This week’s news and gossip

Main photo Justin Nedrow/ Daily’s Place.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.

Last week ended as the band arrived in Atlantic City ahead of Saturdays first show

And Joanne posted a great photo saying Back to work we gooo. 80th celebrations continue

Roland Macher was at the show to bring us all the pictures

Rod surprised the crowd with a version of the Harry Melvin & The Blue Notes hit If You Don’t Know Me By Now from his 2010, 25th studio album Soulbook .

SMILER member Madeline Santamaria Ignarro and her friend Annette had a dance with Alastair after the show

And members Maureen Gale and Barbara Holland had their first taste of Wolfie’s 

Maureen told SMILER ” Our first Wolfie’s shot ! We each have 4 bottles, didn’t want to open them lol, finally broke down before seeing Rod in Atlantic City!”

And the girls couldn’t find a Wolfie’s cardboard cut out Rod ..But they did find a real life Alastair!

Lisa Robel had a fantastic night and also bumped into Alastair

Lisa said the day after I’m still trying to to wrap my head around the most fascinating evening of my lifetime ! I attended the Rod Stewart concert last night as a birthday present to myself ! I had gotten the ticket in June of last year !, Since this was slated as the “ One Last Time Tour” and for anyone who knows me ..you know I have been a fan forever without missing a beat, 43 shows over time and counting , there was no way I wasn’t going !! Little did I know , with a magical turn of events would I have ever thought that after all these years I would finally get to meet him ! But I did !!
After a fantastic show at the best venue in Atlantic City Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City With the stars aligning just right the timing perfect And a lot of luck I was invited to meet Sir Rod himself , I even sat and had a glass of wine with him . I don’t even have the words to express What this meant to me ! Thanks so much to the universe!

And Lisa even got her bag signed

And here are the thoughts of Martin Heidt..

Sir Rod Stewart has planned a whopping 80 concerts this year, the year in which he turned a slim 80 years old. He mastered the first of these last night with flying colours. Atlantic City experienced an evening that will not soon be forgotten.

The arena was filled to capacity and the few remaining tickets were all sold out quickly. Around 7000 visitors in the sold-out Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena waited with huge anticipation for the start of the show, which Sir Rod entered on time and in high spirits.

For almost two hours, he rattled off his greatest hits and transformed the arena in the ‘Las Vegas of the East Coast’ into an oversized party temple. Stewart surprised the audience with two big surprises on the set list.

Two songs had actually made it into the programme that had never been played before or hadn’t been for a long time. Firstly, there was the song Mandolin Wind from the 1971 album Every Picture Tells A Story, which was an integral part of a Rod Stewart concert many years ago and was played 48 times on the Out Of Order tour in 1988, for example. But then Mandolin Wind somehow disappeared into oblivion in recent years and has now been brought back into the programme by Sir Rod, much to the delight of more than just the long-time fans in the arena.

And then there was If You Don’t Know Me By Now, a song that is primarily associated with Simply Red, but which Rod Stewart also released on his album Soulbook (2009). This song on the setlist in Atlantic City was probably the surprise of the evening par excellence, as Sir Rod – as far as we could find out – had never sung it live at a concert before.

But that wasn’t the only reason why the first show in 2025 was a rousing evening. Afterwards, 7,000 visitors all went home enthusiastic and some of them will certainly be thinking about getting tickets for another concert.

Jacksonville, Daily’s Place Florida

On Tuesday Rod was in Florida playing Daily’s Place Justin Nedrow took these amazing shots including our main photo

And Stephen Armistead was at the show to get us some more brilliant shots

We all know who’s hat this is…

And here is a review by Martin Heidt..

The Stewart concert year begins as the old one ended: full of energy, full of joy, with enthusiastic fans and, above all, a Sir Rod Stewart in top form.

Three days after kicking off the year in Atlantic City, the 80-year-old also provided a fantastic evening at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. ‘Thank you Sir Rod Stewart for another incredible evening of rock’n’roll,’ wrote the organiser on his social media channels. And it was truly incredible to see the energy with which the music legend jumped and ran across the stage, even in his old age, swinging the microphone stand as if it were made of cardboard and captivating the audience from the very first second.

Of course, it’s very helpful if you’re a singer who can open your concert with such global hits as You Wear It Well, Ooh La La or Twistin’ The Night Away and Young Turks. With these songs, there is of course no other option for the audience than to simply celebrate and dance along.

As the evening progressed, Sir Rod continued to string together more hits and by the end of the two-hour show, the exuberantly dancing fans were certainly just as ‘flat’ as the singer himself. Especially as he ended the evening with the Faces hit Stay With Me and really stepped on the accelerator just before the finish line.

The performance of the Simply Red hit If You Don’t Know Me By Now, which, like Mandolin Wind, was also back on the setlist in Jacksonville, was also met with huge cheers from the audience.

Setlist:

• You Wear It Well
• Ooh La La
• Twistin’ the Night Away
• Young Turks
• Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
• Rollin‘ and Tumblin’
• The First Cut Is the Deepest
• Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
• Forever Young
• Maggie May
• I’d Rather Go Blind
• Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?
• Downtown Train
• I’m So Excited
• Reason to Believe
• Every Picture Tells a Story
• Mandolin Wind
• Have I Told You Lately
• Proud Mary
• Some Guys Have All the Luck
• It Takes Two
• If You Don’t Know Me by Now
• Stay With Me

Tampa, FL Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Event Center

On Wednesday it was the turn of Tampa to have a Rod party and Tracey Manfre and James J Ubinas were there to get some great shots of the night

And Martin Heidt gave us his review..

Shortly before the show began at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, Florida, the sound of countless bagpipes filled the hall where 7,000 visitors were about to spend an atmospheric evening with superstar Rod Stewart at Hard Rock Live.

