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You’ll find these devoted fans in the front row at the concert
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
It would be hard to find two bigger Rod Stewart fans than Kathy Hurd and Marcy Braunstein.
The two women have seen the British rock legend more times than they can remember. Their concert-going began many years ago and has taken them to several countries.
Braunstein alone has been to more than 150 Rod Stewart concerts, the first being in 1977. Hurd’s first was in the early ’90s.
The women have several reasons for loving the rocker, but they agree strongly on one: his voice.
“That raspy voice, his sexy looks and the energy he gives at all his shows makes it the most-incredible concert for me,” said Hurd.
Braunstein said Stewart is the greatest storyteller, songwriter and singer of our time. “He is a showman beyond anything else,” she continued. “He is soulful, sexy and his voice drives me crazy.”
The women, and their husbands, will be at Sunday’s show at Covelli Centre, sitting together in the front row.
Not surprisingly, they met at a Stewart concert in Pittsburgh in 1996 and became good friends.
Hurd, of Boardman, said she was shocked when she heard that Stewart was coming to Youngstown.
“I heard last year that maybe Rod Stewart would be coming to Covelli but I said ‘no way’ and ended up purchasing some tickets for his Atlantic City show [on Aug. 23] and figured on making it a long weekend getaway. A couple of months later when I heard he was coming to Covelli, I could not believe it. Rod in my backyard!”
Hurd has sold her tickets to the Atlantic City show, but Braunstein, who lives in Franklin Park, Pa., is still going.
Hurd has traveled many times to see her favorite singer, and has met him on several occasions. Stewart even pulled her up on stage twice — at concerts one week apart in Cleveland and Pittsburgh in 1994.
She has made gifts for Stewart which she presented to him at concerts. In return, Stewart has given her soccer balls on three occasions. The rocker is known for kicking soccer balls into the audience while performing.
“I have never missed a year that Rod was touring, taking road trips to Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Philly, Detroit and Chicago,” she said. “We had a lot of great getaways and have met some really special friends on the way that we still hook up with.”
She and her husband, Gary, have been to London twice to see Stewart: 1997, when they met up with friends from Europe at the concert, and again in 2002, when they caught four or five shows at London’s Earl Court.
She last saw Stewart in May at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center, part of his co-headlining tour with Carlos Santana.
Hurd can’t pin down a favorite song, but there are a few that she’s looking forward to hearing Sunday night.
“One song he has been singing lately on this tour, ‘I’d Rather Go Blind,’ is one of my favorites,” she said. “Also the other usual songs, ‘Maggie,’ ‘This Old Heart of Mine,’ ‘Forever Young,’ ‘Tonight’s the Night,’ ‘Reason to Believe,’ ‘Stay with Me,’ ‘You Wear it Well’ ... I love them all.”
If there is a more-traveled fan than Hurd, it might just be Braunstein. She and her husband are going to four Stewart concerts this week alone: Washington, D.C.; Jones Beach, N.Y.; Atlantic City, N.J.; and Youngstown. They saw him in Chicago last week.
Braunstein saw Stewart in the United Kingdom in 1995, 1998 and 2002, and also in Canada.
She carries a sign to every Stewart concert that reads “Lost In You Since 1972,” a reference to her favorite song, “Mandolin Wind.” The rocker released the song that year.
“If he sang that in Youngstown, I will sit down in my seat and cry,” she said. “And I usually stand throughout the entire show.”
Stewart, she said, acknowledges the sign every time he sees it at a show. “I had a chance once to have him sign it and he said ‘I’ve seen that sign a million times.’ It was great!”
Braunstein also has an important connection to Stewart: She is responsible for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“I nominated him for his star, and he got it,” she said. “My husband and I went out to Hollywood and were part of the ceremony.”
It all started about a decade ago when Braunstein and her husband were sightseeing in Los Angeles and couldn’t find Stewart’s star.
“When we got home, I contacted the chamber of commerce and they said Rod had never been nominated,” she said. “They also said anyone could nominate someone, even a fan, so I went for it.”
Braunstein and her husband attended the 2005 ceremony when Stewart’s star was dedicated, and even got to speak at it.
“It was a dream come true,” she said.