Main photo thanks to Janette Shiperek
We start this week where we left off last week with a couple of late additions we had some of Maryann Venier’s photos from The Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkstonn in the last report, here are a couple more and her thoughts on the night..
Hot night in more ways than one!
The temperature was in the 90s on this day…And this day was going to be HOT in more ways than one! I was so excited as maybe I was going to see Rod one last time?.
My sister and I drove 45 minutes to the venue, we arrived early and I’m glad that we did as the show started early because of the upcoming
Storm! CHEAP TRICK came on early and their music seemed to calm me as I was getting ready for the explosion of Rods show!
Rod came out early and started the show with Infatuation he was dressed in a leopard suit and the crowd just roared! as were his backup singers who were sensational. I noticed that Rod took a lot of breaks as it was so hot for him on that stage!
Rod interacted with some fans and was concerned about the fans on the lawn when the Storm started, he invited them on the stage saying there was enough room for All!
He spoke of Cobo Hall and the Holiday Inn parties in the 70’s. I truly enjoyed Some Guys Have All The Luck and Young Turks, his voice and his energy never even quivered! but I felt show ended way too early with only one encore Love Train
As for me I hope this isn’t one last time! It’s been a great ride since the 70s.
Rod, I wish you the best! Just a lifelong fan…in Michigan.
And old friends of SMILER Melisa James Askew and Donna Hamaker got this fantastic photo with after his show on Thursday at Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville.
Melisa and Donna also got a couple albums signed that will be going on display at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio where Rod recorded the Atlantic Crossing album and the song Tonight’s the Night.
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St. Louis
On Friday Rod ended the current part of the tour in St. louis, Jason Konarz of bigconcertfan.com and Irene Kinsella-Bynum got some great shots from the night and here are the thoughts of Martin Heidt
Off for the summer break: Rod Stewart ends concert tour in St. Louis
Sir Rod couldn’t have chosen a better setting for the last concert before the five-week tour break. We are in St. Louis, a city of over 300,000 inhabitants on the banks of the Mississippi River in the US state of Missouri. Rock “n” roll pioneer Chuck Berry grew up here, and a certain Tina Turner launched her magnificent singing career here in the late 1950s. And it was at this historic music venue that Rod Stewart played one of his concerts on the One Last Time Tour 2025 last night.
The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre is located about 20 miles west of the city centre, and last night around 20,000 people gathered there to see Stewart perform, with US band Cheap Trick as the opening act. Once again, it was sold out, as it has been almost every night in recent weeks and months.
Many older fans, who have been listening to Rod Stewart’s music for half their lives, were there, but also many younger fans, who probably only know about the singer’s beginnings in the 1960s and his time with Faces from hearsay. Everyone was eagerly anticipating a great evening with party potential, as word had spread that Sir Rod was putting on one spectacular show after another this summer.
And so it was in St. Louis. Cheap Trick had already fired up the crowd with twelve songs from their repertoire, and by the time they played ‘The Flame,’ surely the band’s best-known song, the audience was ‘on fire.’
And when Sir Rod came on stage at 9 p.m. local time, thunderous cheers and applause erupted, seamlessly transforming the audience into a dancing, party-ready crowd.
‘Infatuation’ and ‘Tonight I’m Yours’ laid the foundation for a musical journey through two hours of hits from six decades. By the second song, few fans could hold back. Most danced and rocked out to their hearts’ content or tried their hand at singing along, mostly with perfect lyrics.
The crowd was having fun, and so were Rod and his musicians on stage. A little joke here, a quick wave or a kiss blown to the crowd there, Sir Rod was quickly in his element and pulled one hit after another out of his hat. The fans thanked him with seemingly endless applause and cheers: St. Louis enjoyed his party to the fullest.
For many, however, the evening was over far too quickly. After just under two hours, Rod slowly but surely steered the ‘Love Train’ towards its final destination. Before that, the crowd danced non-stop to ‘Young Turks’ and ‘Maggie May’ and sang along to slow songs like ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ and ‘Have I Told You Lately’.
‘What a show,’ wrote Cory LaGrow, who had travelled from Michigan especially for the event, on X, posting a short video of ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’. ‘Rod was just fantastic,’ said Sara Alexander after the concert, despite the long queue for the shuttle buses. And we could go on and on with these comments. Conclusion – and we probably speak for all the fans who have seen a show in recent weeks: Rod Stewart is like a fine wine, the older, the better.
Stewart and his band are now taking a well-deserved ‘summer break’ – in September, the singer will return to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for what is likely to be his last time, and will make up for two concerts he had to cancel in May due to the flu with shows in Rancho Mirage and Paso Robles.
