Main photo Claudine Baulisch -Steines
Lucca Piazza Napoleone
On Suday the European tour ended in Italy Our team of Marc and Claudine Baulisch -Steinesand, Martin Heidt and SMILER Issue 103’s cover boy Daniel Beirne were back in action
And here are Martin’s thoughs..
Rod Stewart enchants Lucca and ends his European tour in Tuscany
Around 8,000 visitors to the Piazza Napoleone in the Tuscan city of Lucca gave Sir Rod Stewart’s tour showdown a worthy setting – with 22 songs in just under two hours, the 79-year-old singer bid farewell to the stages of Europe. The tour had began on 11 May in Antwerp.
“I’m really looking forward to playing in Italy again,” said Rod in the run-up to the concert. The singer last performed on an Italian stage in January 2018.
Unlike at most concerts in the weeks before, Stewart opened the evening at the Lucca Summer Festival with INFATUATION and, after the Bonnie Tyler hit IT’S A HEARTACHE, also added the Sam Cooke classic TWISTIN’ THE NIGHT AWAY, followed by THIS OLD HEART OF MINE.
After that, however, there were no further changes to the setlist. ROLLIN’ AND TUMBLIN’, FOREVER YOUNG, MAGGIE MAY and YOUNG TURKS really fired up the 8,000, who also sang along to ballads such as TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT and I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.
The weather held, the mood rose from song to song and Rod once again created a big party in the city of 88,000. To round off the two-hour concert, Sir Rod performed his classics BABY JANE, DA YA THINK I’M SEXY and SAILING.
Many of the concertgoers wished that the tour’s slogan ONE LAST NIGHT TIME wasn’t to be taken literally. The online portal Lucca Indiretta registered the standing ovations that Rod repeatedly received throughout the evening. His songs all come from the “paradise of contemporary music”, according to the magazine. “Many older hits, plus a few cover versions – the concert in Lucca was a continuous crescendo with which Sir Rod lit up the piazza and gave the city an unforgettable evening”.
La Nazione magazine also covered the Brit’s performance and noted how much fun Rod once again had on stage: “There’s that unmistakable style of Sir Rod and that damn happy voice,” the magazine wrote, adding: “He’s one of those artists that absolutely everyone recognises. The concert was seated, but when Rod started singing his first songs, jumping out of your seat and dancing was inevitable”.
After the show Rod was presented with a tribute from the San Guido Estate
And was also presented with a U-BOAT watch, U-BOAT is an official partner of Lucca Summer Festival , Italo Fontana had the opportunity to meet and personally congratulate Sir Rod and present him with a personalised Darkmoon watch from Italo, with a dedication on the dial to “Sir Rod,” which he immediately put on his wrist.
And we leave Italy with a shot of Rod in Holiday mode from Penny
This week’s Rod Art
Not really a Rod Art this week, but it would be well worth hanging on your wall if you owned it..
The little known Weeley Festival took place in August 1971, Held just outside Weeley, which is on the single-track branch-line to the Essex seaside town of Walton-on-the-Naze, Someone on the local Round Table suggested giving the annual Donkey Derby a rest. Perhaps, he mused, one or two pop bands could be invited to play a concert and the proceeds be donated to charity. And so it began for the little Essex village of Weeley with a population of 951, a venture that would grab the headlines in every newspaper in the country. The festival organisers anticipated an audience of 5000 but due to a late cancellation of the Isle of White Festival an estimated 150,000 turned up!
The following week The NME carried the headline ‘Weeley – A One Group Festival. And that was The Faces!’ Indeed, the Faces stormed the festival, Rod wore a pink silk suit and kept the party going with his songs including Maggie May, Gasoline Alley and Every Picture Tells A Story. You wouldn’t have thought so but Faces were second on the bill to T.Rex.
Melody Maker reported that, ‘Earlier in the day an announcer had apologised for not allowing a group an encore. He shouted: ‘Do you want to see the Faces?’ gaining a resounding ‘Yes’ from the crowd. ‘Do you want to see T.Rex?’ he shouted again. ‘No’, yelled the crowd.’”’
So when Marc Bolan took the stage and announced: “I’m Marc Bolan, you may have seen me on Top Of The Pops”, the crowed booed and a beer cans were thrown at him, though he eventually won the crowd over, closing with his monster hits Ride A White Swan, Hot Love and Get It On.
