Text: STORYTELLER/MH
Photos: Screenshots YouTube
The 2025 tour year is drawing to a close and once again Sir Rod Stewart can look back on a year full of highlights, magnificent concerts, sold-out arenas and enthusiastic fans around the world. In short, the 2025 tour year was a complete success. A success built on a solid foundation. And that foundation is the fantastic band, the magnificent musicians who make every show a special highlight.
We want to take a closer look at this band and take you along on this little journey.
When Rod Stewart takes to the stage, he is not ‘just’ accompanied by a backing band – he is backed by a well-rehearsed, highly musical team that has been making the difference night after night for years. A band that doesn't just accompany, but carries, fires up, catches, shines – and thus plays a huge part in making the current tour so confident, so elegant and so rousing.
It is not only musical excellence that distinguishes this formation, but also something that you can feel even before the first note is played: cohesion. Former Rod Stewart saxophonist Katja Rieckermann once summed it up when she said that this band is ‘one big family – with “Papa Rod” at the helm’. And that's exactly how it feels: respectful, warm, humorous, carried by mutual trust. This family atmosphere is not a PR image, but audible and visible – in glances, gestures, transitions and in the matter-of-factness with which everyone stands up for each other here.
Don Kirkpatrick (guitar) has been delivering that unmistakable rock “n” roll sound for years: tasteful, confident, with solos that never show off, but tell a story.
Kevin Savigar (keys) is the musical architect in the background – a long-time companion, arranger and calming influence. His signature has shaped Rod's sound for decades.
David Palmer (drums) provides drive and stability: precise, unruffled, with a groove that gives the band freedom.
Curt Schneider (bass) lays the elastic foundation that makes an arena vibrate – song service in its purest form.
Emerson Swinford (guitar) complements the sound with modern clarity, energy and stylistic confidence.
J'Anna Jacoby Harrold and Andrea Young give the violins voice and soul: sometimes floating, sometimes driving, always emotionally charged.
Julia Thornton (harp/percussion) brings magical colours to the rock sound with her harp and percussion – unexpected, elegant, indispensable – a true power woman who captivates everyone, colleagues and audience alike.
Jimmy Roberts (saxophone), who even provided material for musical legends in between – somewhere between the tour bus, saxophone case and the persistent story that he temporarily turned his back on rock “n” roll for a burger joint – is now back where he belongs: on stage, with his sax, as the soul of the sound."
Matt O'Connor, who has been part of Rod Stewart's extended musical cosmos for many years, also plays a very special role. As a musician, musical director and organiser in the background, he ensures that all these individual voices merge into a great whole. He is one of those people who are not always in the spotlight – but whose work you can immediately hear and feel. Matt O'Connor exemplifies the professionalism and continuity that make this band so extraordinary.
Last, but by no means least, are the voices that touch the audience's hearts:
Joanne Harper, Becca Kotte and Holly Brewer – backing vocals that are much more than just ‘background’. They bring harmonies, energy and personality to the fore and take responsibility when it matters.
This special family dynamic is particularly evident in the moments when Rod Stewart takes a quick break to freshen up and change his stage outfit: the band – especially the backing vocals – take over the stage with complete confidence.
With songs like ‘Proud Mary’, ‘I'm So Excited’ and ‘I'm Every Woman’, the intermission turns into a rousing mini-show. No downtime, no waiting – just singing along, dancing and laughing. The audience not only stays in good spirits, it remains euphoric.
In the end, this band is exactly what Katja Rieckermann described: one big family. With the charismatic ‘Papa Rod’ at the helm – and musicians who not only play world-class music, but are also there for each other. And perhaps that is the secret of this tour: Not perfection alone, but humanity. Not just great songs, but genuine connection.
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