When will the legendary singer-songwriter return to the stage?
Al Stewart, the British folk-rock artist, famous for his songs “Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages”, has been recording music for over fifty years and has his own cult audience. However, the 76-year-old singer-songwriter has been less visible in the recent past, and his fans are keen to know if he will ever again go on a concert tour again.
Stewart began his solo career in music in 1967 with his first record “Bedsitter Images”. However, it was his 1976 album “Year of the Cat”, with its eponymous hit and the mellifluous arrangements that fused folk, rock, and jazz that really set him on the map. In the next ten years, he produced other albums that were critically acclaimed such as Time Passages, 24 Carrots, and Russians and Americans.
In the period 1970s and 1980s Stewart used to perform live to promote his albums. The concert chronicled from the time reveals energetic performances with Stewart’s complex guitar playing, poetic lyrics, and diverse musical influences. He established good rapport with the audience via fluent and humorous interactions with them and also setting the stage alight with his renditions of songs that depicted historical incidences such as World War I and French Revolution.
However, Stewart had retired from touring by the early nineties though he continues to make appearances occasionally to this day. He went on to record new albums at a rate of about once every three years, experimenting with electronic pop, instrumentals as well as folk rock. But this was no longer possible and he rarely performed live in concerts. His last extensive tour was in 2009 in support of his album "Sparks of Ancient Light” in the UK and Europe.
Since the turn of the decade, Stewart has remained relatively even more invisible to the public. He is occasionally seen performing at folk festivals or in venues like small clubs in his homeland of Britain. However, large-scale concert touring has not been quite his domain. During an interview with a Scottish newspaper in 2016, he revealed that he had health complications that made touring a challenge. However, the most recent interviews and posts on various social media platforms show that Stewart is still actively involved in music production and songwriting, although he seems to be satisfied with recording in the studio and does not want to come back to the stage.
Despite this, however, many of Al Stewart’s fans are still holding out for his triumphant return to the world’s concert halls at least one more time. But there are indeed reasons for optimism on that front as well. In the same interview with Stewart, he agreed though it was challenging suggested that he still wished to tour again. And just last year, he came out of retirement to perform for a one-off show with Laurence Juber, a former member of the Wings band in Los Angeles and fans were thrilled.
There is also the issue of Stewart’s back catalog that has not been performed live. While there are songs never released on albums, there are also tracks that were recorded for previous albums but never promoted through concert tours, and Stewart has enough material for potential concerts. To those, it is necessary to add potential career-spanning performances that may involve telling stories and recalling the creation of his fifty-plus years of the song catalog.
In other words, despite concerns that may have been raised regarding his stamina and vigor, it is still possible to understand why the eternal bard has to go on the road one more time. And for the loyal audience who wants to experience legendary songs such as “On the Border", “Carol” or “Nostradamus” performed live again, there is still a chance that the chances for the hero’s theatrical comeback will come true.
Even Stewart himself is ambiguous about his future concerts, his managers have implied that there might be some unique performances. So, his fans should stay tuned for his new website and use such methods as Facebook to follow his work this year. For the fans, the hope of seeing one of folk-rock’s true originals returning to his roots – storyteller and wordsmith, with a weathered six-string in his hands – is certainly one worth cherishing. Regardless of what more lies ahead in the future of Stewart’s already legendary career, sure will be the shouts of his loyal fans for the continuation of such enthralling musical hero-worship experiences.
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