EXCLUSIVE
By SCOTT MULLEN
ROCKSTAR Rod Stewart could be wearing it well this Saturday thanks to Glasgow ice hockey club the Braehead Clan.
The veteran world super star has been given a personal VIP invitation to Clan’s game this weekend with Coventry Blaze.
Club bosses are hoping the Maggie May singer will be able to get along to the Braehead Arena on Saturday night for a family affair on the banks of the
Clyde.
As fate would have it just a day after Rod rocks the SSE Hydro as part of his world tour, the 71-year-old’s son Liam will also be in town facing up against
the Clan in the colours of Coventry.
And Braehead chiefs have extended an invite to Stewart Snr to come and enjoy the EIHL game, with even a special personalised jersey being commissioned for the
man himself.
Sporting the club’s very own purple tartan, the name Sir Rod has been placed on the back of the unique shirt. The number 45, the year he was born, is also
printed on the top.
A Braehead source said: “The club have known for some time that Rod would be in town around the game with Coventry and were keen to try and recognise
it.
“The jersey was made up and there is the hope that Rod will come along to the game on Saturday night to try it on and enjoy the game.
“We’ve tried to get in touch with Rod to let him know about it, and given he’s not back on stage until Sunday in Liverpool, you just never
know.
“The other big question will be that given his special jersey, who is he going to support?”
Stewart of course is no stranger to attending the odd sporting event. A passionate Celtic fan, the rocker is a regular at Parkhead cheering on his
team.
Son Liam, whose mum is former model Rachel Hunter, is a bright star of British ice hockey who joined Coventry in the summer.
The 22-year-old previously carved out a promising career for himself in North America, and has also represented Great Britain on the ice.
A spokesman for Rod Stewart was unavailable for comment.
The Celtic-daft star showed footage of Hoops legend Jimmy "Jinky" Johnstone as he sang 'You're in my Heart'. Rod also showed heart-warming pictures of his
wife Penny and two youngest sons Aiden and Alistair wearing Celtic strips, as well as having his trademark bass drum emblazoned with the Celtic crest.
Rod, who was born and raised in London, also declared Glasgow his "spiritual home" as he spoke to the crowd.
He said: “Last night I was at my place of birth.
“Tonight dear, dear friends I’m in my spiritual home. Beats boring London.”
Rumours circulated over the weekend that Rod could risk upsetting Rangers fans at his gigs after it emerged he had been screening Celtic's Old Firm victory
goals from their 5-1 win over rivals Rangers earlier this year.
Rod will be back at the Hydro again on Friday to conclude his 16-leg UK tour.
Having postponed three London concerts last month due to a throat infection, an apologetic Rod Stewart resumed his UK tour determined to give fans value for
money. “We’re going to be here for two hours,” he told the crowd. “Check your watches — you can hold me to it.”
The recently knighted 71-year-old was true to his word and, to the delight of fans itching to sing along from the start, he could hardly have crammed more
hits from more eras of his career into his carefully calibrated 120 minutes. Yet his frequent disappearances backstage, ostensibly to change his shirt or re-spike his still magnificent thatch, and a
semi-acoustic section that outlasted its welcome to allow him to stay seated, suggested that a shorter set would have suited him better.
Certainly Stewart could have started stronger. If he doesn’t warm up his voice, he should, because his croak through the first few songs was barely
intelligible, not least when he was drowned out by dual drummers and a squally sax during This Old Heart of Mine. “It’s gonna be good tonight — eventually,” he said, but you could almost
hear him pacing himself in his head.
Between tours Stewart squeezes in stints at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and there was a definite Vegas-revue feel to proceedings. Or perhaps Celtic revue
would be a better description. Besides a regular band there was a sextet of good-looking, elegantly dressed, multitasking ladies who danced, sang and swathed songs in mandolin, harp and fiddles
whether they benefited from them or not. It was as though the Corrs had invaded the stage and refused to leave. The First Cut is the Deepest had so many strings it seemed to morph into
Madonna’s Dear Jessie, while the Faces’ Ooh La La was shorn of its rock’n’roll spirit.
Still, there were singalongs aplenty and Stewart may be veteran rock’s most genial host. He thanked the crowd for his knighthood, reminisced about Eel Pie
Island, showed pictures of his kids in Celtic FC strips and had a dig at modern pop stars who mime. He had a man on a ladder sprinkle fake snow on his head during Have Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas and kicked out the customary footballs during Stay With Me.
By the end he was on the floor, workout completed.
Sir Rod Stewart, 71, is singing his 1971 Faces classic Stay With Me while kicking footballs into the crowd from a huge checkerboard stage.
He aims them goalkeeper-style with the sort of precision Joe Hart could only admire.
One is dispatched a few rows back from the front, causing a large man to reel comically backward, while another, aimed to the left of the stage, sparks a
scuffle that alerts the security guards.
A woman staggers out of her seat, welling up and thinking he's throwing her a ball, but no, sorry love, this one's for the young lad in the Celtic shirt
behind you.
The stadium is packed to the rafters. The place is rocking. Rod Stewart is still a superstar.