After touring Central and South America, including a short stop in the Dominican Republic, Stewart and his entourage will return to Germany and Europe in November and December. The 80-year-old will conclude his 2025 concert year with a performance in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on 17 December.
Set list
- Infatuation
- Tonight I’m Yours
- It’s A Heartache
- Rollin’ & Tumblin’
- It Takes Two
- The First Cut Is The Deepest
- Tonight’s The Night
- Forever Young
- The Motown Song
- Young Turks
- Maggie May
- I’d Rather Go Blind
- Downtown Train
- I’m Every Woman (band only)
- If You Don’t Know Me By Now
- You’re In My Heart
- Have I Told You Lately
- Proud Mary (Band only)
- Da Ya Think I’m Sexy
- Stay With Me
- Some Guys Have All The Luck
- Love Train
See some of Jason’s great You Tube clips at https://www.youtube.com/c/bigconcertfancom/videos
While Rod was at the show Penny posted a shot of her night out with Aiden commenting Special night out with my youngest Aiden with our last few days in LA
And back home in LA Rod posted this photo saying
“Few of the guys coming over tonight, won’t look like this in the morning!“
Tattoo You
Janette Shiperek who also features in our main photo met up with Rod while he was in Chicago and got him to sign her arm for a spectacular tattoo
Janette told SMILER this week “I was quite nervous I have to admit, I mean, who wouldn’t be with the Legend SIR ROD STEWART standing in front of you, quite pleasant I must add, alongside Pete & Gary who were very pleasant also. I’m still on cloud 9!!!! I can’t believe after all the years I finally got it. I did have to wait a couple of days until my Tattoo artist was back in the shop & actually I started to panic because the “S” in Sir was starting to fade. But I managed to preserve it and get it done. My family & friends were pretty excited for me too, knowing how bad I’ve wanted this to happen”.
Fearless
The Rolling Stones Official site are offering Ronnie Wood fans a chance to win a signed Fender Vintera II mid ’50s Strat Guitar
for details go to https://therollingstonesshop.co.uk/pages/ronnie-wood?vvsa_consumer_id=14280330&vvsa_tracking=_vvsa_BwamSfAT692024
This week’s Rod Art
This week we feature the work of Mike Stokoe who has been cartooning for over 20 years. He was first published in Punch magazine in 1997, since then his work has appeared in Private Eye, The Spectator, The Oldie, New Statesman, Prospect, and the Times.
Mike’s Rod cartoon was featured in the last Private Eye.
To see more cartoons by Mike Stokoe check out his Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/stokoecartoons/
Steve Jones
Steve Jones of Sex Pistols gave SPIN his list of the 5 albums he can’t live without.
- Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story
- David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
- Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure
- The Beach Boys – 50 Big Ones
- Anything by Steely Dan
To see more posts from SPIN go to https://www.facebook.com/SPIN?locale=en_GB
Rod On TV
On Saturday 30th August Sky Arts is repeating Rod Stewart: It Had to Be You from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM
A performance filmed in front of an audience at Sony Studios in New York City in 2002, featuring songs from Stewart’s album of American pop standards
Rod Stewart: It Had to Be You airs on Sky Arts HD at 9:00 PM, Saturday 30 August
Amy Belle In Conversation with Martin Heidt
Exclusively for Storyteller and SMILER.
ST: 2004 was your big moment: the performance with Rod Stewart at the Royal Albert Hall that made you world famous in one fell swoop. With many years in between: In retrospect, was this evening more beneficial or more of a hindrance to your own career?
AB: My performance with Sir Rod Stewart at The Royal Albert Hall in October 2004 was a very special moment for me and although I had already had some success with 2 recording contracts by the age of 23, this one performance enabled me to travel to the U.S.A and work with some incredible producers and at that point I signed with Epic Records in New York.
ST: Tell me how the performance came about. How did Rod become aware of you and how did it all go until you were on stage with him?
AB: It all came about because Rob Dickins, who was the boss of Dharma Records where I had my solo recording contract following Alice Band failure was and is a great friend of Sir Rod’s and his manager. He had heard that this concert was to take place and knew that the similarity of Sir Rods and my own start to music as buskers would make a great story. Sir Rod very cleverly introduced me that night as ’someone who he has recently been introduced to’. At the time I had moved back to Glasgow from London and was busking again and playing on the pub circuit.
ST: How much did the performance with Rod Stewart change you as a person?
AB: It is difficult for me to assess how much that one performance changed me as a person – I don’t really believe that it did. It certainly was the catalyst which lead to other life changing events!
