The Mayor of Plymouth received abuse from Rod Stewart fans after the singer’s show there was cut short.
The singer reportedly “stormed off stage” when the power was cut before his encore of ‘Sailing’ to comply with a 10:30pm curfew at a gig at Plymouth’s Home Park on June 24.
Cllr Mark Shayer, Lord Mayor of Plymouth, told Plymouth Live: “I started getting telephone calls, numerous people were ringing up. I have even been sworn at at my local shop.”
He added: “I’m horrified to be implicated. To say I stopped Rod Stewart singing what is one of my favourite songs, on Armed Forces Day, it’s ridiculous. I’m livid.”
Cllr Shayer’s father was in the Royal Navy and lines from ‘Sailing’ are quoted on his headstone. “So how could I stop something as important as Rod singing that song?” he questioned.
A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “Despite social media rumours and inaccurate, unsubstantiated reports online – Plymouth City Council and Home Park did not ask Rod Stewart to stop his concert on Saturday night. Any allegation that the lord mayor asked the performer to stop are also untrue. The Lord Mayor was not at the concert.”
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Ironically, the incident took place on the same day as Lana Del Rey’s Glastonbury show, in which she also had the power cut to comply with a curfew.
The plug was pulled on the singer’s Other Stage headliner at midnight as she was midway through ‘White Mustang’. She had arrived half an hour late on stage, blaming having her hair done for her lateness.
Meanwhile, Stewart has recently said that he’s planning to “leave all the rock ‘n’ roll stuff behind” after his extensive 2023 tour this year.
In a new interview with BBC Breakfast, which you can watch below, the musician said he isn’t “retiring” and that he’s looking to instead change musical genres from rock to swing.
“I’m not retiring,” Stewart told BBC host Charlie Stayt. “I’ve just done a swing album with Jools Holland, which is going to come out next year, so I want to go in that direction. I just want to leave all the rock ‘n’ roll stuff behind — for a while, maybe.”