Photo: Rod with the miniature model of his band after the concert. © MIniaturwunderland/HamburgZwei
Leipzig Quarterback Immobilien Arena
On Friday night the party got a bit of a dampener as Rod was watching the score in Munich and Scotland were thrashed 5-1 by a superb German team
Marc and Claudine Baulisch -Steines were back on cameras for SMILER and Martin Heidt reports on the evening..
Scotland fan Rod has to endure a rough European Championship defeat and boos
One Last Time was also the motto in Leipzig last night – Rod Stewart presented 23 songs from his huge repertoire of megahits to his fans in the sold-out Quarterback Arene, ensuring a successful evening for the majority of the audience.
However, there was one incident during the two-hour show. As usual, Sir Rod had images of the war in Ukraine shown on the large LED screen during his song “Rhythm Of My Heart” and had dressed up in a suit in the colours of Ukraine especially for this song. “I am dressed in the Ukrainian colours and I would like to dedicate this song to the people of Ukraine and the Ukrainian army. F**k Putin!” Stewart shouted to the audience. The Brit had already taken a clear stance at the beginning of the war, calling for support for Ukraine and even rented a house in the UK for a family of Ukrainian refugees. He has dedicated “Rhythm Of My Heart” to the country in every concert since then.
In Leipzig, however, unlike in other cities on the tour, this commitment was anything but well received. It was followed by loud boos, which only died down after a while and were drowned out by cheers.
But Rod didn’t let this or the interim result from Munich, where his beloved Scottish national team lost 5-1 to Germany in the European Championship opener last night, really spoil his mood.
Rod delivered hit after hit in his usual confident manner and was in much better form than his Scottish footballers in Munich, some 430 kilometres away.
Shortly after 10 pm, just at the start of the second half in Munich – the score was still “only” 0:3 – Rod Stewart bid farewell to his fans in Leipzig with his classic “Sailing”.
Tonight, the Stewart troop is travelling to Berlin, where he will also be performing ONE LAST TIME in the sold-out Mercedes-Benz Arena. The concert starts at 8pm, followed by concerts in Hamburg, Cologne and Munich over the next few days.
After the show Rod told PA news agency “I have supported the Ukrainian people throughout this war,” while discussing the booing incident
“From arranging for members of my family to take supplies to the country, to renting a house in the UK for a Ukrainian family,” he said, adding, “So yes, I do support Zelensky and the people of Ukraine, and I will continue to do so.”
“I’m having the time of my life playing for German audiences, sharing some special memories, and I’m looking forward to playing my remaining dates here,”
Set List
- Intro
- Addicted To Love
- Wear It Well
- Havin’ A Party
- It’s A Heartache
- Tonight’s The Night
- Stay With Me
- Rollin’ & Tumblin’ (Muddy Waters cover)
- Forever Young
- The First Cut Is The Deepest
- Talk About It
- Maggie May
- Baby Jane
- I’d Rather Go Blind
- Young Turks
- Downtown Train
- I’m So Excited (Cover by The Pointer Sisters)
- Rhythm Of My Heart
- People Get Ready
- Have I Told You Lately (Van Morrisom cover)
- Lady Marmelade (cover by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk)
- It Takes Two
- Some Guys Have It All
Encore - Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?
- Sailing
While in Germany Rod sent a thank you message to the super-fan mayor of the German town hosting the Scotland team, The stunning Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria has become home for Steve Clarke’s for Euro 2024.
Mayor Elizabeth Koch, was buzzing for the arrival of the national team, as she revealed ahead of their stay how she was a huge Rod fan, and hoped he would pay her a visit during the tournament.
Rod joked about the team in his message asking Koch, also known as Sissy, to make sure the players behave themselves during their stay.
Rod said: “Sissy Koch, I hear your a big fan and the Scottish team are staying in your village during the Euros.
“Unfortunately the games because believe it or not I’m touring Germany. Tomorrow night I’m in Leipzig of all places.”
He then joked: “But look after the guys, make sure they go to bed early and don’t drink too much booze.”
He signed off by saying: “Hopefully I will see you one day, thank you bye. “
Mayor Koch previously revealed before the players arrived to her scenic alpine town that she had seen Rod four times live, she later recorded a video message for Rod in reply
Her short clip started with two men dressed in lederhosen, one playing a trumpet and the other playing a tuba, before she appeared on screen with a Scotland flag draped around her neck. She said: “Dear Sir Rod Stewart, thanks a lot for your video message. Have a look at the home far away from home for the Tartan Army. Be sure, we take care of the guys.