ST: After you worked with some of the greats of the music scene, such as Chris Martin (Coldplay), Neil Young, Robert Plant, the Pretenders, and Bob Dylan, you then withdrew from the limelight. Afraid of your own courage, maybe it all went too fast for you?
AB: I am not sure where these names have come from, Unfortunately, I never worked with any of those people!! In 2014 I was in a band called Nugent and Belle with my old former band mate from Alice Band Audrey Nugent, we supported Robert Plant on the UK leg of his tour in London, Glasgow, Birmingham and Dublin. We also supported Rodriguez on his European tour around the same time. I did share a dressing room with Chrissie Hynde at The Royal Albert Hall show, she was so friendly and kind to me (we shared a whisky and talked about Glasgow) and I remember this as one of the most poignant moments of that evening. The Alice Band played at various festivals where Neil Young and Bob Dylan also played but that’s as far as that goes, I’m afraid! I’ve never met Chris Martin sadly.
After the Royal Albert Hall, I went to the U.S. Sir Rods manager took me on and I worked with some great producers and song writers such as The Matrix Music and Kara Dioguardi before finding a great fit with John Shanks, we went on to write and record somewhere in the region of 30 songs together in L.A. This was one of the happiest times of my life. Being in the studio day after day, I had never written so fluently and it all came very easily and naturally. At that time I signed to Epic Records and spent a lot of time in America.
After a year or so it all fizzled out – I didn’t fit in the pop box that they envisaged and, even though the songs were great, I think my image was not saleable. The music industry as it was then and I think probably still is is a harsh environment and difficult to navigate unless you a business like mind and savvy character. I was very naive and just enjoying the ride!!
So, I came home to the U.K and went back to playing live in the pubs and busking for a living. To be honest, looking back, I am glad that I never knew any significant fame, I love my quiet life now, living and making music on my own terms and spending time with my family.
ST: After starting your family and a long break, you’re back. What encouraged you to try again in the music business?
AB: Some time after moving to London with my future husband, I discovered that Audrey was living close by, we got together for fun at first but then the songs we made were so good, we were very close and spent a lot of time together, we started our band Nugent and Belle. We recorded our album Seeing Stars independently with K.T Tunstall’s then husband in their home studio and went on the road… At the same time I was doing some work managing the rental properties of friends in London (just looking after the tenants and fixing issues etc) for some extra income when I met an architect who offered me a job as a project manager for his studio. This was my dream job – buildings have always been a passion of mine, I am the chief decorator and odd job man in our house!! So I took this job and spent the next 8 years happily helping clients of the studio with their renovation projects. N&B split up very soon after I started my 9-5 and this was quite a traumatic event – I put my guitar away for a long time. The only song I wrote in 8 years was on the birth of my niece.
We moved from the city out to the suburbs when I was 5 months pregnant with my second daughter, by this time the project management job had changed so much there really wasn’t a place for me there anymore. Not long after she was born I came across a small pub nearby and randomly decided to play the open mic night. The reception I got there was so wonderful, I was hooked on music again!! I have to say that I am not interested in the music business – I just want to sing.
ST: You’ve returned to your musical roots. What is the focus of the “new” Amy now—musically and personally?
AB: I certainly have returned to my roots!!! Just me and my guitar. The only focus I had until quite recently was to make a living from singing. I don’t often check my messages on FaceBook (as you know!) but I saw this one message from a guy in Norway asking if I would like to organise a tour there. At the time I was working at a horrible office job ( I only lasted 4 months!! It was truly dreadful) and I jumped at the chance having always wanted to see that country and when he said he could reliably book me 4 shows a month for the next year it was ideal. I’m now making the same monthly wage as I was in that nasty office working 40 hours a week and not seeing my children so it’s a win win. I have spent a lot of time in Germany and The Netherlands and have some great contacts there as well as my very dear friends whom you’ve spoken with so I will always come back, the audiences there are so appreciative and I find it like coming home. However I feel that the Scandinavian venture might be the start of something special and I’m excited for the future!
ST: Looking back: If you had the chance to start again, what would you perhaps do differently today?
AB: Nothing. Really, nothing. Not that I believe I did everything right, far from it but I do believe that everything happens for a reason. The people we meet and who leave us and the events and experiences we live through are what makes us who we are. I’m not perfect but I’ve worked pretty hard for this person I am and I wouldn’t disrespect my past by wanting to change that – Im happy for the future to make me who I will be.
ST: Are you still in contact with Sir Rod, and did you meet again after your joint performance?
