This week’s news and gossip

Main photo by Marco Skulschus

Thanks For The Pranks!
A new book featuring memories with Rod Stewart and The Faces was released last Friday

The book by Beverly Raskin Lazar features her short stories and memories with Rod Stewart and The Faces, and more stories thereafter.

Regular readers of SMILER will know Beverly as a contributor to the magazine and we have used her unique photos on many projects

SMILER would like to thank Beverly for the dedication in the book!

To order your copy in the UK go to https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thanks-Pranks-Beverly-Raskin-Lazar/dp/B0F4ZYQ2WV/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GUW3WTERPMS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VV-Tbaoe0aS2yPJItw6wf_Z_sp7B6dytO90GENn7V-U.lH9HjRlnVPfvORsck52QGWgV2P7GXdHTyYrlcqR-9lM&dib_tag=se&keywords=thanks+for+the+pranks&qid=1746216907&s=books&sprefix=thanks+for+the+pranks%2Cstripbooks%2C70&sr=1-1

Or US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4ZYQ2WV?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_mwn_dp_DJ7PZWYMV2Z14CJXYHGQ&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_mwn_dp_DJ7PZWYMV2Z14CJXYHGQ&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_mwn_dp_DJ7PZWYMV2Z14CJXYHGQ&bestFormat=true&language=en-US&previewDoh=1

You can also read a preview at Amazon

Westfalenhalle, Rheinlanddamm 200, Dortmund, Germany

On Saturday the tour landed in Germany

True Blue Manchester City star Jack Grealish splashed out £100,000 and hired a private jet to whisk himself with his family and friends to the show

On returning home Jack posted two great shots and said An incredible weekend seeing the legend live @sirrodstewart ! What a lovely guy. It was a pleasure to watch and meet you Jack also treated his followers to his rendition at the show of I Don’t Want To Talk About It https://www.instagram.com/p/DJUp2-dokS5/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Jacks parents Kevin and Karen also got to meet Rod

Marco Skulschus was at the show to bring us some amazing photos and SMILER photographer Marc Baulisch -Steines was also in the house to bring even more exclusive shots plus here is a review by Martin Heidt..

Let the good times roll: Dortmund had plenty to celebrate on Saturday evening

​Borussia Dortmund put on a great football show at Signal Iduna Park in the early evening, winning its home match against VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga by a clear 4:0. Next door, In the Westfalenhalle, football fan and music icon Sir Rod Stewart entertained enthusiastic fans.

His journey through music history turned out to be a fantastic evening for all of the 10,000 visitors. Hit after hit, classic after classic – in exactly 100 minutes, the Brit left nothing out that his audience wanted to hear from him.

The curtain went up at 8pm sharp and Sir Rod kicked off the evening with Infatuation, followed by Tonight I’m Yours and Havin’ A Party. The atmosphere in the hall quickly reached boiling point.

Another 19 songs followed, including Maggie May, Baby Jane and I Don’t Want To Talk About It, of course. But also the Faces song Ooh La La and Rollin‘ & Tumblin’ by Muddy Waters. Overall, the set list remained almost identical to the last few gigs in Northern Europe. Rod only made minor changes, although he did tweak the end of the show: Stay With Me and Hot Legs were not the two encore songs this time, but slipped into the ‘usual’ programme. As an encore, the singer then presented his anthem Sailing, which got the crowd singing again.

The Dortmunder Ruhr Nachrichten experienced a singer who was as happy as a lark. ‘In fact, there was no sign of fatigue,’ the paper wrote in its concert review. ‘Rod Stewart danced and rocked across the stage and his typical grating voice has lost none of its quality’.

Michael Meinzer had travelled by train from Rhineland-Palatinate to Dortmund in the morning. In the early evening, the Bayern fan (!) took advantage of the hour and attended the BVB match, but then left the stadium early and walked the few metres over to the Westfalenhalle to be in front of the stage in time for the start of the concert.
‘It was a great concert, the atmosphere was great,’ he told STORYTELLER an hour after the end of the show as he sat cosily in his hotel with a beer. ‘It was great that Rod didn’t leave out any of his big hits. The audience was a colourful mix. From old to very young, all age groups were represented. The majority of people stood and danced for most of the evening. Others were taking pictures and videos with their smartphones, but everyone was having a great party.”

