Legendary concerts: 30 years ago - Rod Stewart on the Copacabana and 3.5 million people were there - Storyteller

When we think of legendary Rod Stewart concerts, this show from 1994 should not be forgotten, as Sir Rod's performance on the Copacabana made his way into the music history books and also - of course - into the Guinness Book of Records.

New Year's Eve and the turn of the year are, in principle, a special time of year. People celebrate the transition into the new year, often in a private, very cosy atmosphere with friends or family, but often also at one of the big New Year's Eve shows in the world's metropolises, such as London, New York or Berlin.

Millions gather in the cities, marvel at the colourful programme that the organisers put on year after year and then celebrate the transition into the New Year with New Year's Eve rockets and firecrackers shooting into the sky at midnight.

The city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil had a special idea in 1994, organising a big concert on the legendary Copacabana Beach to mark the end of the year. And none other than superstar Rod Stewart was to accompany the crowds into 1995 in the shadow of the Sugar Loaf Mountain. True to the motto: ‘I am sailing ... into next year’.

This concert was free to attend, which attracted an enormous number of people to the Copacabana. Officially, 3.5 million people attended Sir Rod's New Year's Eve concert that evening. This makes the show on 31 December 1994 the concert with the largest attendance of all time, which - you guessed it - is still unrivalled in this category in the Guinness Book of Records.

And Rod Stewart belted out one hit after another that evening on the Atlantic coast: from the opener Hot Legs to Maggie May, You're In My Heart, Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller and Stay With Me to Twistin' The Night Away, Da Ya Think I'm Sexy and Sailing. The singer left nothing out, which has made him famous all over the world over the decades.

Rod and the band fired up the already hot-blooded Brazilians even more and provided the best musical entertainment for the turn of the year 1994/95. The show was broadcast live on television by the TV channel BAND at the time and is likely to have attracted many thousands more viewers. After the show, the masses (3.5 million, it can't be mentioned often enough) were sent off into the New Year 1995 with the annual fireworks display.

So when we talk about legendary Stewart shows in history, this performance in Rio de Janeiro is high, if not at the top, of the imaginary hit list.

Setlist. Rod Stewart Copacabana 1994

· Hot Legs

· Having a Party

· Infatuation

· Maggie May

· Baby Jane

· Passion

· You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)

· I Don't Want to Talk About It

· Sweet Little Rock & Roller

· Stay With Me

· Downtown Train

· People Get Ready

· Have I Told You Lately

· The Motown Song

· Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

· Twistin' the Night Away

· Sailing

Band Lineup:

· Rod Stewart - Vocals

· Jeff Golub – Guitar

· Shane Fontayne – Guitar

· Carmine Rojas – Bass

· David Palmer – Drums

· Chuck Kentis – Keybaords

· Ian Mclagan – Keyboards

· Jimmy Roberts – Saxophone

· Don Teschner – Violin, Mandolin, Guitar

· Fred White – Backing Vocals

· Joey Diggs – Backing Vocals

· Lamont Van Hook – Backing Vocals

And here is the list of concerts with the largest audiences:

Rod Stewart - Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro - 1994 - 3.5 million visitors (the German magazine even spoke of 4.2 million, but the official figure is 3.5 million)
Jean-Michel Jarre - University of Moscow - 1997 - 3 million
Jorge Ben Jor - Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro - 1993 - 2.9 million
Jean-Michel Jarre - Paris - 1990 - 2.5 million
Monsters of Rock (e.g. AC/DC, Metallica) - Tushino Airfield, Moscow - 1.6 million
Loveparade rave festival - Dortmund - 2008 - 1.6 million
Rolling Stones - Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro - 2006 - 1.5 million
Live 8 Festival (including Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West) - Philadelphia - 2005 - 1.5 million
Jean-Michel Jarre - 150th birthday Houston - 1986 - 1.3 million
Paz Sin Fronteras (Peace Festival) - Plaza de la Revolucion, Havana - 2009 - 1.1 million

The list is completed by several concerts that were seen by a million people. These include a concert by the Beach Boys, who performed on Independence Day in Philadelphia in 1985, a concert by the Black Eyed Peas on Copacabana Beach in 2006 and, how could it be otherwise, Jean-Michel Jarre on Bastille Day in Paris in 1979.

In modern times, by the way, it's even bigger than all these concerts - on the internet. Madonna (64) is ahead of the pack here: on 28 November 2000, she took to the stage in London and was watched by eleven million people via the World Wide Web. Jarre couldn't even beat that when he performed on Copacabana Beach on New Year's Eve.