AB: Funny story – a singer songwriter got in touch with me last year as she had written a duet which she thought would be perfect for Sir Rod and I to sing, it just so happened that this was around the time of the 20th anniversary of the concert, she asked the same question and my response was I have never heard from him since that night. In fact we only spoke to each other 3 times! She asked if it was possible to look up my old contacts from that time with the proposition of doing her song and although I was initially hesitant to do that, I thought, what the hell – what’s the harm in trying? So I did. And nothing happened, ha!
ST: You’ll be playing several concerts in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia in the coming months. What can attendees look forward to?
AB: I know what I look forward to! Playing a mix of my own songs and some of my favourite covers. Something happens to me when I perform, it’s hard to explain without sounding pretentious. I do know that my voice is better than it has ever been. I make a lot of mistakes when I’m playing which I used to find very annoying but I have now made my peace with it. I think that even with all the time in the world to practice I would still mess up so it’s just a part of the show now. I think people will see a real person with a big voice and a deep love of music – I always enjoy when people have only known me from that one performance 20 years ago, scared little girl, shaking. I get to show them who I really am.
ST: Is there a song you particularly enjoy playing? And if so, which one?
AB: There are so many. I love to play Joni Mitchell songs (she is my hero) but I enjoy taking well known songs and doing something different with them. In honour of my Norwegian shows and as the result of an off the cuff comment from Andree when I jokingly said, maybe I should do a cover of Take On Me, he said, ‘if you think you can!’, I did! It’s a very hard song to sing but I’ve made it very sad and as long as I can hit that note I think it’s quite lovely.
ST: What music does Amy Belle like to listen to most in private?
AB: At the moment I am listening to a lot of Taylor Swift and that song APT but not by choice ha ha. I always thought I would be giving my girls a musical education like no other but it seems its the other way around! When we are in the car as a family (its a long drive to Glasgow!!) we each take turns in choosing songs so My husband and I get to play them our favourites and we in turn have to listen to Shake It Off about a thousand times.
Seriously though, I listen to Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, JJ Cale, Ethan Gruska, Arctic Monkeys, Jamiroquai (this is pretty much a run down of my recently played list on my phone!!) I love all kinds of music and was a young teenager in the grunge era which I loved although at home mum and dad gave me everything from Dire Straights to Paul Simon to The Beach Boys and Rolling Stones while my brothers were into Charlatans, Stone Roses, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley. A musical education indeed.
ST: When you’re not writing or producing new music, or performing on stage, you enjoy spending your time with…
AB: I have two kids so mostly tidying up. I love to read and I try to get to the gym – I used to be a runner and would love to get back to that! I like to make little dresses for the girls on the sewing machine. I have a pretty quiet life away from the stage.
ST: Which musicians have influenced you the most?
AB: All of the above! Can you tell I’m running out of steam?
ST: Does Amy Belle prefer playing in a large arena with many thousands of people or in a club with not much more than 100 or 200 listeners?
AB: Definitely the smaller venues are my preference. My favourite place to play in the UK is the Little Green Dragon which has a maximum capacity of maybe 40 or 50 people. I love the feeling of all being in it together, on a journey with friends rather than on a pedestal alone.
ST: Rod Stewart is currently on stage at the age of 80, and he seems as fresh and powerful as ever. How long do you want to keep making music?
AB: Sir Rod is a powerhouse, consummate musician and entertainer, long may he continue! I honestly don’t know how long I will go on making music – It was a response to the traumatic split with Audrey which made me stop so I guess as long as something like that never happens again, and as long as people want to come to my shows I’ll just keep going.
ST: Amy, thank you so much for the great conversation and your time.
And Finally..
Where is Rod’s plaque?
Earlier this year we reported that Rod was honored with a plaque on Twickenham Railway Station where he was famously discovered in 1964 singing the blues while waiting for his train by Long John Baldry.
SMILER member Gary Evans visited the plaque over the weekend ,while struggling to find it and obviously looking a bit puzzled one of the station staff asked if he could help…..Gary told him what he was looking for and the response was “they nicked it”
London Tour Guide Adam Scott-Goulding told SMILER this week It’s a mystery. The P.R person for South West Trains sent me this back on 21st July when I made enquiries having been unable to find it myself:
Apologies I should have updated you. It’s temporarily been taken down as they find a permanent spot for it – I’ll let you know when it’s up again and where for future tours!
But still no sign? Quite literally. It’s a mystery.
See you next week…
One reply on “This weeks news and gossip”
Thanks for the Amy Belle interview. Nice stuff. Seems like a nice person.