Main photo by George Bekris
Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville
It was a Friday night party in Uncasville for everyone who attended the show, Scott Medeiros and Doreen Staufenberg was on hand to get us some great photos we also have the thoughts of Martin Heidt
Scott was at the show with his mom and got a great photo with Sir Rod
Rod Stewart in Uncasville: An event for all generations
With temperatures reaching nearly 30 degrees Celsius and perfect summer weather, concertgoers were already eagerly anticipating superstar Rod Stewart’s show on Friday as they made their way to the sold-out Mohegan Sun Arena.
And the approximately 10,000 visitors were not disappointed. Sir Rod delivered the best in musical entertainment during the nearly two-hour show. It goes without saying that the 80-year-old, who has been one of the biggest names in the music business since the 1960s, can string together one hit after another in his show and does so regularly.
In Uncasville, he chose ‘Tonight I’m Yours’ as the opener for the evening – certainly one of the best choices if you want to get your fans going right from the first song.
Instead of the Bonnie Tyler classic ‘It’s A Heartache,’ he followed up with the CCR smash ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain’ and then continued to ramp up the party mood. ‘Havin’ A Party’ not only became the motto of the evening, but the song, which is not actually available as a studio version in Stewart’s repertoire, also got the last party poopers on their feet and turned the arena into a temple of joy.
As usual, the song pattern alternated between powerful, dance-inducing hits and gentle ballads, during which the singer allowed himself and his fans a short break to catch their breath.
The star and his fans are mostly getting on in years, even though the audience in Uncasville was quite mixed. Grandchildren danced with their grandparents, children and parents sang along at the top of their voices. A Rod Stewart concert is a cross-generational event that caters to all age groups. The audience, young and old alike, was transported on a two-hour trip through the heyday of sex, drugs and rock “n” roll. At one point, a bra was thrown onto the stage, which Sir Rod attached to guitarist Emerson Swinford’s instrument to the amusement of everyone, where it dangled merrily.
As for the set list, we already noted the change from ‘It’s A Heartache’ to ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain’ at the beginning, and the songs ‘Gasoline Alley’ and ‘The Killing Of Georgie’ also crept into the programme. Both songs from the 1970s are insider tips at a Stewart show and are absolute live favourites, especially among fans. This was confirmed again last night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
At the end, Rod and the band left the stage satisfied, and the audience happily made their way home or treated themselves to a nightcap in the city’s cafés and pubs. Singing along constantly makes you thirsty, after all.
Photographer George Bekris also got some stunning shots including our main photograph
Set list:
- Tonight I’m Yours
- Have You Ever Seen The Rain
- It Takes Two
- Havin’ A Party
- The First Cut Is The Deepest
- Tonight’s The Night
- Forever Young
- Ooh La La
- Young Turks
- Maggie May
- Gasoline Alley
- I’d Rather Go Blind
- Stay With Me
- Lady Marmalade (band only)
- Mandolin Wind
- You’re In My Heart
- Have I Told You Lately
- Proud Mary (band only)
- Love Train
- The Killing Of Georgie
- Da Ya Think I’m Sexy
- Hot Legs
- Some Guys Have All The Luck
Xfinity Center, Mansfield
On Saturday the show came to Mansfield Joanne E. Hamilton and Cheryl Aylward got some fabulous photos to capture the evening and here are the thoughts of Martin Heidt..
Xfinity Center celebrates Sir Rod: This evening had a sense of eternity.
The day before yesterday in Uncasville, yesterday in Mansfield, and in two days in Charlotte – the Rod Stewart Express is travelling at top speed across the United States, leaving enthusiastic and delighted fans wherever it stops.
One Last Time is the name of this year’s tour. And you get the feeling that this last time actually means infinity. Because no one, really no one, who has attended a Rod Stewart concert in recent days and weeks can really imagine that this man, with all the fun, all the power and the obvious enjoyment he gives not only his audience but also himself, is really on his last big tour.
