Legendary Rod Stewart concerts: Wembley 1986 (by Mike Walton, Kevin Godridge und John Gray/SMILER)

Anyone who has seen Rod live from his early 60’s gigs to the 2024 tour will say what a fantastic night they have had but some concerts are extra special, one such night was Rod’s first Wembley Stadium concert on July 5th 1986 when despite rumours of poor ticket sales over 66,000 people attended and the concert was a massive success,

It’s unbelievable that Rod’s Wembley Stadium debut was 25 years ago today – and the show remains one of his all time most memorable. One thing that sitcks in my mind was the build up – I watched with delight as the supporting Blow Monkey’s took a pop at Rod only to be booed off and bombarded with missiles that included plastic bottles filled with the unthinkable! Even as late as 1986, Rod commanded a fiercely loyal crowd who were not always very well behaved! In fact you could say this gig marked the tartan hordes last stand, as when Rod returned to the UK five years later tartan was not in as much abundance.

Everything about the set was perfect, from the choice of songs to the running order. And, of course, Rod could still command the big hits – ‘Every Beat Of My Heart’ had shot to Number 2 and his latest Number 1 was all but three years old. The show offered everything – all Rod, all night – no surplus backing singers and a band that were both visually pleasing and musically sound. The highlight was undoubtedly ‘I Don’t Want To Talk About It’ – Rod and the crowd at one. ‘Maggie May’, as always, prompted mass singing and at the end of the night the Faces reunited and Ronnie Lane stole the show (“We love you Ronnie, we do”.)

A gig that made Rod’s late father proud (“Sorry about that pass Dad, slippery pitch”) and one that even the rain could not spoil. Ahhh, and they were the days you were allowed to take your own booze into Wembley as long as it was in a plastic bottle! No golden circle, no aggravation from security and no seats on the pitch. The perfect gig. JG

The Set List

Hot Legs/Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)/Passion/Some Guys Have All The

Luck/Tonight I’m Yours/I Don’t Want To Talk About It/You’re In My Heart (The

Final Acclaim)/Young Turks/Infatuation/(Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay/Every

Beat Of My Heart/Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?/You Wear It Well//Maggie May/Baby

Jane/Sailing

The Faces encore at Wembley

(I Know) I’m Losing You/Twistin’ The Night Away/Stay With Me/We’ll Meet Again

Rod’s Band

Jim Cregan [guitar]

Robin Le Mesurier [guitar]

John Corey [guitar/keyboards]