Historic evening in Athens: Being there was everything

The Greeks are generally considered a very proud people and they like to stick to their traditions. This also applies to the Olympic motto ‘Being there is everything’ – and last night, this could certainly be applied to Sir Rod Stewart's concert at the Telekom Centre in Athens, the city that hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896.
For the British singer's very first concert in the Greek metropolis, the approximately 12,000 tickets were sold out in advance and completely sold out after just a few hours. Lucky were those who managed to get a ticket and witness this historic evening. Here, ‘being there’ was everything, just like the Olympic ideal of yesteryear.
Those who were there experienced another top-class performance and were entertained to the fullest by a brilliant Sir Rod and his formidable band.

Stewart, who played his penultimate concert of the year, relied on tried-and-tested material for his set list at his premiere in Athens, but made a few changes compared to the concerts in recent days. He opened at the Telekom Centre with Robert Palmer's classic ‘Addicted To Love’, followed by his 1970s hits ‘You Wear It Well’ and ‘Ooh La La’. ‘Tonight I'm Yours’ and ‘Infatuation’ were therefore rotated to the substitute bench, to use football jargon. ‘Twistin' The Night Away’ was also replaced by ‘Rolling and Tumblin'’ from the Blood Red Roses album.

Of course, the Greeks didn't have to do without the big hits like ‘Baby Jane’, ‘Maggie May’ or ‘Forever Young’ at their big κόμμα (party). Beloved ballads such as ‘Have I Told You Lately’ and ‘Tonight's The Night’ also rang out in the shadow of the Acropolis, which sits on a limestone plateau about 150 metres above the Greek capital.
A historic event in a historic location – and that wasn't the only reason the fans were completely ecstatic.

‘Rod gave an amazing performance – Forever Young,’ wrote one concertgoer on X (Twitter). And on Facebook, too, fans found it difficult to contain their enthusiasm. ‘It was an incredible evening, Rod Stewart was in top form, we had such a great time,’ said one audience member. ‘He just blew us away,’ said another fan.
And as was the case almost everywhere on this tour, the press joined in the chorus of enthusiasm. The online news portal ‘Ethnos’ called the singer ‘one of the last rock troubadours’ and attested that ‘his voice still has the power that once established the 80-year-old in the music world’. Ethnos summed up the evening at the Telekom Centre simply and aptly as ‘unique’. Being there was everything.

Set list:
Addicted To Love
You Wear It Well
Ooh La La
Havin' A Party
It's A Heartache
Rollin' and Tumblin'
Forever Young
The First Cut Is The Deepest
Tonight's The Night
Maggie May
I'd Rather Go Blind
Young Turks
Downtown Train
I'm Every Woman (band only)
I Don't Want To Talk About It
People Get Ready
Have I Told You Lately
Proud Mary (band only)
Baby Jane
It Takes Two
Some Guys Have All The Luck
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy
Hot Legs
Sailing
Love Train