In Mansfield, a town of just under 24,000 inhabitants in the US state of Massachusetts, Sir Rod jumped around the stage like a youngster, joked with the audience, threw his microphone stand into the air and did what he has been doing best for over 60 years: he delivered hit after hit to the 20,000 or so visitors, encouraged the audience to sing along and enjoyed watching the sometimes somewhat awkward dance attempts of his fans celebrating in front of him from his stage.
Rod Stewart 2025 – it’s always a big party where young and old celebrate until they drop and then head home exhausted from all the dancing and singing.
What can you do when the singer kicks off his two-hour show with musical hits like ‘Infatuation’ and ‘Tonight I’m Yours’? Who can really sit still?
Songs like ‘It’s A Heartache’ by Bonnie Tyler and ‘Havin’ A Party’ also get the audience going, of course. The same goes for ‘Young Turks’, ‘Maggie May’ and the old Faces classics ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Ooh La La’.
Some older concertgoers may be glad that Rod Stewart was and still is a master of ballads and sentimental songs. In Mansfield, too, songs such as ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’, ‘You’re In My Heart’ and ‘Have I Told You Lately’ crept into the programme, allowing fans to give their dance-weary feet a little break every now and then.
Rod Stewart 2025 – that’s around two hours of fun, good vibes and a magnificent show paired with the best music from over six decades. And it’s no wonder that at the end of the concert, most of the audience wished that the evening would never end and that it wasn’t One Last Time with Sir Rod after all.
Set list:
- Infatuation
- Tonight I’m Yours
- It’s A Heartache
- Havin’ A Party
- It Takes Two
- The First Cut Is The Deepest
- Tonight’s The Night
- Forever Young
- Ooh La La
- Young Turks
- Rhythm Of My Heart
- Maggie May
- I’d Rather Go Blind
- Stay With Me
- Lady Marmalade (Band only)
- Mandolin Wind
- You’re In My Heart
- Have I Told You Lately
- Proud Mary (Band only)
- Love Train
- Da Ya Think I’m Sexy
- Hot Legs
- Some Guys Have All The Luck
PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte
On Tuesday it was the turn of Charlotte One More Time and regular contributor Roland Macher and Lori Brevic Moran were at the show and we also have the thoughts of Martin Heidt
Hot Stuff..Rod Stewart really got Charlotte fired up
It was one of those hot and humid July evenings in North Carolina when, despite the uncomfortable air temperatures, around 15,000 people in the city of over 900,000 inhabitants made their way to the PNC Music Pavilion. None other than superstar Sir Rod Stewart had invited them to a two-hour show – packed with rock, roll and pop from over six decades. Among them was reporter Theoden Janes from the Charlotte Observer, who will have his say a few times in the course of this review.
The journalist, who has been reporting on all kinds of cultural events for his newspaper for almost 20 years, asked himself a question at the beginning: “What do you get when you put an 80-year-old former heartthrob with a penchant for Vegas-style showmanship, attractive young blonde women and deceased colleagues in front of about 15,000 people? – a) great fun b) a hopeless mess c) a sobering reminder of the mortality of our heroes d) all of the above.
The writer should find his answer pretty quickly, without any jokers. Because as soon as Sir Rod took to the stage and kicked off the evening with his hits ‘Infatuation’ and ‘Tonight I’m Yours,’ it was clear from the very first chord that the audience was having a great time.
Rod rocked his heart out, regardless of the heat and the sweat running down his face. A true professional who doesn’t let things like that throw him off his game.
And the audience thanked him for it, reaching operating temperature after just a few moments and dancing and singing to the best of their ability.
Our roving reporter Theoden Janes was also impressed. “It was great fun, mainly because Sir Rod simply refuses to behave his age. He appeared under the rising curtain, held his microphone stand above his head, had his Mr. Darcy-like white shirt unbuttoned below his sternum, swung his arms, moved his wrists, shook his bum and flirted with the audience in the front row while singing his hot hit “Infatuation”,” he wrote.