I have never seen an original poster from this festival,This poster is a festival publicity poster on card, 1971, 35.5 x 56cm and is currently on display in the The Nose bookshop in Walton-on-the-Naze. .
Loud n Proud
Loud n Proud, based in Paisley, Scotland were left heartbroken after a deliberate blaze burnt down their William Street home back in February 2021.
Founded by The Bungalow’s Tommy McGrory, the charity – which provides opportunities for young people to learn how to play musical instruments – was forced out of their base following the attack, which led to the loss of essential equipment and resources.
It is expected to cost around £100,000 to restore the building, with £50,000 more needed for equipment. Now, The Daily Record have reported that producer and songwriter, John McLaughlin, has helped spearhead a crucial fundraiser – which has been supported by the likes of The Bay City Rollers, Hue and Cry and now, Rod.
According to The Daily Record, Sir Rod said: “Music has the power to transform lives, and Loud n Proud has been a crucial force in nurturing talent and providing opportunities for young people.
“It is heartbreaking to witness such a setback, but I believe that, together, we can help them to rebuild and ensure that the music doesn’t stop.”
Responding to the support from Rod, Tommy McGrory said: “I was absolutely blown away that not only the internationally acclaimed Sir Rod Stewart knew anything about us, but that he had kindly offered to help.
“Through the combined efforts of John McLaughlin and Rod Stewart and other bands and artists who are rallying to the cause, Loud n Proud is poised to emerge stronger, continuing its legacy of nurturing musical talent and providing opportunities for young musicians.’’
Following the blaze, the owner of the building, Gary Kerr, gifted the premises to the charity in 2022.
Despite this, the mission now is to take the burnt down building and turn it into five soundproof studios.
Can you find a signed bottle of Wolfie’s in California or Florida?
Sir Rod and the brilliant Wolfie’s whisky team have come up with anorther amazing promotion that will be of interest to our members in California and Florida
Precious Memories
Early in the week Rod and Penny and other family members started a well earned holiday on the Italian island Elba enjoying gorgeous sunsets, walks around the town and boat trips.
On a walk round the town Rod met artist Moira Lena Tassi
Penny, took to her Instagram to share a video of a boat ride they took with their family as the sun beamed over the Tyrrhenian Sea, and Penny’s fuchsia gown was billowing in the wind as she danced away.
One More Scam
We still get lots of fans messaging to ask if Rod, his management or even his ex management are trying to contact them..So here is a very interesting story from this week..
UK Money expert Martin Lewis has issued a new scam warning after topping the list of the most commonly used famous faces to trick people into parting with personal or financial details in fake online advertisements. The consumer champion said topping the list was the “worst compliment” he’s ever had after analysis by MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE.com) discovered that his image was used more than 1,150 times by fraudsters.
MSE.com analysed data from Action Fraud, looking at how frequently public figures were mentioned in scams reported to it in 2022 and 2023. It found that Taylor Swift, Rod Stewart, Lewis Capaldi, Adele and Holly Willoughby were among the people whose celebrity profiles have been commonly misused in scam adverts.
The findings indicate that high-profile people from a range of sectors, including entertainment, business, politics and royalty, have had their names misused. The King, Prince Harry, Jeremy Clarkson and former prime minister Rishi Sunak were among those to appear in the list compiled by the consumer website.
Action Fraud supplied reported scams data based on a list of celebrities provided by MSE.com. To generate that list, it asked on social media for people to tell them who they had seen appear in scam adverts. The response was huge, with over 800 replies naming 165 public figures they had seen in scams.
MSE.com believes this is likely to cover the vast majority of scam adverts featuring celebrities in the UK and certainly all of the big ones. The founder of MSE.com, Martin Lewis, topped the list in the analysis of the most featured public figures mentioned in reports to Action Fraud.
MSE.com said Action Fraud data indicates victims have reported losing more than £20 million to scams misusing the financial guru’s profile in the past two years. The biggest individual reported loss attributed to a scam featuring Martin Lewis was £500,000.
Stay safe out there, Rod will NEVER try to contact you on social media and will certainly NEVER ask you for money, Arnold Stiefel is no longer Rod’s manager and will also NEVER try and put you in touch with Rod.
And Finally..
This weeks HELLO! magazine Issue 1848 15th July 2024 features a six page interview with Rod and Penny with some fantastic exclusive photos
And a special thanks this week to our brilliant SMILER photographers Marc and Claudine Baulisch -Steines for all the superb photos from the European tour and to Martin Heidt for his views on the tour
Cheers, see you next week..