“And, by the way, we have a beautiful olympic ski stadium here, and it would be great for concerts – perhaps we’ll see you soon.”
Rod was serenaded by the two Germans in lederhosen before the video ended with the mayor and musicians clinking pints of beer together and saying “prost!”, which is German for ‘cheers’, before she held her glass aloft and said: “Cheers!”.
Berlin Uber Arena
Saturday night it was the turn of Berlin to see the show One More Time and SMILER photographers Marc and Claudine Baulisch -Steines got us more great shots of the evening and Martin Heidt reports on proceedings
Havin’ A Party: The German capital celebrates Rod Stewart
Superstar Rod Stewart’s appearances in the German capital are always among the highlights of the singer’s German tour – and so it was yesterday when the 79-year-old once again made a stop at the Uber Arena (formerly the Mercedes-Benz Arena) for the first time since 2019.
Stewart and his band once again had plenty of hits from the last few decades in their luggage. “I give people what they want to hear,” Sir Rod once said in an interview. And that includes such classics as “Maggie May”, “Baby Jane”, “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” or “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” and “Sailing”.
Among the 17,000 spectators in the completely sold-out arena was almost the entire Austrian national football team and coaching staff, who are having their base camp at the European Championships in Berlin. Coach Ralf Rangnick, an avowed fan of Stewart and his music, had managed to organise 30 tickets at the last minute – a special way of preparing for the Austrians’ first European Championship match against France in Düsseldorf on Monday.
It is not known whether the Austrian national coach sang along to the songs on Saturday evening as loudly as the rest of the fans in the Uber Arena. But the atmosphere was great – the audience and singers celebrated in high spirits throughout the evening. People danced to “Young Turks”, held each other in their arms during songs like “Tonight’s The Night” and showered Stewart and his once again fantastic musicians with thunderous applause. And this time there were no discordant notes like the day before in Leipzig, when Sir Rod announced his song “Rhythm of My Heart” dedicated to Ukraine and expressed his solidarity with the war-torn nation – “F*** Put in” he shouted again into the arena and approving applause rang out. In Leipzig, there were still boos. “The best audience we’ve had on this tour so far,” Rod Stewart complimented his fans from the stage, many of whom were once again dancing and singing in front of the stage in the green and white jersey of Celtic Glasgow. The shirt of the Scottish champions and cup winners has long been socially acceptable at Rod Stewart concerts – more and more people are really dressing up for Sir Rod.
Speaking of football, Sir Rod was in no doubt in Berlin that he had had to digest the bitter 5-1 defeat of his beloved Scottish national team against Germany the day before. The Brit was in a great mood on Saturday. A professional, from head to toe.
After around two hours, the evening came to an end and the fans left the arena in high spirits, many of them flocking to the neighbouring bars and pubs to round off the evening with a spontaneous after-show party.
While in Berlin Uber Arena presented rod with a hand-painted Berlin Buddy Bear
Scotland v Switzerland
Speaking to the Swiss media Rod warned them what to expect in Scotlands match …
“My tip for the game is we will teach Switzerland a footballing lesson. It would be great for me to go to the game, but I’m on tour and will be watching the games there.“
Scotland went head to head with Switzerland on Tuesday in the RheinEnergieStadion stadium, Cologne city, Germany. They put in a much better performance than in the opening game and drew 1-1 Scott McTominay scored for Scotland and X. Shaqiri for Switzerland leaving Scotland with everything to play for against Hungary on Sunday.
Lodz Atlas Arena
The tour arrived in Poland on Tuesday and here is the night in pictures from SMILER photographers Marc and Claudine Baulisch -Steines
Phil Manzanera OBE
Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera has become an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). The English songwriter and record producer was mentioned in the King’s Birthday Honours List for his services to music on Friday. Phil recently worked on the Rod and Jools Holland album Swing Fever
Royal Ascot
On Tuesday Penny attended Ascot Racecourse and thanked @victoriacharlesheadpieces for her beautiful feather headpiece. adding ‘I’m glad I spent the time making my floral parasol, it went down a treat.
This week’s Rod Art
This week’s Rod art was sent in by Leanne Edermaniger who was impressed by two arty personalised presents her mum Jackie Birchmore received for her birthday.
First up is a fantastic Rod inspired denim jacket by Nu-Tee (i am frank beard) that will look stunning at any Rod concert!!
