Main photo Marc Baulisch -Steines
Krakow Poland
Lets kick off this week where we left off last week in Krakow Poland, Here are the Exclusive photos from SMILER photographer Marc Baulisch -Steines from Thursdays Tauron Arena Krakow show.
This Week’s Rod Art….Soundwaves Art
Soundwaves Art are bringing fans a second collection of soundwaves Rod art after the success of their sellout collection last time with Rod, they are bringing these two new artworks created from ‘Maggie May’ and ‘Sailing’. Rod was generous enough to sign 50 prints from each song while he was in Austin earlier this year.
These have been signed to support War Child UK and are extremely limited. Available to purchase now here: https://soundwavesartfoundation.com/collections/rod-stewart
Unipol Forum, Milan, Italy
On Saturday the tour rolled into Milan and Rod and Penny were based in the Villa d’Este Hotel in Lake Como
Maureen Davison bumped into Alastair at the show
Lars Knobbe was at the show and sent in some great shots, Lars also told SMILER “This was my 10th concert since 2007 and with my age of 28, I was surely one of the youngest in the audience. Dortmund was fantastic and Rod was in a fantastic mood. I was so happy to catch a signed ball – my first one ever! Although the shows were about 15 mins shorter than last year, it was an amazing and unforgettable experience!”
SMILER photographers Marc Baulisch -Steines and Stephen Brown were also at the show to capture more stunning exclusive shots and here is Stephen’s review of the night..Stephen also bumped inro Sax man Jimmy Roberts before the show and Jimmy recognised his SMILER badges!
It was my first time here, All the timimgs approximate except for show start 21.00..Bonkers drivers and parking. Our wardens would make triple annual bonus before first day morning brew.
Real shame graffiti is a real blight on the city but it has sufficient style and elegance on offer to placate this SMILER.. Enough about the ladies what about the show you oaf.
I thought it was a much better than Sweden..No maybes tonight a full show. the length of the show and it’s content, vigour and quality seems to vary with the atmosphere,
Vibe…This crowd was up for it. This is not the nicest arena but none of the band were holding back we got all they got.
You can predict the song list but we also got the new song Glasto rehearsal which went down very well everyone singing along. This confirms what many of us have thought that Rod could easily include a lot more variation without upsetting anyone.
For me Young Turks was the tops not a particular personal fav just thought everyone let rip. I thought they butchered the fast songs at the end last week in Sweden but tonight they all got full concentration including Sweet Little Rock n’ Roller’ which is one of my favorite songs.
Smilers can hear and see some of the weaknesss and have not hesitated to say so, with major gripes for some. .I didn’t like the current solo in Maggie May, Forever Young and Sailing would definitely go, Infatuation is a gentle opener and I like the Muddy Waters tribute both well delivered tonight.
Friend I have spoken to fear Glasto will be a show too far. On tonight’s showing maybe not so, The Sunday slots fanbase tend to show respect and he has Woody and Mick to help.
What always comes through is that strength of character and sense of fun loyalty and gratitude to fans. Tonight sent me away with a smile on my face and the people I spoke with after the show in my lanky Italian accent said the same. At least I thought they did.
And Here is the review from Martin Heidt..
Sir Rod Stewart continues to rock and roll through Europe and also proved in Lombardy that he is far from being an old fart.
The singer had been staying in the north of Italy since Friday and enjoyed his time with his travelling family until the show last Saturday evening and didn’t miss the opportunity to enjoy the last home game of his team Celtic FC at the hotel. As the newly crowned Scottish champions, the Hoops delivered a magnificent performance in their last home game of the season, beating Edinburgh’s Hibernian FC 3:1. The fanatical Celtic fan Stewart was not about to be left behind and put on another magnificent show on stage at the Unipol Forum in Milan that evening.
Almost 16,000 fans had come to see what was possibly the Brit’s last concert in the Italian fashion city. And the Italians, who are already very hot-blooded by nature, were fired up even more by Sir Rod right at the beginning.
