Dave Stewart brings the hits of the Eurythmics to Lake Tahoe

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - If you have plans for the evening of Wednesday, January 24, cancel them and head over to the Tahoe Blue Event Center, you won't regret it.

Not only is award-winning rock artist Bryan Adams bringing his So Happy It Hurts tour to Lake Tahoe that day, but joining him on the stage at the new event center is the iconic and legendary Dave Stewart with his Eurythmics Songbook. It will truly be two fabulous concerts in one with these two.

Most are familiar with Dave Stewart through his partnership with Annie Lennox when they formed the Eurythmics. Both had been in the band The Tourists until it broke up in 1980, leaving Stewart and Lennox with their musical majesty to form their new group, with a first album coming out in 1981.

For 10 years the Eurythmics released such hits as Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Love Is a Stranger, There Must Be an Angel, and Here Comes the Rain Again." Together their list of awards included the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The idea for Songbook came a few years ago when Stewart was asked by Niall Rogers to wrap up the popular Meltdown Festival in England in 2019. It was an evening of who's who in the music world on stage with Stewart, all sharing the stage belting out the Eurythmics hits.

"I invited friends and guests and it received fantastic reviews," Stewart told South Tahoe Now. He wanted to take the show on the road after the British debut, but then COVID happened. Then he and Lennox were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the 40th anniversary came for Sweet Dreams, and time got away from him.

That is, until now.

The idea for a Songbook tour concept resurrected and he put together an all-female band that could cover all the music genres covered in the Eurythmic's history. The two-hour-long British show will be packed into one hour for Lake Tahoe.

All of the female band members are front and center during the show, a "full frontal female power attack." Stewart said they are all amazing singers and they will change during the tour, depending on their schedules. He said they all take the lead on the songs that Lennox sang.

Stewart said he knows so many great singers, and many are joining him on tour. One, who he "snatched up" is Judith Hill, who made an album with Prince, and has sung with Michael Jackson, Josh Groban, Eric Clapton, and many others. She plays guitar and piano as well. Vanessa Amorosa, Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist will also be one of the powerhouses.

His role in this? Well, to be the "Pop Rock Quincy Jones" and use that style of band leader, and of course, his guitar skills.

Talking from his home in Nashville, Tennessee, Stewart shared what it was like to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. He said the event was great, and the number of artists that were there to celebrate inductees was amazing. He and Lennox had been inducted into the UK Hall of Fame in the 1990s, and they hadn't thought about what a much bigger global effect the American version had.

"It's so huge," said Stewart. "The artists that are there are from all over the world. It's one of those events where loads of people you know are there."

"I love playing music live," said Steward. "It is a big celebration of having all the people in one place."

The South Shore's famous resident from England, Helen Mirren, has worked with Stewart in the past.

"Helen is so sweet," said Stewart. "I first saw her in a theater in Chelsea when Elton John had just signed me, around 1973."

A year later Stewart was making a show for British TV, Beyond The Groove, and Mirren played a part, as did Tom Petty, Little Richard, David Rappaport, Harry Dean Stanton, Lyle Lovett, k.d. Lang, Bob Geldof, and others. It was a story about a guy who is a heavy-duty business guy, obnoxious, and gets hypnotized by his secretary and ends up in a bar in the desert. The stars go in and out of the episodes, but it isn't available online at this time.

It makes sense to have an "army of powerful women" on tour with Stewart as he's had great relationships with female artists he's working with, either by writing songs, or producing their work. That list includes Gwen Stefani, the late Sinead O'Connor, and Stevie Nicks, as well as Lennox. He said there is a lot of trust involved, and his understanding of the feminine side gives them a path to creativity that flows out when they trust what they've built.

The younger generation may have seen Stewart for the first time on American Idol last season. He was there to accompany his daughter Kaya on guitar as she sang for the audition. Kaya received the Golden Ticket and headed to Hollywood week where she sadly fell ill and had to drop out. She has now teamed with Max Mercier and formed the duo, Kiss Bang.

"It's déjà vu," said Stewart. "They are similar to the age when Annie (Lennox) and I were when we got together."

He said Kaya sat on Annie's knee as a young child and heard music being played the whole nine months while being carried by her mother.

"Music has always been my family's thing," said Stewart. "My son has a band, another son an album, another daughter (Indya) sang but is now with a design company."

His sons are Django and Samuel Stewart.

Stewart, who at 71, has worked with an amazing list of musicians over the years. The hit songs he has co-written or co-produced were originally released by such artists such as No Doubt, Shakespears Sister, Bryan Ferry, Celine Dion, Bob Geldof, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Jon Bon Jovi, besides those written for the Eurythmics.

"My life has been so rich with amazing, talented people around," said Stewart.

The tour with Adams, one of the most popular of the 80s and 90s, starts on January 20 in Billings, Montana. They'll move around the country and Mexico through March (see here).

For tickets for the Lake Tahoe show on January 24 at 7:30 p.m., visit https://www.tahoeblueeventcenter.com/events/detail/bryan-adams.

Photos are shown with permission from the Dave Stewart Eurythmics Songbook show at the Palladium.