Holger from Berlin, who STORYTELLER readers may already know , was also there – of course – and had a seat in the front row. He was particularly impressed that Rod came into the audience during a song and shook hands with the fans in the front row. ‘”he concert was simply superb, and it was great that Rod shook my hand too”.

After exactly one hour and 40 minutes, the curtain fell after Sailing.‘In view of the wealth of hits that Rod Stewart has amassed in his career, the evening could have gone on for hours,’ said the Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper, echoing the sentiments of many visitors in Dortmund.’

Setlist:

• Infatuation
• Tonight I’m Yours
• Havin’ A Party
• Some Guys Have All The Luck
• You Wear It Well
• Ooh La La
• Rollin‘ & Tumblin’
• The First Cut Is The Deepest
• Tonight’s The Night
• Forever Young
• Young Turks
• Maggie May
• I’d Rather Go Blind
• Lady Marmalade (Band only)
• Baby Jane
• I Don’t Want To Talk About It
• If You Don’t Know Me By Now
• Proud Mary (Band only)
• Da Ya Think I’m Sexy
• Stay With Me
• Hot Legs
• Sailing (Encore)

ÖVB-Arena, Bürgerweide, Bremen, Germany

On Sunday Rod was in Bremen with another date for his fans in Germany SMILER photographers Marc and Claudine Baulisch -Steines were at the show to bring us more exclusive shots and here is the review from Martin Heidt

Chilly northern Germans? Not at all! Rod Stewart tickled the party mood in Bremen
​
​The Rod Stewart Express travelled on from Dortmund to Bremen at the weekend. After the rousing performance on Saturday evening in Dortmund, Sir Rod and his band continued on to Bremen, some 240 kilometres away, on Sunday morning.

It was chilly on the banks of the Weser when the troupe arrived in Bremen at midday. It was just 11 degrees and there was a chilly wind – just north German grubby weather.

But this in no way dampened Sir Rod’s spirits. Just like on Saturday, the singer was in the best of moods in the sold-out ÖVB Arena. This could also have been due to the fact that the football fan had watched his favourite club and new Scottish football champions Celtic draw 1-1 with Rangers in the Glasgow derby at lunchtime.

At 7 pm sharp, Sir Rod took to the stage in Bremen and opened the evening with his 80s classic ‘Tonight I’m Yours’. The previous tour favourite ‘Infatuation’ was removed from the setlist in Bremen, as was the blues song ‘Rollin’ and Tumblin’. Instead, the Bonnie Tyler smash ‘It’s A Heartache’ and ‘It Takes Two’ slipped into the programme. Stewart recorded ‘It Takes Two’, originally by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston, together with Tina Turner in 1990 and released it as the lead single on his album ‘Vagabond Heart (1991)’.

Otherwise, Sir Rod presented the more than 10,000 fans in the former Bremen Stadthalle with the hits that he had already included in his programme in recent weeks. Unlike in Dortmund, however, ‘Sailing’ was not the last song. Although the curtain came down after what is probably Stewart’s best-known anthem, it then rose again and Rod ended the evening with the Faces classic ‘Stay With Me’ and a strong version of ‘Hot Legs’.

Holger from Berlin had also made the journey from Dortmund to Bremen on Sunday and was at the start on time in the ÖVB Arena – in row one, of course, very close to the action on stage. ‘Rod was in a great mood again,’ said the Berliner happily. He particularly enjoyed the moment when Sir Rod left the stage with his singers during ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’ and shook hands with the fans in the front row. ‘Once again, it was a marvellous evening,’ says Holger. ‘But the audience was better in Dortmund. They were immediately on fire from the very first song. It all took a little longer in Bremen’.

Which brings us to the well-known cliché of the undercooled North Germans. But in the end, Sir Rod had them all wrapped round his finger again and encouraged even the last listless party crasher to have a great evening. And the media also recognised this. The ‘Weser Kurier’ wrote: ‘The hip swing is perhaps no longer quite as smooth as it was 30 years ago and the jumps are no longer quite as high as they were in the 1980s. But that doesn’t matter to Rod Stewart! At his concert in the sold-out ÖVB Arena on Sunday, the British rock and pop musician dances, hops and swings so hard to believe that he celebrated his 80th birthday in January. Stewart is living proof that music keeps you young. The organisers could almost have done without the chairs in the interior of the ÖVB Arena. There’s hardly any sitting here’

And the writers didn’t miss a thing. They noticed the many green and white Celtic jerseys in the audience. ‘In Bremen, of course, this is well received,’ wrote the “Weser Kurier” in reference to the club colours of Werder Bremen. After ‘Hot Legs’, Sir Rod calls a hearty ‘Good night’ into the arena and the curtain closes for good. The fans make their way home, energised. ‘That was great’ is heard again and again in the corridors as you walk past beaming faces. ‘This is exactly what a successful concert evening looks like,’ summarises the “Weser Kurier”.

