around the UK this year! If you can't get to
Vegas to see Mr Stewart himself... go see Some Guys Have All The Luck instead. Or do both...
See the
full photogallery from the show at the Pavilion Theatre, Cromer Pier, here!
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| Paul Metcalfe as Rod Stewart, Cromer, 2018 |
(I'm really happy the show closed with Maggie May. Sailing is, for me, Rod Stewart's equivalent of Chris de Burgh's Lady in Red. A beautiful song... and yet so played-to-death that I don't want to hear them again. Maggie May I will never, ever tire of.)
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