Saturday September 16th after 33 years the Scorpions made their return to “The World’s Most Famous Arena””Madison Square Garden”. It was packed to the top of the rafters. One ticket agent told me there were less then 1,000 tickets left as of 6pm. That means over 19,000 people attended Saturday nights Scorpions/Megadeth show. Not one person went home disappointed that night. This was my first time at the Garden. I have been to over 100 plus shows in my life and there is nothing like seeing a show in New York City on a Saturday night. The Energy outside of the building was electric all day long. I took the MSG tour Saturday morning and was able to see the crew setup the stage prior to the show. I soaked in the atmosphere all day long in NYC. While wearing a Scorpions shirt all day i was stopped a number of times by people asking me about the Scorpions. It felt like one big family in the city. This show was very important to the Scorpions. All members flew in their families(Wives/kids/friends) to witness this event. There were VIP’s and celebrities all over the venue. When i walked into the Garden at 6:30pm i could feel it in the air. The nervous tension in the air. This was not your normal Saturday night show. This was the Return of the Scorpions to the Garden. Lets take a trip back in time to the last time the Scorpions played the Garden(June 6-7-8 1984). The Scorpions opening act on those 3 shows was a unknown American band called Bon Jovi. Wow how times have changed in 33 years. On this night and on this 17 date North American tour the Special Guest is Megadeth. If you have never seen Megadeth please get to the venue early. The time on your ticket is when Megadeth will hit the stage. They play a blistering 50 minute set of their hits and got the fans pumped throughout their time on stage.
Megadeth Setlist- 1)Hangar 18 2)Mechanix 3)Take No Prisoners 4)Dystopia 5)Trust 6)Tornado of Souls 7)Symphony of Destruction 8)Peace Sells 9)Holy Wars(The Punishment Due)
Around 8:50 the lights went out and the party began. For the next 1 hour and 40 minutes the Scorpions rocked the Garden like no other night. Klaus Meine was in great vocal form all night and Rudy Schenker was running around the stage like it was 1984 all over again. Matthias Jabs hit every solo and was smiling all night long. Pawel Maciwoda played his heart out and Mikkey Dee has added a new powerful element to the Scorpions show which has been missing since the early 90’s. Band members could be seen looking up to the top of the venue enjoying the size of the crowd and the reaction from their fans who had come from all over the world to witness this amazing night. The show started out with a new cool intro video that led into “Going out with a Bang” which was followed by Make It Real. Klaus introduced the next song which was written about a street about 8 blocks from MSG-42st street called “The Zoo”. The place went nuts during this 7 minute version of this song. Next up was Coast to Coast an instrumental from the Lovedrive album that showcased Rudy and Matthias on co-lead guitars with Klaus playing some Rhythm guitar. For me the next 8 minutes were a major highlight of the evening. The band decided to pay homage to their 70’s albums with a medley of 4 songs(Top of the Bill-Steamrock Fever-Speedy’s Coming and Catch Your Train). Next song was “We Built This House” the 1st single from their latest album Return to Forever. This song fit in perfectly with the set and the fans who have not bought the new album i think will go out and get it now. It was time for Matthias to step up to the spotlight with his instrumental “Delicate Dance” which also had Matthias guitar tech”Ingo Powitzer” on backing guitar. Now it was time to slow things down with a 3 song acoustic medley from 3 different decades(Always Somewhere(1979),Eye of the Storm(2015),Send me an Angel(1990). “Wind of Change” was next with Klaus declaring our world needs another “Wind of Change”. Back to the Hard Rock with a new song “Rock and Roll Band” from Return to Forever”. The band now showcased new drummer Mikkey Dee who in my opinion is one of the best drummers i have ever seen in concert. They paid tribute to the late-great Lemmy Kilmister(who by the way was a huge Scorpions fan) with a cover of “Overkill” and then a 7 minute drum solo where Mikkey’s drums rose about 25 feet in the air. Most drum solos fans run to the bathrooms or to get a beer. Not one person left the seating area. All i could see was stunned and amazement from everyone in the arena. Blackout was next up with smoke coming from Rudy Schenker’s guitar and the band just sounding great doing this classic Hard Rocker. Then it was time for a “Big City Nights” which closed the first part of the show. For the Encores the band returned to played 3 of their biggest songs. First was New York City there’s “No One Like You” which had everyone singing and dancing on their seats. Second probably the most emotional part of the evening. Klaus told fans they were going to have a “Hurricane Relief Fund” at every show on this North American run (Text-Give Rock to 80077) and then introduced “Still Loving You’. There wasn’t a dry eye in the arena during this song. And now for the closer “Rock You Like A Hurricane”. The song that defined a decade and is still being played at all stadiums around the world. This song tore the roof off the Garden. You could feel the ground shaking under you during this song. While the Scorpions thanked everyone in attendance and looked at the 19,000 plus fans who showed up on a Saturday night to Rock. You could tell this band after 52 years still has some great years ahead of them and a return to the Garden before they ride into the sunset is possible. But if it doesn’t happen the fans know the Scorpions gave them everything they had on Saturday September 16 and we the fans gave them everything we had on that night. So thank you Scorpions for all the great concerts and the great music you have provided us throughout the years. Don’t Forget Us Because We Will Never Forget You!!!
Scorpions Setlist- 1) Going Out with a Bang 2) Make It Real 3) The Zoo 4) Coast To Coast 5) 70’s medley-(Top of the Bill-Steam rock Fever-Speedy’s Coming-Catch Your Train) 6) We Built This House 7) Delicate Dance 8) Acoustic Medley-(Always Somewhere-Eye of the Storm-Send Me An Angel) 9) Wind of Change 10) Rock and Roll Band 11) Overkill(Motorhead cover) 12) Mikkey Dee Drum Solo 13) Blackout 14) Big City Nights ENCORE- 15) No One Like You 16) Still Loving You 17) Rock You Like A Hurricane
