Berlin, the German Capital, is always worth a travel especially when Rod Stewart is coming to town. When I first heard about Rod coming to Berlin again I remembered the great time I had two years ago. I spent 3 days with Katja Rieckermann and her family. It was only brilliant.
Unfortunately she is not touring with Rod anymore so this year’s show was only one of many others and not that special to me. But for two other German fans May 31st was THE DAY OF THEIR LIFE – Holger from Berlin and his mate Jochen from Heidenheim got the chance to meet (and obviously greet) OUR MAN before the show at the Mercedes Benz Arena.
Holger reported – very emtotional indeed: “Berlin was my 4th show this year. I was lucky enough to catch two balls and was interviewed by German TV. But top of it all was the Meet&Greet in Berlin. Jochen and I met in the morning. It was his 40th birthday as well so I gave him my presents first – a framed collage of old and new Rod pics and a photobook of our for 20 years ongoing friendship. At 6.15 pm we arrived at the Arena. Security checked our identities and we got some advices how to behave during the M&G. A young lady led us into the backstage area. We met Di Reed, Jimmy Roberts and all the others who were gathering around the dressing rooms. At 7pm we got final advices. We had to stand as a couple beside Rod and it wasn’t allowed to take photos or to get autogrammes. A few minutes later Rod appeared and smiled as he recognized my shirt (Pic of Rod and Penny with me in 2014). It was all over within a few seconds. A professional photographer took the pic and after that we had to leave the area immediately.”
The show started on time at 7.30 pm. Apparently one of the best shows in Berlin ever. The crowd was on their feet right from the beginning and the Setlist was as expected. Only “Every Picture Tells A Story” was on the list for the first time in Germany this year. Rod was in a very good mood and the show was nothing but brilliant. Lucy sent a message after the show saying: “Show was great, we had so much fun on stage”. And so did the audience….
Holger, Jochen and many other fans from across the world finished a brilliant day with a few drinks at a nearby hotel bar.
Rod will return to Germany in November for the Stuttgart show. And of course most of us will be there again.
Review by Martin Heidt & Holger Slomski
Pics: Holger Slomski, Silke Mock and Karsten Sill