At 8 p.m. sharp, ‘Infatuation’ kicked things off – yes, the song had made it back onto the setlist and into its ‘traditional’ position as concert opener. By ‘Tonight I’m Yours’ and ‘It’s A Heartache’ at the latest, there was no stopping the fans.
They danced, sang, hugged each other and simply celebrated a big party. And Sir Rod provided the party appetisers. ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’, ‘Rollin’ & Tumblin’’, ‘Rhythm Of My Heart’ and “ForeverYoung” – the singer put the pedal to the metal and then gave himself and the audience a short break to catch their breath with ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ and ‘Tonight’s The Night’.
But immediately afterwards they continued at high speed with ‘Young Turks’. During ‘Proud Mary’, which the band belted out to the audience, Sir Rod disappeared backstage for the first time, only to continue in a fresh outfit with ‘Maggie May’, ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ and ‘Baby Jane’.
‘Hot Stuff’ was then performed on stage and once again Rod returned in a new outfit to present his classic ‘I Don’t Want To Talk About It’, which the fans sang along to at the top of their voices and much to the Brit’s delight. This song, like ‘If You Don’t Me By Now’, is now a permanent fixture on the concert set lists this year and remains one of the big fan favourites at a Rod Stewart show.
With ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’, to which he again clapped off with the fans in the front row, Stewart then rang in the final phase of the evening. ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Hot Legs’ noticeably raised the party level once again before it slowly came to an end with ‘Sailing’. After the curtain had risen once more for one last song, Sir Rod came out with ‘Sweet Little Rock’n’Roller’, with which he said goodbye to his fans in Milan after almost two hours.
The Italian online music portal ‘Front Row’ spoke afterwards of a “majesty” who ‘made the Unipol Forum shine’. The numerous fans who didn’t even want to leave the Forum at the end of the show and then celebrated an after-show party in the city’s cafés, clubs and bars that was just as lavish as Rod’s in the Milan Forum.
1 infatuation
2 Tonight I’m Yours
3 It’s A Heartache
4 Some Guys Have All The Luck
5 Rollin’ & Tumblin’
6 Rhythm Of My Heart
Forever Young
8 The First Cut Is The Deepest
9 Tonight’s The Night
10 Young Turks
11 Proud Mary (Band only)
12 Maggie May
13 I’d Rather Go Blind
14 Baby Jane
15 Hot Stuff (Band only)
16 I Don’t Want To Talk About It
17 If You Don’t Know Me By Now
18 Da Ya Think I’m Sexy
19 Stay With Me
20 Hot Legs
21 Sailing
22 Sweet Little Rock’n’Roller (Encore)
After the show Rod revealed he was placed on vocal rest following his performance, He was seen alongside Penny in Italy wearing a sign around his neck that read: “Sorry. Cannot talk. Having vocal rest.” but don’t worry voice rest is a common prescription for singers to recover from fatigue,to prevent vocal cord damage and allow them to perform at peak ability during live shows.
And we end Milan with this great photo from Toby Hawker..Cheers!
Celtic Legends
On Monday Alastair was at Celtic Park to play in a charity match
Meanwhile Rod has backed a call from his fellow fans to adopt Rangers anthem ‘Simply The Best’ as a new Hoops song. The travelling fans sang the Tina Turner classic at Ibrox before the 1-1 Old Firm draw last weekend.
Rangers have used the 80s pop anthem as a walkout song for decades but last week Celtic fans took it off their old rivals by belting it out in the away end as the team arrived on field before the game. It’s led to calls by Rangers fans online to dump the tune and Celtic fans want Brendan Rodgers’ champions to use it for their end of season celebrations.
Rod said: “I’d like to think our dear rivals Rangers would allow Celtic FC and our fabulous supporters to borrow ‘Simply The Best’ for the league trophy presentation at Parkhead and the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden where we’ll hopefully seal yet another Treble.”
