Rod Stewart ‘storms off stage’ after being forced to cut performance short

Sir Rod Stewart left his fans in the dark - literally - as his most recent gig in Plymouth in the UK came to an abrupt end.

The rock legend was playing a show at the city’s Home Park Stadium on Saturday night, marking the start of his summer concerts in the UK - but his set appeared to have been cut short when the lights went out at 10.30pm.

It was reportedly down to the venue’s strict curfew, but fans were left shocked.

One fan told local outlet Plymouth Live, “After attending the Rod Stewart concert yesterday evening, he finished his second to last song – the finale being We Are Sailing – to be told it was 10.30pm and he couldn’t continue.

“With this Rod stormed off the stage and the concert was left without light, only to be told the Lord Mayor had put a stop to it. Hundreds of fans like myself were left in shock.”

Another said it had been “a fabulous night, but what an abrupt end”.

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“A guy dressed in black came onto the stage and ordered Rod off because of a curfew. Rod, of course, immediately left and the lights came on. No goodbye to fans, no encore. Everyone was stunned at the rude and abrupt ending to what was an amazing concert.

“Who was the guy in black who asked Rod to leave the stage? Why did Rod end the concert so abruptly? We were at the front and poor Rod looked stunned.

“For an artist to have his performance cut short so rudely and abruptly at the finale is awful. We came out saying that he was amazing but we would never attend a concert at Home Park again because performers are dragged off stage because of a curfew.

“Another few minutes to finish and say goodbye is all it would have taken. He had not even reached the end of the song before he was asked to leave the stage. They should have started earlier if they had such a strict policy.”

A representative for Plymouth’s City Council took to Twitter to rebut the rumours, however, writing, “Despite rumours and reports online - Plymouth City Council and the venue did NOT as Rod Stewart to finish early last night! ps. The Lord Mayor wasn’t even at the concert.”

It came as countless concertgoers called for a response from the mayor, blaming them for the abrupt end to the show.

“What an utter t*** to have @PlymLordMayor and @plymouthcc to abruptly end @rodstewart concert at @homeparkstadium last night just because of a curfew is totally rude and disrespectful,” one wrote, adding, “I sincerely hope Sir Rod takes this further and those responsible are dealt with accordingly!”

“This will make other big name bands think twice about coming to Plymouth. What an utter embarrassment.”

Others pointed out that other recent gigs at the venue had been allowed to run overtime, with one commenting, “Interesting as the Muse gig finished at 10.40pm at the same venue.”

But others went as far as to slam Stewart himself for “poor time management”, with one commenting, “Rod Stewart would have known the curfew times and he would have known his set time.

“He would have chosen the songs he was going to perform and how much time he would have needed between songs to chat to the crowd. Seems to me this is down to poor time management.”

Neither Stewart nor the venue itself has spoken out about why he was forced to leave the stage early.

This article was first published at nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.