Anyone who has been coming to Glastonbury for a period of time will have noticed the shifting social demographic and diminishing political bent of the event formerly known as the Glastonbury CND Festival. You don’t need to have spent the weekend watching Billy Bragg host talks at the Leftfield stage for Rod Stewart’s endorsement of Nigel Farage in the Times yesterday to leave a bad taste in the mouth ahead of today’s teatime ‘legends’ slot, however.
Any such misgivings don’t appear to have put most people off coming to see Stewart, as the crowd swarming the Pyramid Stage come the late afternoon easily dwarfs that for Neil Young the previous night.
The who’s going to be bringing on who speculation now appears to be part and parcel of any high profile Glastonbury set, and when Ronnie Wood confirmed this morning that he would be appearing with Rod it was assumed by many that – as with Stewart’s Brit Awards performance in 2020 – Kenney Jones would also be joining his former bandmates for a partial Faces reunion.
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READ MORE: Rod Stewart: “A Faces reunion? Ronnie would have to swear to me the Stones were finished…”
Anyone expecting a set ripe with Faces’ rough and rowdy rock and roll was instead met – initially at least – with Stewart in his full blown, tried and tested, showbiz glitz mode. More five nights at Caesars Palace than five guys walk into a bar, it’s all glittery tuxedos, backing singers in short skirts and *a lot* of sax solos.
Despite the copper-bottomed back catalogue of songs Stewart dips into, the cruise liner entertainment vibes really aren’t helped by the laughable on-screen graphics. Compare it to the Adam Curtis-like information overload of the 1975’s visuals here on Friday night and it’s as if Rod’s aunty Brenda has worked out how to do a slideshow of her holiday snaps.
Those songs, though. The First Cut Is The Deepest (P.P. Arnold is literally playing here this very afternoon FYI Rod); Tonight’s The Night, in which his even more grizzled 80-year-old voice adds an extra level of seduction; and a double whammy of You Wear It Well and Maggie May (the latter including a snatch of Gasoline Alley) to remind us just how extraordinary that run in and out of the Faces that started with An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down in 1970 was.
Following his cover of Bonnie Tyler’s It’s A Heartache Stewart pays tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, who in her Chicken Shack days introduced Rod The Mod to Etta James’ I’d Rather Go Blind. The stripped-down version of the song that follows reveals that, when he applies it to certain songs, Stewart’s voice can still bring the hairs on the back of your neck up. That beneath the bonhomie and boorish behaviour, Rod Stewart is the best white soul singer this country has ever produced.
Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis is brought on stage for Rod to wish him happy birthday, Mick Hucknall joins for If You Don’t Know Me By Now (you really can hear why the surviving Faces got him to sub for Rod for their 2010 reunion) and Ronnie Wood eventually comes out for a barnstorming run through the Faces’ Stay With Me, followed by Lulu (why?) for Hot Legs. As is customary, the set closes with Atlantic Crossing’s Sailing as Rod and his band don captain’s hats (and Celtic FC shirts for the ladies) and literally everyone in attendance sways in unison. For all the cheese, slightly outdated production values and questionable politics, Rod Stewart does know how to put on a show.
Rod Stewart At Glastonbury 2025 Setlist:
Tonight I’m Yours (Don’t Hurt Me)
Having A Party
Some Guys Have All The Luck
Love Train
The First Cut Is The Deepest
Tonight’s The Night
Forever Young
You Wear It Well
Maggie May
Young Turks
It’s A Heartache
I’d Rather Go Blind
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?
Lady Marmalade
I Don’t Want To Talk About It
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
Baby Jane
Proud Mary
Stay With Me
Hot Legs
Sailing
Follow all of MOJO’s Glastonbury 2025’s coverage HERE!