He sports the same spiky mod chop that has made his face an icon of popular music for what is now approaching 50 years. Later, his hair is covered for a brief
moment by a fan's silver plastic trilby but he artfully passes that onto someone else.
Sir Rod is seemingly untouched by middle-age spread, hair-loss and grumpy old man syndrome.
And for his opening three covers of golden oldies, Sam Cooke's Having A Party, the Isley Brothers' This Old Heart Of Mine and the song Robert Palmer made
famous, Some Guys Have All The Luck, he appears in a pair of tight belted trousers.
His feet sparkle in a pair of expensive designer trainers gleaming with diamante.
Ever the wag, he pretends he can't quite remember the name of his new album but his band pull-off an accomplished Euro-beat meets Irish jig for a tune from
the record: Love Is.
How a man of his advancing rock 'n' roll lifestyle years lives up to the promise of two hours of showmanship could be considered an instructive lesson in the
management of physical resources.
The musicians take the lion-share of the load; among other things a string duet enlivens You Wear It Well and a three-man percussion workout allows Rod the
chance to reappear refreshed by a costume change.
Throughout, his sax man blows hard-honking R&B lines, taking the spotlight and giving Rod a breather.
The song Rhythm Of My Heart is dedicated to servicemen and women all over the world with the triumphant chorus played out over archival war footage on the
huge screens. It climaxes with footage of Sir Rod being knighted at Buckingham Palace.
If the onset of some Elvis thigh moves and quick visit to the front as he sings Tom Waits' Downtown Train and then Baby Jane requires recuperation, it's no
problem - another costume change is on the way.
He returns in an electric blue Madmen suit and yellow shoes for an 'acoustic' section with his striking backing singers, The Rodettes, dressed in ra ra
skirts.
He's flanked to the left by viola and violin, guitarists sit at the front in 60s shark-tooth pattern suits.
Acoustic pretty much translates as a chance to sit down while singing such numbers as Handbags And Gladrags and Can't Stop Me Now from the recent album
Time.
It's a piece that recalls his early years and there are old pictures of the 17-year-old Rod on the scre
Maybe memories of those difficult early years have inspired Rod's decision to include his daughter Ruby's country act Sisterhood as
support.
He remembers out loud that his first ever gig was at legendary Northern Soul venue, The Twisted Wheel in this very city, where he ended up taking a pill that
'kept him up for two days'.
But if there was any hope that this section of the show would reveal just how well Rod's voice is holding up, it was dashed by an audience who belted every
song out in unison. They'd paid £75 but they were still going to help him do his job.
The fact that Sir Rod is a great singer with an unerring and canny eye for a cover was largely an academic fact.
The delicate melancholy of Danny Whitten's I Don't Want To Talk About It is somewhat lost when it's sung like a football chant.
Still, it's a reminder that beneath all the fluff that made Rod a figure of ridicule in the post-punk world of the 1980s was a man who, like David Bowie, had
formed his own identity against the backdrop of 1960s R&B - releasing several folk rock classics in the 1970s.
If the original magic of Maggie May is, again, somewhat overshadowed by another sing-along, the band replicate its bluesy guitar solo and mandolin line to
great effect
For Do Ya Think I'm Sexy a slightly flagging Rod gamefully injects a rap into the piece as oversized balloons rain down on the audience.
A quick Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) and it's all over. Sir Rod - the working class hero who made it big and had it all - goes
on.
Setlist
Love Is
Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
You Wear It Well
Baby Jane
Forever Young
Rhythm of My Heart
Downtown Train
Handbags and Gladrags
Ooh La La
The First Cut Is the Deepest
You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
I Don't Want to Talk About It
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
River Deep, Mountain High
Can't Stop Me Now
Maggie May
Sailing
Stay With Me
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
Enjoy Yourself
He is so popular in Birmingham that he had to add another night.
And Sir Rod Stewart smashed it for followers when he appeared at Barclaycard Arena for the first time on Friday (December 2).
It was a trip down memory lane for many, like me, who grew up in the 70s when Sir Rod’s hits were Top of the Pops, and a fair few longer
followers.
Mega fans celebrated their newly knighted hero by honouring his distinctive fashion sense – donning trademark Rod wigs and tartan.
Being 71-years-old, the rock star proved age is but a number as he strutted out onto the stage with glam gold sparkly jacket and rapturous applause and cheers
– with a passion for glamour and football.
His health has caused him some issues in recent years – he was diagnosed with cancer and he campaigns for the City of Hope Foundation to help find a cure for
the disease
His daughter Ruby began the show, glamorously, with her band The Sisterhood.
And Rod rocked the night - gravel voice in strong form.
An amazing band, with glamorous golden dressed fiddle players and a harp, added to the feel good factor.
With 45 albums under his belt and hits spanning 45 years, Sir Rod had plenty of material to entertain his fans.
His latest album Another Country (which this tour is named after) reached No 2 in the charts after its release in late 2015.
But it was the Rod classics that stole the show, including Maggie May, Sailing and You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim).
And, of course, who can help but smile as he fearlessly belts out his 1978 hit – Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?
If you’ve got a ticket for Saturday night, then you’re in for a good time.
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