And that’s exactly how it continued. Rod dropped to one knee with ‘a quick, dramatic movement, … hopped across the stage with surprising liveliness and … while playing “Ooh La La” by his old band Faces, he jumped up the steps of the stage, only to strike a classic rock star pose at the top; that too made the fans scream.’
Janes, who has seen a lot in his time as a reporter, couldn’t help but ask the obvious question: ‘Did I mention that the man is already 80 years old?’ There was no sign of that in the sweltering heat of North Carolina.
Sir Rod defied the high temperatures and still refrained from wearing summery stage outfits, for which the Observer writer demanded great respect. ‘He would always wear that double-breasted jacket with horizontal stripes over a polka dot shirt and pinstriped trousers; he would always wear that canary yellow top with pleated, wide-cut, electric blue trousers; he would always wear the various other outfits that weren’t exactly summer-appropriate that he wore on Tuesday night,’ Janes admired.
The reporter also highlighted Rod’s tributes to deceased music greats such as Christine McVie, Tina Turner and Ozzy Osbourne in his article. During the first verse and chorus of ‘Forever Young,’ AI-generated videos were played on the big screen showing Ozzy taking cheerful selfies in ‘heaven’ with a number of deceased musicians: Prince, Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, George Michael, Juice WRLD, Kurt Cobain, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, 2Pac, David Bowie and several others.
‘Very sad. Many of these people died because of drugs,’ Stewart said sombrely to the audience as he reflected on the images. Then his expression brightened and he added, ‘But I’m still here!’
Thunderous applause from the audience and a journalist who finally answered his initial question with option C, remembering the mortality of our heroes. But that didn’t change the fact that Sir Rod’s performance in Charlotte was also great fun for him, Theoden Janes from the Charlotte Observer.
Set List:
1. “Infatuation”
2. “Tonight I’m Yours (Don’t Hurt Me)”
3. “It’s a Heartache”
5. “It Takes Two”
6. “The First Cut Is the Deepest”
7. “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)”
8. “Forever Young”
9. “Ooh La La”
10. “Young Turks”
11. “Maggie May”
12. “I’d Rather Go Blind”
13. “Downtown Train”
14. “Lady Marmalade”
15. “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”
16. “You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)”
17. “Have I Told You Lately”
18. “Proud Mary”
19. “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”
20. “Hot Legs”
Encore:
21. “Some Guys Have All the Luck”
Dear Rod…An Apology By Paolo Hewitt
Review By Mike Walton
First of all I really enjoyed reading this short book by Paolo Hewitt, Rod and The Faces were hugely important to Paolo in the early 70s. At that time he lived in a children’s home and Paolo explains in the book how Rod’s music really helped him through some tough times
But in 1983 Paolo interviewed Rod for NME and ended up writting a scathing article, in his own words ” I wrote the standard Rod piece which was.. used to be great but he’s no value whatsoever.” Rod told SMILER founder John Gray at the time that he was deeply hurt by the article and even called out the NME live on stage in Birmingham and as a result Rod refused to speak to the NME or any other music press apart from SMILER for many years.
Paolo says he personally was really hurt by Rod’s actions and thought it was totally his fault because the fact was he couldn’t tell Rod what he meant to him as he was very shy and was very inward as a product of his upbringing. It always rankled Paolo that he upset Rod and looking back wishes he had honoured him, he didn’t give him what he should’ve given him so when he got the chance to do this chat Book, it occurred to him that this was a very good way of apologising.
That said Paolos thoughts are very interesting his thoughts on a young Rod are just like many long time fans and are spot on but he still manages to keep his NME reviewer thoughts alive with his comments on the albums Smiler and Atlantic Crossing although it would spoil it for you if I told you what he says about them and it’s not all bad, I am sure fans can decide for themselves if they agree or disagree, Unfortunately his thoughts on the first Rod Stewart Group are way off and I am pretty sure nobody in this group will agree with them.
