Rod Stewart sets Hard Rock Atlantic City date

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. for Rod Stewart’s Aug. 8 concert at Hard Rock Hotel Casino Atlantic City. While the announcement of a “Rod the Mod” gig is always good news, the bad news is that the show at Hard Rock Live @ Etess Arena will be one of a handful of the 21 shows on Stewart’s summertime tour of North America that won’t include power-pop avatars Cheap Trick as the warmup act.

Stewart, whose canon of smash hits include “Maggie May”, “Tonight’s The Night,” “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” and “Hot Legs,” is no stranger to Atlantic City, having been a headliner there since he played the al fresco Grandstand at the Grand at the defunct Bally’s Grand Casino Hotel in 1989. Many of his performances were staged at the Etess Arena when it was part of Trump Taj Mahal. And in August, 2008, he cut short a set at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa reportedly because, according to the Philadelphia Daily News, he felt disrespected by the audience that he believe was filled with gamblers who were there simply because their tickets were comped.

Also on sale Friday are tickets for the May 30 bill headlined by country superstar Dierks Bentley and the June 12 presentation of the Happy Together Tour featuring, among other vintage artists, The Turtles and former Three Dog Night member Chuck Negron.

Tickets to all three events will be available at Ticketmaster.