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Live Report Scorpions

Band: Scorpions - Karelia
City: Strasbourg (France)
Venue: Zénith
Date: 2008-10-25
Audience: 10,000 people, sold-out.


We reach the venue at 5 p.m., and the first thing we notice is the imposing crowd that has gathered before the gates. For once, the average age is close to 40, if not 50. Nostalgia has brought many a fan from Italy, Germany and Eastern Europe. In short, tonight’s concert will be a true event.

A few fortunate fans attended the band’s soundchecks before the actual show, and were lucky to chat for a while with Klaus Meine (vocals) or James Kottak (drums). The doors open at 7 p.m, and the fans literally start running towards the stage: young, old, men, women, parents with their children, marathon runners and people walking on crutches – a real show in itself! We will have to wait till 8 p.m. before Karelia, a regional band, starts playing. They’re full of energy, and the set starts with “Restless”, the very good song that gives its name to the band’s latest album.


Karelia’s motivation is palpable, and the band obviously wishes to convince the 10,000 people in front of them. Playing before Scorpions is an excellent publicity stunt – and we must admit that, from the very first song on, the audience is captivated. People raising their hands and clapping – everything is united to put Karelia at ease, and in return, the musicians encourage the audience to participate even more.


The set-list is convincing, although one could lament the presence of three covers in a 40-minute-long set. These three covers (a version “with balls” of Moby’s “Lift Me Up”, Queen’s legendary “The Show Must Go On” and REM’s “Losing My Religion”) are very good, but even though they all can be found on the album, it would have been nice to hear more personal compositions from Karelia. The band won’t play any songs from their first two albums. Actually, they will even play a few songs (“The Show Must Go On” being one of them) from their upcoming album, to be released in 2010! The guys from Karelia are in the habit of composing songs way before they start recording them, which is interesting and original but can soon become extremely frustrating.


On one of the last songs, Matt appears on stage wearing a straitjacket and starts playing the madman behind his mike (which he does pretty well, actually). At the end of their set, he’s being marched out of the stage by “bodyguards” wearing Karelia T-shirts – an interesting joke that can easily make one smile. Without being sensational, the band’s stage business is very efficient. Matt’s vocals are beyond reproach, and his natural charisma is certainly the fruit of his experience as a marketing teacher! Loïc Jenn (drums) is also extremely charismatic, while the other members of the band, without being exactly shy, remain rather static. The band leaves the stage looking very happy with their performance and with the more than warm welcome they received from the audience. Well done, guys!



But don’t fool yourself: the 10,000 people gathered tonight have come for Scorpions. During the interlude between the two sets, tension goes up a notch, and impatience starts to shine in the eyes of the fans in front of the stage. Then the lights go off, and the crowd spontaneously moves closer to the stage. And of course, the clamour is defeaning.


The German rockers burst in on the stage under the cheering and screaming of the crowd. With his glittery pink jeans and short, platinum blonde hair, guitarist Rudolph Schenker, 60 years old, looks wilder than any of his bandmates. The show starts with “Coming Home”, which the elated audience sings along with the band. At the back of the stage, the name of the band appears in big white letters on a giant black screen. On each side of the stage, two other giant screens relay the show to the spectators who are too far from the stage.


Klaus, hidden behind his traditional sunglasses and beanie, doesn’t waste time and starts directing his microphone at the audience during the first song. The band’s energy is incredible, and their stage presence is greater than what most young bands can brag about. The musicians just won’t stop running around, and they even take the time to go very near to their fans thanks to the special configuration of the stage – impressive! Klaus’s nasal voice has remained the same and only goes off key from time to time. Hit songs are followed by hit songs: “Bad Boy”, “The Zoo”, “No play No Game”… Unfortunately, the photographers are asked to leave after only two songs, so we won’t be able to take any pictures of the night’s guests. Pity.


As Klaus said, tonight is a bit like a family meeting. Uli Jon Roth, former drummer Herman Rarebell, Rudy Lenners… The former members of the band have come to make the show even more exceptional. When Uli Jon Roth appears on stage, the audience is transported a few decades back. The man with the long hair and the grey beard seems very calm in his hippie suit and his scarf around his head. Beautiful! At 54, the gentleman hasn’t lost any of his guitar skills. Uli, with his impassive look and rare smile, offers us one of the many emotional moments of this concert.

The show goes on with the beautiful “Send Me An Angel” and the lively “Holiday”. The audience seems to know the lyrics as well as Klaus Meine. The band offers us another spectacular moment with James Kottak’s solo: the loony but over-talented drummer hits his instrument like a madman and encourages the audience to scream every time he stops banging. At the end of his personal show, James climbs on his drums and shows his tattooed back (“Rock’n’Roll Forever”) to the ecstatic audience. A real moment of trance. To continue with memorable drumming moments, James is joined on stage by the band’s former drummers. Herman and Rudy show up on stage with their own drums for a very nice show.



The concert is filled with hit songs like “Fly to the Rainbow” or “Big City”, where the giant screen in the background shows pictures of the world’s biggest capital cities. The Scorpions make their bow and leave the stage with an umpteenth word of thanks to “Strassssbuurg”. But the show couldn’t end like this. The giant screen asks the audience if they “want more”, which automatically sparks off a loud ovation. The musicians come back on stage for THE song that made Scorpions so famous: “Still Loving You”. As famous as the hymn may be, as long as you haven’t seen it live, you can’t really understand the sheer intensity of it. Klaus seems so inhabited by this song, which he performs perfectly, that the audience can’t possible not shed a tear, at least internally. The show goes on with “Humanity”, the beautiful title song of their latest album, that comes with images of 9/11 and bombing. Far from killing the mood, these pictures bring just the emotion we need to understand the meaning of the song. The legendary “Wind of Change”, sung almost entirely by a captivated audience, hasn’t been forgotten and will remain one of the greatest moments of the show. The venue is lit by mobile phones and cigarette lighters – and it’s beautiful.


The concert ends with the amazing “Hurricane”, and the audience is a bit sad to see the band leave the stage after a final bow that unites the current and former members. And let’s not forget the general “Happy Birthday” directed to Rudolph. One thing, however, is certain: after a two-hour-long show and an experience of 37 years (!!!) in the business, you won’t teach a Scorpion to make rock!

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