German heavy metal legends The Scorpions kicked off the US leg of their 50th anniversary tour last week at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston. I was in town for a speaking gig at Inbound15 (Hubspot’s annual gathering of marketers), and I always bring my gear hoping to shoot at least one show on the road. This worked out perfectly because I haven’t seen the Scorpions since… shit, I don’t think I’ve ever seen these guys live. Metal bucket list checked.
I grew up listening to these guys in the ’80s and throughout the ’90s (holy shit, I feel old) and who in the hell could tell that Rudolph Schenker started this band back in 1965. It’s unreal to see how well these guys look and how incredible they sound. This was absolutely one of the coolest shows I’ve seen so far in 2015. Rudolph Schenker, vocalist Klaus Meine, guitarist Matthias Jabs, bassist Pawel Maciwoda, and drummer James Kottak show no signs of slowing down—and in fact I think they could easily do this a few more times if they wanted to.
The Scorpions’ 18th album of original studio material, Return to Forever was released last week as well. The album features songs that were started in the 1980s, around the time of the band’s masterpieces, Blackout and Love at First Sting. What started as outtakes turned into a brand new record that captures the magic of the band at their prime and translates perfectly today.
The setlist reminded me how much I love this band and I don’t think I could have asked for any additions or subtractions. Highlights were a heavy as hell version of “The Zoo,” an over the top arena rock worthy “No One Like You,” and a blistering version of “Blackout.” There was even a stripped down acoustic set (Rudolph must have the world’s only acoustic Flying V by the way), that included the terribly under celebrated gem “Send Me an Angel” followed by the colossal hit, “Wind of Change.”
By the way, for some reason I totally missed that for the past decade or so the Scorps have had James Kottak on the drums. This guy could be one of the most amazing drummers I’ve ever seen live. He looks like a cross between Billy Idol and Johnny Rotten and put on a sort of one man show in the middle of the set that completely blew my mind.
What’s even cooler is that prog-metal gods Queensryche opened up the show. I know what you’re thinking—that it’s not Queensryche without Geoff Tate. Horseshit. Todd La Torre sings the classics flawlessly and young gun Parker Lundgren is a welcome addition to the band—and their combined contributions to the new music is taking the band into new territory both sonically and by measure of pure heaviness.
I saw Queensryche on the Monsters of Rock Cruise earlier this year and was impressed (even though Scott Rockenfield almost gave me the gong during my karaoke version of “Welcome to the Jungle,” not cool) but this time around they were even better.
The mighty Queensryche took back the throne as kings of metal, ripping through early stuff, Empire stuff, and most importantly Mindcrime material. Their new songs sound fantastic as well and their new record, Condition Human drops on October 2. I look forward to seeing them again on the Monsters of Rock Cruise 2016 and maybe I can redeem myself with a karaoke version of “I am I,” which I would love to see them play live.
QUEENSRYCHE
50th anniversary editions of their classic records, most notably the 2 masterpieces that changed the rock n roll landscape forever; Blackout and Love at First Sting hit stores on November 6th. Don’t miss these classics remastered in all their glory on 180g vinyl.
Check out hi res pics in the gallery here.