And second up is a gem of an idea, A Wolfies bottle lamp by Chris Mears ..How cool is this Wolfies bottle [A work of art in it’s self] topped of with a Stewart tartan shade
We think this is amazing, Have you done anything with your empty..Or full Wolfie’s bottle? If you have send us your pictures and we will show Aimee and Duncan from Wolfie’s so they can see what you have been up to.
Hamburg Barclays Arena
On Thursday Rod arrived in Hamburg for his show at Barclays Arena Here are Martin Heidt’s thoughts on the show..
Rod Stewart in Hamburg: No Rod, no party
This man is simply unbreakable. In the sold-out Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Sir Rod presented the 18th concert of his European tour in the last five weeks: A programme that very few musicians are able to bring to the concert stage these days.
The first fans arrived at the arena hours before the concert and waited in great anticipation for the show to begin. Sir Rod wasn’t even in town yet. He arrived in the Hanseatic city in the late afternoon in a great mood and eagerly signed autographs for the fans waiting at the airport before travelling into the city by van. Long-time fan Holger from Berlin was also there, to whom his idol signed his LP TEARS OF HERCULES and who was also able to take a few photos.
Perhaps it was the proximity to a football stadium – the Barclaycard Arena is right next to the Volksparkstadion of the HSV, which is also a European Championship venue – that put the big football fan Rod Stewart in such a good mood on the Elbe.
Shortly before 8pm, an intro from “Scotland The Brave” announced the start of the show. The Hamburger Abendblatt commented appropriately and humorously: “An intro where you expect 11,000 Scottish football fans to march in and drink all your beer”. No Scotland (Rod), no party, you might think.
But then Rod came on stage and immediately got going with his fantastic band, quite unlike the Scottish national team last Friday in the first European Championship match against Germany.
It started with ADDICTED TO LOVE, then Rod worked his way through his hits from the past six decades. It was one hit after another, with Sir Rod occasionally taking the obligatory breaks for a costume change. Then his female singers took over the stage and kept the audience entertained with I’M EVERY WOMAN by Chaka Khan and Donna Summer’s HOT STUFF. It was not revealed whether Rod also watched a few minutes of the European Championship evening match between Spain and Italy backstage. If you’re such an absolute football fan, you naturally want to keep up to date with what’s happening on the pitch. During the show, Rod also remembered two recently deceased artists. In memory of Fleetwood Mac singer Christine McVie, he played I’D RATHER GO BLIND, and for TINA TURNER he performed the song IT TAKES TWO, which he recorded with her in 1991. After around two hours, Sir Rod ended the show with the two encores DA YA THINK I’M SEXY and SAILING and sent 11,000 party people home happy.
Backstage, however, things continued for Sir Rod. The 79-year-old was delighted to receive a visit from his former saxophonist Katja Rieckermann, who is currently visiting her family in Germany and didn’t miss the opportunity to visit her former boss in Hamburg and enjoy the show.
And the Hamburg Miniaturwunderland also gave him an unusual gift. In cooperation with Radio station Hamburg Zwei the museum had made a miniature model of Sir Rod and his band in the run-up to the concert and in his honour – in reference to Rod’s love of model trains and in memory of his visit to Miniaturwunderland in the Hanseatic city in 2013. This special gift was presented to Sir Rod backstage after the show and it goes without saying that the passionate model railway fan and hobbyist received the model with shining eyes and was absolutely delighted with this unusual and special gift.[See main photo]
Setlist Hamburg (20/6/2024)
Addicted To Love
You Wear It Well
Ooh La La
Havin’ A Party
Tonight’s The Night
Rollin’ & Tumblin’
Forever Young
First Cut Is The Deepest
I Don’t Want To Ralk About It
Maggie May
I’d Rather Go Blind
Young Turks
Downtown Train
It’s A Heartache
Handbags & Gladrags
Reason To Believe
First Cut Is The Deepest
Downtown Train
I’m Every Woman
Rhythm Of My Heart
Reason To Believe
Handbags & Gladrags
Have I Told You Lately
Hot Stuff
Baby Jane
It Takes Two
Some Guys Have All The Luck
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy
Sailing
Check back next week for photos from the show from Marc Baulisch -Steines
And Finally..
Anyone attending Budapest MVM Dome tomorrow, Cologne Lanxess Arena on Tuesday or Zurich Hallenstadion on Thursday have a great party and please send in any thoughts or photos ..we also hope your team wins in the Euros, So cheers and see you next week.
