Live Review: Rodriguez

The second of two sold-out Adelaide shows proves the 74-year-old Rodriguez can still pull a crowd. Famous because of the must-see 2012 documentary Searching For Sugar Man, even though many thought he was dead... glad he proved us wrong!

Tonight was an entertaining hour; Rodriguez was in a great mood and the crowd was lively, yelling out "I love you!" or "whoa!" at any given moment.. .which got a little tiresome after the 20th time. We digress. It was also a night of covers and hat changes... about six. There was a table situated to his right that acted as a makeshift wardrobe with an array of hats and furs.

After a quick introduction by a couple of indigenous gentlemen, one being Archie Roach, he entered the stage assisted by his daughter - Rodriguez is unfortunately losing his eyesight - to a big roar from the crowd. They promptly got out of their seats to give this living legend a standing welcome. He ripped through his small but solid back catalogue with minimal talking but when he did he got the crowd laughing. We're amazed how strong his voice still is after all these years of singing.

While some songs weren't as obvious when the first chords were played - unfortunately his playing isn't as good as it once was - some were. Tracks like I Wonder and Crucify Your Mind received a cheer from the crowd within seconds. Big smiles could be seen across everyone's faces. The now very well-known song Sugar Man was played with great intensity, after which he mentioned, "It's a descriptive not a prescriptive song. Stay off drugs."

As mentioned there were many covers tonight - Sam Cook, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Jefferson Airplane and the finale was Frank Sinatra. All were far from the original, especially (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, where he mumbles through the vocals over a different arrangement of chords to the original Stones version. Elton John's Your Song was just amazing with the backing band taking a break during it and Rodriguez took it to a new level. Kudos to the lighting person during this song as well!

After the last haunting note of Sinatra's I'm Gonna Live Till I Die was played, the crowd rose to their feet to give him one of the biggest standing ovations we've seen. The man is a living legend and we're glad to have witnessed tonight's show.