Setlist Bremen
1 Tonight I’m Yours

2 Havin’ A Party

3 It’s A Heartache

4 It Takes Two

5 You Wear It Well

6 Some Guys Have All The Luck

7. The First Cut Is The Deepest

8 Tonight’s The Night

9 Forever Young

10 Young Turks

11 Maggie May

12 I’d Rather Go Blind

13 Lady Marmalade (Band only)

14 Baby Jane

15 I Don’t Want To Talk About It

16 If You Don’t Know Me By Now

17 Proud Mary (Band only)

18 Da Ya Think I’m Sexy

19 Sailing

20 Stay With Me

21. Hot Legs

After the show Rod was presented with a SV Werder Bremen football shirt

​Windy Town

Penny was back in the UK attending Aiden’s football match on Sunday morning looking very Brigitte Bardot!

Plac Dwóch Miast 1 Sopot, Poland

Tuesday saw the band arrive for the first of two dates in Poland, Rod went out into the city before his concert in Krakow and visited Floriańska Street, where he visited the iconic hat shop run by 84-year-old Maria Lipka.

Maria’s granddaughter Joanna told SMILER “Rod visited my Grandma’s shop and it is big chance for her to have more visitors😊 she’s 84 and still working in her shop🤩” Maria has been running the millinery shop for sixty years and says “she dressed half of Krakow”.

Rod chose a classic flat cap for himself. Joanne also told reporters “When trying on hats, he joked that he had a big head and that few hats would fit him. What he chose from us suited his lush hair very well” So if you are visiting Krakow and want a hat like Rod’s you know where to go.

Unfortunately for long time SMILER member John Rafferty the new hat gave Rod a good disguise John told SMILER on Wednesday ” I Just came out of the Schindler’s Factory but didn’t spot Rod who was apparently behind us with his new hat on and dressed in a fishing jumper and scarf “

SMILER Marc Baulisch -Steines was on hand to get more exclusive shots, and here is a review of the night by Martin Heidt

A celebration of music and memories: Rod Stewart in Gdansk

After eight years, Sir Rod Stewart returned to Gdansk – for the last time? – he returned to Gdansk. For the first time since 2017, the Brit played in the Ergo Arena again and his Polish fans were all there. Young and old – they were all there. 11,000 fans made the arena, which opened in 2010, burst at the seams. And Sir Rod was once again in a great mood.

Some of the visitors were still loitering around the drinks stands when loud Scottish bagpipe music from the loudspeakers announced the start of the show. People quickly rushed to their seats and then the lights went out and the red curtain with the striking lettering ‘Let the good times roll’ rose to the sound of ‘Tonight I’m Yours’.

Rod immediately danced across the stage and got the crowd in the arena fired up from the very first minute. The evening really got going with ‘Havin’ A Party’ and by the time Bonnie Tyler’s classic “It’s A Heartache” was played, nobody was sitting in their seat.

‘The packed hall pulsated with emotion,’ noted the online news portal “gdansk.naszemiasto.pl”. With ‘It Takes Two’, ‘You Wear It Well’, ‘Ooh La La’ and ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’, the 80-year-old continued to really push the envelope and seemed to give the audience and himself no rest.

Only then did he slow down a little with ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ and ‘Tonight’s The Night’, and the dancing, celebrating and no longer very young audience thanked him by singing along to the songs with great confidence. ‘A unique celebration of music’, summarised gdansk.naszemiasto.pl. “The artist radiated endless energy and inspired with his charisma and his voice”.
‘Forever Young’, Rod picked up the pace again with this song and followed it up with the next rock hits “Young Turks” and “Maggie May”.
‘Rod Stewart enchanted the audience,’ wrote Gdansk.pl, describing the performance of “I’d Rather Go Blind” as one of the most emotional highlights of the evening. Stewart clearly enjoyed the reaction of his fans and followed up with ‘Downtown Train’, ‘Baby Jane’ and ‘Rhythm Of My Heart’. For the latter, he showed the familiar images of the Ukrainian flag and President Selenskiy on the large screens – the solidarity with Ukraine went down well with the Polish fans and received a lot of applause.

