Yusuf (Cat Stevens) – Rod Laver Arena

It had been thirty-six years since the Artist formerly known as Cat Stevens (and now known as Yusuf) had toured Australia and he clearly has a large audience of devotees in these parts. Two sold out Rod Laver Arenas stood as testament to that and few of those fans would have left disappointed.

I was certainly impressed by his resilience as a vocalist and there’s no doubt that many of his songs have stood the test of time. But by way of comparison Yusuf has had some stiff competition recently. In the past twelve months there has been a series of tours by older artists  and the bar has been set very high. Leonard Cohen, Roger Hodgson and Rickie Lee Jones are three that I think of and to me Yusuf falls slightly behind them in the overall impression left by the performance.

But two things should be noted. Firstly the performance of great concerts and the playing of great music isn’t a competition and secondly (if it were a competition) to finish a very close fourth in that field is hardly an indictment. What it does underline is that artists who have a deep and deeply loved back catalogue are providing us with some wonderful concert going experiences. Long may that continue.

Yusuf, like most of those mentioned artists, has had a long period away from music as part of their journey, and in his case the sabbatical was probably the longest. Yet he has re-embraced his songs with a great deal of affection.

The show included a few newer songs that stood up well but naturally the greatest responses came for the classic hits. And the response was deserved. The highlight for me was Wild World which he performed by doing a couple of verses in zulu. This added a wonderful dimension to the already stunning song and it was truly a magical moment.

His reading of Morning Is Broken was delicate and honest and the concert closed with Peace Train, from the Teaser and the Firecat album from 1971. Naturally the extraordinarily ageless Father & Son also left the audience in rapt approval.

This latter song from 1970’s Tea For The Tillerman was joined by several others including Where Do The Children Play which Yusuf put into the context of the current Gulf of Mexico debacle.

The even earlier Matthew & Son album was represented by a medley of I Love My Dog / Here Comes My Baby / First Cut Is The Deepest.

Another song that found favour with the audience was Remember The Days In The Old School Yard. What was interesting is that there was a significant slice of the crowd who wouldn’t have found that task too difficult. Sure, there was plenty of grey hair in the crowd but there was a surprising number of younger fans who clearly have had access to their parents record collections. I wonder what they make of album titles like Catch Bull At Four,  Teaser and the Firecat and Tea For The Tillerman?

Other notably observations were the clever use of the video screens. This is becoming increasingly important in the stadium show and some of the visuals in this show really added to the music, especially the 3D village street scene that was an wonderful part of the opening to the show. The fantasy land created for the narrative part of the show also helped maintain the audiences attention.

It was hard to fault the show really and the difference between this and some of those other shows I mentioned earlier was paper thin. Not that it really even matters.

The setlist as reported on the internet was

Lilywhite
The Wind
Midday
Where Do The Children Play
I Love My Dog / Here Comes My Baby / First Cut Is The Deepest
Fill My Eyes
Boots and Sand
Miles From Nowhere
World O’ Darkness
Maybe There’s a World
Matthew & Son
But I Might Die Tonight
Remember the Days Of The Old School Yard
On The Road to Find Out
Tuesday’s Dead
Road Singer
Was Dog A Donut
Bad Brakes
Sitting
Morning Has Broken
Wild World
Father & Son

Encore Songs
Moonshadow
All Kind of Roses
Ruby Love
Ruins
Peace Train