I think most fans of Rod love to talk about his music and all have slightly different views and favourite albums, and if this is you, I am sure you will enjoy reading this chat book that was wrote with a real affection for its subject .
At £3.50 ‘Dear Rod…An Apology’ is cheaper and a far more interesting read than anything else on sale at the moment and is already on the high demand list so don’t miss it.
And after you read this book watch out for Paolo Hewitt in conversation with John Gray and Neil Webb in the next edition of SMILER magazine.
To buy your copy of the book go to https://www.sorrentobooks.co.uk/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLuHq1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFTenlpZzdLU1diSHlHdDVoAR7aH3LoR3mSMG3FKHEMY5sIkSWwA7UCHUxltSewNrmGUtxpjOxt9C6-DQNblg_aem_eBjDyJWhlXUv-vz4ew5iCw
Rod Stewart Radio
Have you been listening to Rod Stewart Radio yet?
You can listen to the station on laut.fm, radio.de or phonostar.de. Phonostar even has a recording function, but you have to create a free account to use it.
Every Monday from 8pm until 10pm Cest Wunschliste is on Rod Radio.
30 to 40 songs in two hours. So Martin Heidt needs to compile a list of the favourite songs of SMILER members
Wunschliste is broadcasting only songs that Rod fans would like to hear so send the name of your favourite to [email protected]
US Members Big Comp
Rod Stewart’s final performances in Las Vegas: Win tickets and a voucher for 3 October
Attention Rod fans in the United States! US radio station SiriusXM is giving away a trip to Sir Rod Stewart’s Las Vegas concert on 3 October at Caesars Palace to its listeners – and everyone else.
The winner and a companion will receive round-trip flights for two to Las Vegas, two nights’ hotel accommodation and two tickets to Rod Stewart: The Encore on 3 October 2025! PLUS, there’s a £200 voucher for dinner before the show!
Rod Stewart is returning to the Nevada desert for six concerts in September/October. The show on 4 October will mark the end of his 2012 guest performance series at Caesars Colosseum.
The competition runs until 20 August, so take your chance to experience Sir Rod live in Las Vegas once again.
Click here to enter the competition: https://www.siriusxm.com/rodstewartlasvegas
The Felix Project
Penny has pleaded with fans to help feed hungry children during the school holidays throwing her support behind The Felix Project, who supply needy and struggling families with food.
Penny wrote – Every week @thefelixproject provides food to over 170 schools across London, who then give it to parents to help them cover the costs of feeding their family. But what happens during the holidays?
Right now, schools are closed so that support is not there, and free school meals are also not available. It all adds up to extra financial pressures on family budgets, many of whom are already struggling. For these families and their children holidays equal hunger.
In London, Felix is doing all it can to help, with 50% of the community organisations they support experiencing increased demand during this time, they are stepping up and putting on hundreds of extra deliveries including to 28 schools who are staying open this summer!
But they need more support. Please donate to their summer appeal, £45 enables Felix to rescue enough food to feed three children throughout the school holiday. Help The Felix Project feed families and make holidays equal happiness not hunger!
https://www.facebook.com/thefelixproject
And Finally..
In an interview in The Sun this week Gregg Wallace responded to Rod’s comments about him, earlier in the year Rod posted on social media
He wrote: ‘So Gregg Wallace gets fired from Masterchef. Good riddance Wallace.
‘You humiliated my wife when she was on the celebrity version of the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you?
‘You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya. Sir Rod Stewart.’
And Gregs response ‘I’m actually a Rod Stewart fan.
‘I’ve been to see him twice. So that hurt me. Somebody like that carries a lot of weight. But there was no bullying and no harassing.’
We won’t be around next week but if anything big breaks we will make sure you find out and will be back with all the news and gossip the following week. so anyone attending Rod’s show tonight at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, Saturdays show at Coca-Cola Amphitheater, Birmingham, AL or Tuesdays show at Brandon Amphitheater, Brandon, MS or any of the shows the week after have a great time and please send in any photos or thoughts
See you soon…