In the school of rock, legendary German rockers Scorpions are a required course. I immensely enjoyed a Judas Priest concert I attended last week, but compared to the show Scorpions put on at Myth on Friday night, last week’s show seemed like it was lacking in the energy and enthusiasm the band brought to the stage. That’s not saying Judas Priest was bad, it’s just that Scorpions were better.
I’ve seen Scorpions several times over the past 20 years, and they never disappoint. They have a reputation for being one of the best live bands around. When seeing a band that’s been around as long as they have, I normally prefer that they have the “classic” lineup intact. However, the current Scorpions players are much better than the lineup from their ‘80s heyday. The core trio of vocalist Klaus Meine and guitarists, Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs is still there, but bassist Pawel Maciwoda is an upgrade over Francis Buchholz and drummer James Kottak (with the band since 1996), brings renewed energy, enthusiasm and showmanship to the band that was lacking with longtime drummer Herman Rarebell. He is simply one of the best and most entertaining drummers to hear and watch that I have ever seen, and Scorpions are lucky to have him on board.
Currently on tour in support of the 2007 release, Humanity Hour 1, the band played a few songs from that album (“321” being the highlight for me), but otherwise leaned heavily on songs from two of their most popular albums—1982’s, Blackout and 1984’s, Love At First Sting. I especially enjoyed “Blackout,” “Dynamite,” I’m Leaving You” and “Big City Nights.” Before the show, I mentioned to some friends that one of my favorite Scorpions songs is “Make It Real” from 1980’s Animal Magnetism, but we all agreed that there was no chance of hearing that song tonight. Surprisingly, we were wrong, and it made a great one-two punch, being followed up with the rocking instrumental, “Coast To Coast.”
Frontman, Klaus Meine, was his usual cheerful and manic self, continually flying across the stage, shaking a tambourine, playing cowbell and tossing drumsticks to the audience. The guitar duo of Schenker and Jabs played energetically all night long, and Schenker played an acoustic Flying V guitar, something you won’t see anywhere else, during “Send Me An Angel”. Also on the subject of unique guitars, during “Big City Nights,” someone from the audience handed a Gibson Explorer, in the same design as Matthias’ trademark white with black stripes, to Klaus and he autographed it. A Matthias signature would have been more appropriate, but I’m sure this lucky concertgoer wasn’t complaining.
I’m normally not a fan of drum solos, but James Kottak pumped up the crowd with a high energy drum solo near the end of the regular set, and the entire band, each with their own drums in front of them, joined him at the end. The band returned for an encore, exclaiming “There’s No One Like You, Minnesota!” and followed that up with “Still Loving You,” and perhaps their most well known song, “Rock You Like A Hurricane.”
Thirty-six years after their debut album was released, Scorpions continue to not only record new material and tour the world, but also do it at a higher level than almost any other band. Danke, Scorpions!