During ‘I Dont Want To Talk About It’, the audience once again proved their confidence with the lyrics, while ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ has always been one of the highlights of a Rod Stewart concert in recent weeks. This was also the case in Danzig. During ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’, Sir Rod once again took a dip in the crowd and shook several hands in front of the stage, his marvellous female singers in tow.

The first sounds of ‘Sailing’ slowly signalled the end of the evening. The curtain then lowered for the first time, but rose once more and Rod Stewart ended his performance just as he had begun it. With power, speed and his 1970s hits ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Hot Legs’.

‘Rod Stewart proved that he is still capable of captivating the audience and delivering an unforgettable experience. This concert will certainly be remembered by all those present for a long time to come,’ summarised “gdansk.naszemiasto.pl”.
After a day’s break, Sir Rod will also perform in Krakow on Thursday. And may then welcome one or two – perhaps already – familiar faces in the audience. ‘Sir Rod is simply gigantic, I could watch one of his concerts every night,’ says Jakub from Gdansk. And Michal from Warsaw agreed: ‘It was a fantastic evening. It was a shame that it was over after just under two hours. For me, seeing Rod Stewart live is Christmas’.

Setlist Danzig:

1 Tonight I’m Yours

2 Havin’ A Party

3 It’s A Heartache

4 It Takes Two

5 You Wear It Well

6 Ohh La La

7 Some Guys Have All The Luck

8 The First Cut Is The Deepest

9 Tonight’s The Night

10 Forever Young

11 Young Turks

12 Maggie May

13 I’d Rather Go Blind

14 Downtown Train

15 Baby Jane

16 Rhythm Of My Heart

17 I Don’t Want To Talk About It

18 Lady Marmalade

19. if You Don’t Know Me By Now

20 Da Ya Think I’m Sexy

21 Sailing

22 Stay With Me (Encore)

23 Hot Legs (Encore)

Tauron Arena Krakow, Stanisława Lema 7, Kraków, Poland .

On Thursday the second show in Poland was another party night and SMILER‘s John Rafferty was up front to get some fantastic photos and here is the review from Martin Heidt

Rod Stewart in Krakow: The fans took a long time to get going​
​Countless cult hits, world-famous anthems or even the most popular party songs are no guarantee that you can always wrap your audience around your little finger. Sir Rod Stewart had to learn this from his performance yesterday in Krakow, Poland.

At his second appearance in Poland in just a few days, the audience in the Tauron Arena was slow to get going. This may also have been due to the fact that the start of the show was delayed. Instead of starting at 6 pm as originally planned, the red curtain (Let the good times roll) in front of the stage didn’t rise until 8 pm. In view of the almost two-hour delay, some of the 18,000 visitors were probably a little annoyed and didn’t let the two opening songs ‘Tonight I’m Yours’ and ‘Havin’ A Party’ get them in the mood.

The mood then improved noticeably when Sir Rod didn’t stop belting out his hits: ‘It’s A Heartache’ and ‘It Takes Two’ broke the ice, with ‘You Wear It Well’, ‘Ooh La La’ and ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’ almost everyone in the packed arena was up to speed and the evening picked up speed.

The setlist remained almost unchanged compared to the gig in Gdansk on Tuesday. Only the end of the show was slightly altered by Sir Rod. ‘Stay With Me’ and “Hot Legs” made it into the “normal” evening programme. After ‘Sailing’, the curtain came down, only to rise again for the only encore, ‘Sweet Little Rock’n’Roller’.

The Polish media still paid homage to the 80-year-old, despite the slight dip in spirits at the beginning. ‘Stewart triggered a dance frenzy and standing ovations with his hits,’ wrote the news portal “Wolne Media”. ‘The evening was a nostalgic journey through hits and strong cover versions’.

The online news magazine ‘Krakow Naszemiasto’ stated: ‘The energy that filled the arena that evening was incredible. It was hard to believe that Rod Stewar is already 80 years old’.

