Rod Stewart’s return to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night carried quiet significance. Not because it marked the end of his career – with US dates already scheduled for 2026, that clearly is not the case – but because his Etihad Arena show was the final concert of this leg of Stewart's One Last Time tour and, in all likelihood, his last performance in the Middle East.
Rocker and crooner Stewart will turn 81 in January, but he shows little interest in nostalgia for its own sake. Instead, this was a confident, generous performance from an artist fully at ease with where he is and what he still has to offer.
Abu Dhabi, the tour’s only stop in the Middle East, felt like an appropriate setting for a night that balanced reflection with celebration. One Last Time has been framed as Stewart’s final large-scale world tour, and the performance drew fans from across the region for what may be a final opportunity to see the rocker and crooner live in this part of the world.
Time has reshaped Stewart’s stagecraft. The London-born Scot now relies more heavily on his excellent band and accomplished backing singers – and does so without ego.
Several times, he stepped away from centre stage entirely, allowing them to shine, most notably during a spirited Tina Turner cover and other extended musical interludes. These moments did not dilute the show. Rather, they reinforced Stewart’s comfort in sharing the spotlight, a hallmark of an artist secure in his legacy.
When Stewart returned, each time in a dazzling new outfit, his presence was immediate. That unmistakable husky voice, weathered but expressive, still carries emotional weight, particularly when applied to the songs that have accompanied audiences for decades.
As familiar ballads unfolded, the reaction within Etihad Arena was palpable. The crowd responded instinctively, singing along, dancing in the aisles and embracing the shared nostalgia that remains central to Stewart’s appeal. The large screens flanking the stage cycled through familiar Stewart motifs: kilted Scots playing the bagpipes, the singer cast as a footballer, and archival footage of Black civil rights protests in 1960s America – all long-standing interests and recurring themes in Stewart’s visual storytelling.
The set list was packed with crowd favourites, including Maggie May, Young Turks, Hot Legs, Downtown Train, First Cut is the Deepest and the aptly chosen Forever Young. The emotional peak arrived with Sailing, delivered as the penultimate number. Performed with restraint and sincerity, it transformed the arena into a single, unified chorus. The song’s simplicity allowed its sentiment to resonate fully, drawing one of the night’s strongest responses and underscoring Stewart’s enduring ability to connect across generations.
While the physical demands of performance are clearly now shared across the stage, his charisma remains undiminished. He may no longer dominate every moment, but his authority lies in knowing precisely when to come forward and when to step back.
The evening closed with an exuberant rendition of Love Train. Stewart declared that the song, originally a 1972 hit by The O’Jays, was an appropriate ending because the world needs peace. As the words “people all over the world, join hands” rang out, hundreds of balloons cascaded from the ceiling and bounced around the arena until the final notes faded.
It was a playful but poignant ending, and an apt image for an artist who continues to defy expectations. This may not have been a farewell, but it was a moment of punctuation: the end of a touring chapter, and possibly Stewart’s last bow in the Middle East. If so, Abu Dhabi witnessed him exactly as he remains: buoyant, generous and very much in command of his craft.