Shortly after the Scottish sounds, Depeche Mode’s rousing classic “Just Can’t Get Enough” rang out over the gigantic speakers and the jumping and dancing of the fans began even before the actual concert opener.

And of course Sir Rod didn’t let his fans down and opened the two-hour evening with his “You Wear It Well”. When Stewart stormed onto the stage, the audience saw his broad smile and heard his unmistakable voice and erupted in cheers. Rod was on top vocally, hitting all the high notes of the song (and staying that way for the entire evening), while the concertgoers sang along to every single word of the chorus at the top of their voices. A successful start to a magnificent evening.

And the 80-year-old didn’t give his audience a break at the beginning. He danced across the stage like a youngster to “Ooh La La”, encouraged even the very last audience members who refused to join in during “Havin’ A Party”, jumped around during “Young Turks” like in the official music video from the 1080s and let the audience reminisce during the CCR classic “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”.

The time flew by and after two rather contemplative songs (“The First Cut Is The Deepest” and “Tonight’s The Night”), which allowed him and the fans to take a short breather, the tempo was turned up again with “Forever Young” and “Maggie May”.

“I’d Rather Go Blind” as well as ‘Downtown Train’, and Rod’s powerful interpretations of these songs, enchanted the 7000 people just as much as the disco classic ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’ or the ballads ‘Mandolin Wind’ and ‘Have I Told You Lately’.

Every Picture Tells A Story” brought back memories of the good old 70s for many, and Stewart said goodbye to the stage after 21 songs with ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’.

“Rod Stewart has once again enchanted his fans”, the online music portal ‘Rock At Night’ summarized the evening more than aptly. “The entire audience sang along to his well-known hits without being asked, which shows what a long-standing and legendary status Sir Rod has in the music world,” the magazine summed up.

Setlist:

• You Wear It Well
• Ooh La La
• Havin’ A Party
• Young Turks
• Have You Ever Seen The Rain
• Rollin’ and Tumblin’
• The First Cut Is The Deepest
• Tonight’s The Night
• Forever Young
• Maggie May
• I’d Rather Go Blind
• Da Ya Think I’m Sexy
• Downtown Train
• I’m Every Woman (Band only)
• Reason To Believe
• Mandolin Wind
• Have I Told You Lately
• Proud Mary (Band only)
• It Takes Two
• Some Guys Have All The Luck

Twistin The Night Away – Live 1973

A new un-official recording is slated for release on 14th March The CD titled Twistin The Night Away – Live 1973 is available to pre order from on line record stores now

It is billed as digitally remastered Classic recordings from 1973. Recorded in London and the Netherlands. Includes classic tracks, Stay With Me, Jealous Guy, Angel and Maggie May. A good rockin’ performance. Disc 1 Paris Theatre, London, 1st April 1973 1. Silicone Grown 3.04 2. Cindy Incidentally 2.39 3. Memphis, Tennessee 4.30 4. If I’m On The Late Side 2.42 5. My Fault 3.49 6. The Stealer 3.28 7. Borstal Boys 3.25 8. Angel 4.23 9. Stay With Me 5.21 10. True Blue 4.01 11. Twistin’ The Night Away 4.54 12. Miss Judy’s Farm 4.25 13. Jealous Guy 4.37 14. Too Bad 4.58 Sporthal De Vliegermolen, Voorburg, Netherlands, 10th March 1973 (Popgala – Dutch TV Broadcast) 15. Stay With Me 5.05 16. Angel 3.29 17. Talk .37 18. You Wear It Well 3.48 19. Maggie May 5.08 Disc 2 The Edmonton Sundown, London, 4th June 1973, Fm Radio Broadcast 1. Intro .37 2. Cindy Incidentally 2.55 3. Angel 4.18 4. True Blue 4.06 5. I’d Rather Go Blind 6.14 6. Jealous Guy 5.13 7. You Wear It Well 3.55 8. Maggie May 4.36 9. Borstal Boys 7.37 10. Twistin’ The Night Away 4.56 11. Memphis, Tennassee 5.14 12. We’ll Meet Again 1.16 Sporthal De Vliegermolen, Voorburg, Netherlands, 10th March 1973 (Popgala – Dutch TV Broadcast) 13. Twistin’ The Night Away 4.13 14. Memphis, Tennessee 4.00 15. True Blue 3.52 16. Talk .09 17. Cindy Incidentally 2.29

Remember this is not official, and we can’t tell you what the quality is like, But we would recommend going for the Faces at the BBC: Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings (1970-1973) box set instead we know the sound on this box set is the best ever and the artists also get paid!

Infatuation

Infatuation are a six piece Rod Stewart tribute band based in Chicago USA And the band would love to reach the great Rod Stewart fans across the nation and beyond. but are happy to start start with the mid west first!

The band featuring Clifford Tartaglia a lifelong fan of Rod’s music on lead vocals, Danny Baron on lead guitar, Steve Beard on bass, Scott Tomeczko on drums, Dave Schreier on keys and Rick Reynolds on sax cover all eras of Sir Rods career. From The Faces to Jeff Beck and all the greats songs right up to present day. They recreate the feel of a modern Rod Stewart Concert. they are looking for any help like venues that might be receptive or people that could help the cause…Any members in and around the area that could provide help to reach other fans would be most appreciated. 

Check out the bands website;

And finally ..

Any members out there looking to complete or replace your lost vinyl collection, Well David Syme has these records for sale if anyone is interested please contact him on [email protected] for details.

And if anyone is going to Hollywood, Florida Hard Rock Live tomorrow or Sunday please have a superb night and please send in any thoughts or photos from the evening

See you next week..