Support act announced for Rod Stewart's Wolverhampton show
The support act has been announced for Rod Stewart's eagerly-anticipated Wolverhampton show.
Celtic folk and Americana band Johnny Mac and The Faithful will support the 74-year-old music icon when he plays the Molineux Stadium on June 8.
The Glasgow-based band is made up of lead vocalist John McLaughlin, lead guitarist Gordy Goudie, drummer Ryan Hassan, bassist Tam McKinley, guitarist Gary McDowell, keyboard and accordion player Terry Dourish, and Lisa Petticrew on the fiddle.
They cover a variety Irish folk classics such as Ewan MacColl’s Dirty Old Town and Steve Earle’s Galway Girl as well as a string of original songs including new single Took a train and You make my Monday morning feel like Saturday night.
Johnny Mac and The Faithful will already be well known to many Celtic FC fans as their music is often heard playing through the stadium speakers at the club’s home-ground Parkhead, and their Football Anthem albums can be found in the Celtic FC stores.
The band have performed at many of Celtic's charity events over the years and John even wrote a charity single for the club back in 2002, Best Day of Our Lives, which he performed with the 1967 team players 'the legendary Lisbon Lions’ and then Celtic FC manager, Martin O’Neill, who's passionate monologue is included on the record.
The single, which saw a host of celebrity Celtic fans feature in the video including Billy Connolly and Rod Stewart, reached number 17 in the UK charts and was featured on Top of The Pops.
The band are set to release a new album of original Celtic-Folk and Americana songs to coincide with the tour.
Frontman John McLaughlin is an award-winning songwriter and producer who has penned hits for artists such as Westlife, Busted, Echo and The Bunnymen, Shane MacGowan and Sandi Thom.
Speaking ahead of the show, John said: “Individually we have been blessed to have played and worked with some of greatest and infamous stars of our time from the Pogues iconic frontman Shane MacGowan, to the enigmatic Echo and the Bunnymen, Glasgow’s own sons the Simple Minds and Ireland’s finest stompers The Dubliners.
“Our proudest moment to date though, as a band, has to be supporting global rock icon Sir Rod Stewart at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro in 2017. It was for Celtic Football Club’s concert to honour the 50th anniversary of their 1967 European Cup winning team The Lisbon Lions.”
Read more:
Rod watched their performance at the Hydro show and realised they were the same band he’d heard blaring through the tannoy at Celtic on match days.
John added: “We couldn’t believe it. Rod Stewart the world-famous rock legend was digging our wee Celtic rock band. That was mind blowing.
"A few months after the Hydro gig Rod contacted me about doing a co-write for a song. Firstly, as a lifelong fan I was ecstatic.
"Me and my writing partner Dave Thomas had started a tune and Rod loved the melody and in a flash of inspiration Rod had written the lyrics for Julia which he then included on his no1 Album Blood Red Roses.
“As a songwriter I couldn’t have been prouder to have my name alongside Rod’s on his record, it truly was a dream come true.
"To get to work with your Rock 'n' Roll hero, that really doesn’t happen so much, and then to discover what an absolute diamond of a guy he was that was a lovely bonus.
“Now we just can’t wait to get up on stage. To be on tour with Rod and play our music to hundreds of thousands of his fans makes us feel very proud, blessed and thankful.”
The group will not support Rod when his tour comes to Arena Birmingham on December 13.
During the tour, fans can expect to hear classics such as Maggie May, The First Cut is the Deepest and Hot Legs, as well as tracks from his new album Blood Red Roses.
Sir Rod is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with more than 200 million records sold worldwide. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists.
The 74-year-old star has won both a Grammy and Brit Award, and was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces.
For more information and to buy tickets to the shows, click here.
