When Marco Wölfer, who today as Mr Rod is probably the most successful and best-known Rod Stewart tribute act in Germany, first saw the light of day in 1987, singer Rod Stewart was already a superstar. Thanks to his hits Maggie May, Sailing and Baby Jane, the whole world knew the man with the swirly hair and grating voice.
Although little Marco discovered his love of music at an early age, his first musical interests were more in the direction of rock, hard rock and heavy metal. He initially ended up with the AC/DC cover band High Voltage. But fate took its course. He was repeatedly asked by all kinds of people about his resemblance to Rod Stewart, so often in fact that Wölfer began to take a closer look at the singer, who will be a proud 80 years old in January.
Gradually, Marco asked himself whether he would be able to sing Rod Stewart's songs. ‘I wasn't sure, because Rod Stewart's music and vocals are very demanding,’ said the now 37-year-old, who then decided to give it a go.
So he went into the studio and made some test recordings. And the experiment was a success. ‘I'm always very critical of myself,’ says the singer. ‘But the recordings were really good’.
And so the ‘Mr Rod’ project took its course. ‘It was important to me that I wasn't seen as Rod Stewart's double, because I'm not,’ Marco emphasised in an interview with STORYTELLR. ‘After the successful recordings in the studio, we started to put the whole thing on two strong legs,’ he said. The music show Mister Rod was born, which sheds light on Sir Rod's musical work from a different angle since the 60s. ‘I see myself as an ambassador for Rod and his music,’ explains Marco. ‘His long career simply deserves to be honoured and that's the approach with Mr Rod’.
Wölfer gives free rein to his passion for Rod Stewart, especially on stage. ‘I present my show above all and best on stage, which is also the reason why I haven't released any albums or don't want to release any in the future. I'd rather people buy albums by Rod’.
The Saxon-born artist prepared his project meticulously and even wrote to Stiefel Entertainment, Stewart's management at the time, in 2015 to get his music show authorised. ‘We wanted to clarify legal matters so that we wouldn't get into trouble with Stiefel one day,’ explains the thoroughbred musician. ‘The communication with Stiefel was excellent and all legal issues were clarified and sorted out very quickly. Rod's management at the time also attested to our very professional approach and praised our show,’ says a delighted Mr Rod.
However, the first appearance as Mr Rod was rather chaotic. ‘A lot of things went wrong,’ Marco looks back. But that didn't set the singer back and certainly didn't throw him off track. True to the motto ‘Now more than ever’, he professionalised his ‘baby’ and the following performances got better and better.
‘We received an enquiry from Hapag Lloyd, who booked us unseen as a show act for a cruise and that was the turning point. The time on the cruise ship was simply sensational, we got consistently positive reactions from the audience, which is quite diverse on the big ships. We were able to make lots of new contacts, which brought us lots of follow-up shows.
Mr Rod - the No1 Rod Stewart Show, as the show is officially called, became better known and performed in Germany for the first time in June 2014. Since then, he has also toured the UK, East Asia, North and South America, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Europe with his band.
At the beginning of 2015, Wölfer met John Reid, Elton John's former manager, and came up with a great anecdote in an interview. ‘John had seen my show and was keen to meet me afterwards,’ reports Marco. ‘It just so happened that it was Rod's 70th birthday and he called him, congratulated him and told him that there was a boy here who could take over from him one day. Reid also gave me the tip to get in touch with Rod Stewart's management. It really was a crazy story and a huge confirmation of the passion that had been developed for Rod's music.
Today, Mr Rod can be sure of a loyal audience; his shows are often sold out to the last seat. ‘It's great how our show is received by people,’ says the musician happily. The ‘German Rod Stewart’ knows that fans of all kinds come to his concerts. ‘There are the hardcore Rod fans, all in their Rod shirts or Celtic jerseys. But there are also people who maybe don't have much to do with Rod Stewart and just want to experience a great show.’
In 2022, on Rod Stewart's 77th birthday, the singer organised a special kind of fan flash mob. Stewart's global hit Sailing, one of Wölfer's absolute favourite songs (‘I've probably sung it 500 or 600 times’), was re-recorded in a video by around 100 Stewart fans from over 15 nations and a children's choir and distributed on all channels around the world. This campaign also supported the children's aid organisation Unicef and raised a large sum of money.
Marco Wölfer and his Mr Rod show only became known to a wider television audience a few weeks ago when he appeared on the SAT1 show ‘The Tribute - Die Show der Musiklegenden’. In this format, various tribute bands competed against each other in several rounds and were judged by an expert jury and the audience.
‘The programmes were recorded over four days of filming in the Netherlands within a week. I remember that I could hardly sleep for most of the week and was amazed at how good I still looked on the last day of filming,’ says Marco with a broad grin. ‘But to be honest, television isn't really my thing. I prefer to stand on a stage and sing live in front of an audience. But in the end it was a good experience and I was impressed by how professionally they worked there’. Mister Rod didn't quite make it to the top of the podium, the tribute acts of Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, Amy Winehouse and the Fantastischen Vier passed the German Rod and his band by.
‘We wanted to send our Rod message to the world and we managed to do that. But you also have to admit that the market for artists like Robbie Williams, Fanta Vier or Amy Winehouse is completely different in Germany. That's why we can live very well with the result,’ Wölfer looks back.
And there's not much time to mourn the missed 1st place on SAT1 anyway, as the Saxon's tour schedule doesn't leave much room for that. He is already playing a Rod Stewart piano show in Greiz on Friday and on Saturday in Crimmitschau: ‘And now would you welcome tot he stage... the one and only .... Misteeeerrrrrrrrr Rooooooddddd’
The concert calendar for 2025 is already full to bursting. It starts on 9 January in Augsburg, followed by a performance in Mannheim on 10 January, the day Rod Stewart celebrates his 80th birthday. ‘We naturally want to celebrate this special day accordingly, and what better way than to celebrate Rod on his 80th birthday with his music,’ says Wölfer. ‘We've come up with something special for this evening as a surprise for the audience.’
And there will also be another special birthday video for Rod Stewart. ‘But this time not with Rod fans, like the flash mob. We have recorded a special version of Young Turks. But I won't reveal any more than that just yet,’ says Mister Rod.
Anyone who would like to experience Mister Rod live next year can also do so on a big, four-week cruise to Dubai and South Africa. From 24 February to 20 March 2025, Mister Rod and his band are booked as a show act on the cruise ship ‘Mein Schiff 4’. You can find all other concert dates here: https://www.mister-rod.com/termine/
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