TOP STORY: Rockin' Rod sets the Bay humming

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Rod Stewart's performance at Napier's Mission Estate Winery on Saturday night was today being hailed as the best yet and the region's businesses were celebrating a bumper weekend of trading.
Napier was gridlocked at times on Saturday morning as thousands of people crowded into the inner city to complete their pre-concert preparations. A hugely popular annual event, the Mission concert this year drew 25,000.
Supermarkets, bakeries and liquor stores did roaring trades and Napier City Pak 'n Save owner Hanno Hasselman said bakery staff worked through the night baking bread rolls for the concert. Staff began cooking chickens at 4am and still struggled to keep up with demand while cold meat, cheese and pat? were hot items. Alcohol sales were more than double that of a normal weekend.
Yesterday, caf?s and wineries also enjoyed a spin-off as visitors looked for revivers before heading home. One music store reported staff were "run off their feet" with customers looking to buy Rod Stewart albums.
The Mission Concert was the second of three successive big weekends which provide a $40 million boost to the region's economy. Harvest Hawke's Bay and Church Road Jazz on February 5 and 6 attracted thousands to the region.
Thousands more, including many international visitors are expected in Napier this week for the 17th annual Art Deco Weekend, which begins on Thursday.
Napier I-site visitor centre manager Carolyn Neville said town was crowded at the weekend but there was still accommodation available for people who needed it.
And the boom was set to continue as Art Deco Weekend got into stride.
"This weekend looks really good. Even this morning we've had telephone calls from people wanting to come up for the weekend and leaving things to the last minute. I think it's going to be great," she said.
Napier retailer Graham Bell, from Alexander's Menswear, put the weekend's success down to having a quality act at the Mission. "The streets in Napier on Saturday - honestly, it was just like pre-Christmas. It was just absolutely bursting."
The influx spilled over into Havelock North which was filled to capacity.
Havelock North Business Association president Michael Poppelwell said the village had done a "fantastic weekend" trade.
"It was three times busier than a normal weekend," he said.
"I feel that all the eating and drinking places had done very well. When I passed caf?s in the village they were always full of people."
The 13th concert at the Mission may have created some anxiety for those of a superstitious nature, but the weather was fine and warm (apart from bursts of wind) and the atmosphere was colourful and electric.
It was the night where many in the happily boisterous crowd lining the natural amphitheatre of the Mission wanted to be Scottish.
Last year there were small outbreaks of beehive hairstyles to acknowledge the B52s, but on Saturday night the appearance of tartan was more than an outbreak ... it was a joyous epidemic. There were kilts, Scottish flags, tam-o-shanter caps, tartan rugs, and of course the blonde spiky wigs were everywhere.
And the reason for it all, the sparkling lineup of Mike Storey, Dave Dobbyn and, of course, Roderick David Stewart. Stewart himself told his management crew he was delighted with the venue and the crowd.
"He just loved it," Sport and Entertainment Ltd's Garry Craft said.
"He loved Hawke's Bay full stop. It really charged him up ... he was in flying form."
The 44-strong police dealt with the usual problems associated with excess alcohol, although on the whole they were delighted with the crowd's "happy - party" attitude.
There were three arrests, including one of a man who was seen in the company of two others pushing portable toilets into a creek. One of the toilets was occupied by a woman.
Twelve people were ejected from the grounds for drunkenness and disorder.
St John Ambulance crews were kept busy dealing with a string of medical complaints from cuts and sprains, to a couple of fractures (from slipping on the hillsides) and medical conditions. Twelve were taken by ambulance from the site.
Review
It was the greatest Mission singalong concert of them all. Pretty well everything Rod Stewart sang got the audience treatment - and that tells you a lot.
We all knew the songs, he played the hits, he gave us a laugh, and having a lash at the chorus of You're In My Heart was soul-lifting.
Seventeen minutes early, and accompanied by the pipes and acoustic guitar, he opened with the rocking You Wear It Well ... a song I remember from when I actually looked acceptable in tight trousers.
It was a great choice for two reasons. One: It's a "get-up-and-sing-and-shake song and two: if anyone has worn it well over the years Rod has.
Sixty? Not a chance.
The lad, trimmed by a big tour of the USA last year and constantly keeping himself in fine footballing form (more of that later) looked marvellous.
He's worn it very well for someone who's been gigging and concerting and recording over five decades.
He looked the part - leather jacket, stovepipes, and a black T-shirt under the open shirt. Jack the Lad had come to town and didn't the crowd love it!
At one stage, and did I detect a bit of a smile, he sang "and I wear it well" and the crowd, pumping fists into the air and shaking everything they had, could not agree more.
There was no let up early on. He did it when he was with the Faces in the 70s- charge in hard with a couple of top numbers and then take a brief break to say "ello". And Rod said what the crowd wanted to hear. He said, "we've got 28 songs for you tonight!" You could hear them swooning on the hillsides.
The bloke is good. Very good.
The show was a show.
He delivered everything his fans wanted to hear, and when he did pick a couple of outsiders he picked well. A tribute to his old mate Robert Palmer, who died last year, was well-received, especially when he raunched into Addicted To Love. With a leggy saxophone player and three sharp female back-up singers, the Rod-Rob mix was a stunner.
Essentially he just got better and better. Even I felt the old feet moving when he did Hot Legs ... a song he described as "from my disgusting youth."
Downtown Train followed and then The First Cut is the Deepest, with Rod smiling and almost beckoning the front rows to get a little closer.
He ended the first half with Sailing ... although his lead guitarist (sorry mate but I didn't get your name) stole the first-half finale with a blistering delivery.
There was a break, and Rod returned in a sartorial tuxedo, and a small orchestra (including local musicians who were magnificent) for his Great American Songbook set.
As Time Goes By from Casablanca, Satchmo's What a Wonderful World and a beautifully offered Blue Moon.
This set, more than anything, revealed that Rod Stewart has a sublime voice. Few could dance on the floor of rock as well as be accepted into the lounge as well as Rod. It's just a pity many chose to ignore fine music by staggering about and talking loudly.
But the band were soon into boogie-woogie and then it arrived. Maggie May. The crowd simply ignited.
He followed with a couple of 80s and 90s songs, and showing why he was apprenticed with Brentford Football Club as a youth, sent some great shots into the howling crowd as his stage hands tossed soccer balls to him.
One was a simply magnificent header, and a couple of volleys went into the darkness! Yes Rod, you were in our hearts.
Rod was lucky. He had Kiwi icon Dave Dobbyn and his band to light the wick for a rocking night. Mike Storey, folk and blues singer, had opened up in the late afternoon with an easy-going folk-bluesy set. He was up against it with the crowd wandering and still arriving, but drew a good response.
He was like Sam Hunt with a guitar.
Dave Dobbyn and his bass and drum accomplices rocked into Outlook For Thursday and proved you don't need a five-piece to fill the air with thunder.