The fans and media also responded very favourably to Stewart’s support for Ukraine. ‘Rod Stewart, who performed in a yellow and blue outfit, sang ‘Rhythm of my heart’ and moving photos from the front were shown on the screens,’ emphasised “Krakow Naszemiasto” and reported on an “incredibly dynamic” show. ‘Sir Rod Stewart thrilled the audience with his energy and his unmistakable, always powerful voice. The band complemented him perfectly – the beautiful female crew proved to be just as musically talented,’ the paper summarised.

Setlist Krakow:

1 Tonight I’m Yours

2 Havin’ A Party

3 It’s A Heartache

4 It Takes Two

5 You Wear It Well

6 Ooh La La

7 Some Guys Have All The Luck

8. The First Cut Is The Deepest

9 Tonight’s The Night

10 Forever Young

11 Young Turks

12 Maggie May

13 I’d Rather Go Blind

14 Lady Marmalade (Band only)

15 Baby Jane

16 Rhythm Of My Heart

17 I Don’t Wan’t To Talk About It

18 if You Don’t Know Me By Now

19 Proud Mary (Band only)

20 Da Ya Think I’m Sexy

21 Stay With Me

22 Hot Legs

23 Sailing

24 Sweet Little Rock’n’Roller (Encore)

Ocean

Penny and Alastair attended the world premiere of Sir David Attenborough’s new documentary – Ocean – on Tuesday evening

King Charles greeted Sir David Attenborough at the screening. The film will delve into how the world’s oceans have changed over the course of 100 years, with Sir David noting that there has been a catastrophic decline in life, warning that we are ‘almost out of time’.

Cara and Poppy Delevingne, James Blunt and Geri Halliwell Horner were among the guests joining Penny and Alastair.

Later speaking to the Daily Mail Alastair “I was attending that fashion college, but I’ve left now,” referring to the three-year undergraduate degree course in fashion design that he began at JCA London Fashion Academy in autumn last year.

“I’m in a bit of a transitional period at the moment,” He continued. “I’m trying to get into the film industry, and I want to follow my passion. I’ve made a few short plays, I write a lot of scripts, and I write a lot of screenplays.”

Rod’s Sold Out Award

Martin Heidt reports on Rod’s latest award..

The venue was packed: Rod Stewart is honoured with an award in Dortmund

Sir Rod Stewart made a guest appearance in Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle a few days ago to kick off his German concerts this year. And everyone wanted to see the superstar, who has announced that he wants to end his major tours after this year and take a step back, once again.
15,380 visitors made the pilgrimage to the Westfalenhalle last Saturday and turned the evening into a night that will not soon be forgotten. The organiser announced a few days before the concert: ‘We’re sold out!
The Westfalenhalle was filled to capacity and the 80-year-old music legend was honoured with the Westfalenhalle Sold Out Award. Before the show, the award was presented to him by Rainer Schüler, the director of the Westfalenhalle.
The Westfalenhalle Sold-Out Award has been presented since 2001 and goes to artists who have sold out the Westfalenhalle with their show. The list of musicians who have received this award in recent years includes such names as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helene Fischer, Die Toten Hosen, DJ Bobo, Herbert Grönemeyer and Udo Lindenberg. Special TV events such as ‘Let’s dance’ or ‘Schlagerboom’ have also been honoured with the Sold Out Award.

Rod On TV

On Saturday 17th May Sky Arts will be showing Jeff Beck: Still on the Run 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

The life history of the musical maverick offering an overview of Beck’s output, including his days with the Yardbirds, which brought him to the US for the first time, and The Jeff Beck Group, whose first incarnation included Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart. Featuring interviews with Beck, Wood and Stewart as well as an array of his peers and collaborators, including Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Slash and Joe Perry

Jeff Beck: Still on the Run airs on Sky Arts at 9:00 PM, Saturday 17 May. 

What’s On

Faces fans in the Warrington area get a chance to catch the brilliant Blind Horse in July

Blind Horse re-imagining the music of The Small Faces, Faces, Ronnie Lane and early Rod Stewart

And Finally..

Anyone going to Unipol Forum, Milan, Italy tomorrow or MEO Arena, Lisboa, Portugal on Tuesday have a great time and please send us any thoughts and photos from the shows for next weeks news

See you next week…