But he did add “Wind ups are what football rivalry is all about. So I hope all the lovely Rangers fans won’t be angry or upset. Please remember the words I’ve been repeating for many years now – Celtic NEED a strong Rangers...But come on, let’s be serious. Dear old Tina Turner was a close, personal friend.Should Barry Ferguson’s boys be running out to Simply The Best when they’re clearly not?”
MEO Arena, Lisboa, Portugal on Tuesday
On Tuesday the One More Time Tour arrived in Portugal , Luis Carlos did this superb design to welcome the band and Gilles Haeck was at the front and met Joanne and Holly
Lorna Aspin and Lynda Harrison managed to find a gang of Rods!!
And SMILER photographers Marc and Claudine Baulisch -Steines were at the last European show of this leg of the tour to bring us more exclusive shots
And here is the review from Martin Heidt..
Obrigado Lisboa! Sir Rod ends the first leg of his European tour in Portugal
Rod Stewart made a guest appearance in the sold-out MEO Arena in Lisbon on Tuesday evening – and impressively proved once again that his voice, charisma and showmanship have lost none of their radiance even at the end of the first part of his European tour.
In front of 20,000 enthusiastic fans, the British singer presented a set list that once again left nothing to be desired. From ‘Maggie May’ to ‘Forever Young’ and ‘Sailing’ – Stewart led the audience through the evening with charm and routine, taking them on another journey through his decades-long career. The fans thanked him with standing ovations, loud and confident sing-alongs and continuous euphoria. Sir Rod actually only made one notable change to the set list. Compared to the performance in Milan on Sunday, ‘Love Train’ slipped into the programme and replaced the encore ‘Sweet Little Rock’n’Roller’ and ‘Stay With Me’ on the musical bench.
Between songs, Stewart repeatedly addressed the audience, joked, told anecdotes – and enjoyed the walk through the audience to “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”, as he has always done in recent weeks, clapping with the fans, having his photo taken and simply radiating the good humour that has surrounded him for months. He is and remains a born entertainer.
“Sir Rod proved once again that he can still give great concerts. Nobody in the audience managed not to join in the celebrations,” commented the MEO Arena media department shortly after the end of the show. And the visitors raved about a magical night. “Can you believe this man is already 80 years old?” asked Alexandra Pola. “My mum is 83 and still fit. But Rod tops everything.” And Susana Mauricio added: “It was simply world class. An incredible performance.” Elisabete Pimentel added: “It’s unbelievable what kind of power the man still has.”
The rightly praised Sir Rod is now taking a two-week break before continuing with six more concerts in Las Vegas at the end of May – the start of a major concert tour through North America. The US tour will then continue into October, interrupted only by the appearance in the legends slot at the Glastonbury Festival in England on 29 June.
Setlist Lisbon:
Infatuation
Tonight I’m Yours
It’s A Heartache
Some Guys Have All The Luck
Havin‘ A Party
Forever Young
The First Cut Is The Deepest
Tonight’s The Night
Young Turks
Proud Mary (Band only)
Maggie May
I’d Rather Go Blind
Baby Jane
You’re In My Heart
I Don’t Want To Talk About It
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
Hot Stuff (Band only)
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy
Hot Legs
Sailing
Love Train (Encore)
During Da Ya Think I’m Sexy Rod stopped for a photo with Luis Carlos
Mission Impossible
On Thursday Rod Penny and Aiden attended the premier Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning in Leicester Square Gardens, London
They were joined by Penny’s brother Oliver and nephew Theo to watch the new Tom Cruise action film.
Rod Stewart Podcast
Martin Heidt has released the first in a series of Storyteller Rod fan podcasts
Check out the new Storyteller Rod online fan podcast at
[https://www.storyteller-rod-stewart.com/podcast](https://www.storyteller-rod-stewart.com/podcast)
And finally..
Rod’s Spring 2025 Tour has now ended as the last of the gear goes into the Stage Truck van
But it’s only two weeks from the next Vegas shows ..Any one going?..Will you send us any photo’s?..Cheers!
See you next week..