Thunder rolls and Lightning Strikes on Cork's Marina BUT it was veteran rock star Rod Stewart who raised the roof last night Live at the Marquee. As the Leeside venue entered its final week of the 2023 festival it was the British rock and pop singer that brought the first of two shows to Cork’s Marina and all in the midst of thunder and lightning downpours.

The extravaganza, as part of Stewarts' Hits Tour, began with ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’, as his band took to the stage. Men in pink blazers, and the women in black sequinned shorts and leather jackets. The main man wearing a dazzling stand-out blazer.

After a 14-year absence “It’s good to be back in the old tent. We’re here for a couple of hours, hope you enjoy the show,” he said. All this in a sea of phone flashes.

Intertwined with his catalog of songs, the show also included a poignant tribute to “the great Tina Turner” too, singing their duet ‘It Takes Two’ in her honour.