Moscow Setlist:(1:39:21)
Going Out With a Bang
Make It Real
The Zoo
Coast to Coast
Top of the Bill / Steamrock Fever / Speedy’s Coming / Catch Your Train (70’s medley)
We Built This House
Delicate Dance (Matthias Jabs solo)
Always Somewhere / Eye of the Storm / Send Me an Angel (Acoustic medley)
Wind of Change
Rock ‘n’ Roll Band
Overkill (Motörhead cover)
Drum Solo by Mikkey Dee
Blackout
Big City Nights
Encore:
Still Loving You
Rock You Like a Hurricane
SCORPIONS entire November 1 concert at Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow, Russia can be seen below.
German hard rock veterans SCORPIONS will release a new compilation album, “Born To Touch Your Feelings – Best Of Rock Ballads”, on November 24. The effort will include fourteen of the band’s most famous ballads plus three new songs which were recorded this past summer.
Says the band: “We have put our most beautiful and legendary ballads on a brand new album and are topping it off with three brand new songs: ‘Follow Your Heart’, ‘Always Be With You’ and ‘Melrose Avenue’. The album also includes a new acoustic recording of ‘Send Me An Angel’. Additionally, we’re going back to our roots with a brilliant cover photo by the legendary photographer Ellen von Unwerth. After the super-realistic art of Gottfried Helnwein (‘Blackout’) or Helmut Newton‘s legendary photo on the cover of ‘Love At First Sting’, this outstanding photo by Ellen will be worth its weight in gold.”
“Born To Touch Your Feelings – Best Of Rock Ballads” track listing:
“Born To Touch Your Feelings ” (MTV Unplugged Studio Edit)
“Still Loving You ” (Comeblack Version)
“Wind Of Change ” (Comeblack Version)
“Always Somewhere ” (2015 Remaster)
“Send Me An Angel ” (New Acoustic Version 2017)
“Holiday ” (2015 Remaster)
“Eye Of The Storm ” (Radio Edit)
“When The Smoke Is Going Down ” (2015 Remaster)
“Lonely Nights ”
“Gypsy Life ”
“House Of Cards ” (Single Edit)
“The Best Is Yet To Come ”
“When You Came Into My Life ” (MTV Unplugged Studio Edit)
“Lady Starlight ” (2015 Remaster)
“Follow Your Heart ” (New Full Band Version 2017)
“Melrose Avenue ” (New Song)
“Always Be With You” (New Song)
In a new interview with AZCentral.com, Scorpions guitarist Matthias Jabs discusses his fateful audition for the band, their first US tour with Ted Nugent, surviving the ’90s and why he doesn’t see another farewell tour on the horizon. Read an excerpt below:
Q: You’ve been opening shows with “Going Out With A Bang”, which also opens your most recent album. Does it feel like a late-career signature song for Scorpions?
A: “Yeah. I mean, first of all, it’s a great opening song and a song from the latest release. And not too many bands can say that they have a relatively new album on the market while celebrating their 50th anniversary. It’s 52 years for us. And of course it won’t go on forever but after announcing the farewell tour in 2010 and playing around the world for two years, we noticed during that tour, really, that the announcement came way too early and we are still having too much fun. The fans don’t want to let us go. The promoters don’t want to let us go. We get offers now for 2019 and it’s hard to say, “Yes, guaranteed, we will be there.” We are a bit more careful about all decisions regarding the future. But so far, it’s all very good. We are in great shape. The shows go very well.”
Q: You mentioned the farewell tour. When you decided to do that, did it feel like you could walk away from it?
A: “It was all influenced a bit by the manager we had at the time. We were asking each other, while traveling a couple weeks into the tour, ‘Who had the idea?’ And we found out nobody in the band had the idea. I was thinking, ‘OK, my colleagues are a bit older than I am, seven to eight years.’ But I was asking and, ‘No, not me.’ We found out it was more pushed by the manager. We thought, rationally, it might be a good idea to say “bye bye” while we were still in the best shape, leave the scene with the best impression and be remembered as a band that runs around like crazy. But seven years later, that still goes as well. We still run around like crazy. And we don’t look that much different. So we postponed the end of everything and now we don’t know. We learned also that there is no point in saying, ‘This is the very last concert!’”
Scorpions, with special guests Megadeth, are out on the Crazy World North American tour. Remaining Tour Dates below:
October
4 – Oracle Arena – Oakland, CA
7 – The Forum – Inglewood, CA
8 – Talking Stick Resort Arena – Phoenix, AZ
11 – Freeman Coliseum – San Antonio, TX
12 – Pavilion at the Music Factory – Irving, TX
14 – BB&T Center – Sunrise, FL
15 – Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL, US
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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 and close 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 played a blistering 50 minute set of their hits while getting the fans pumped throughout their time on stage. Note at other shows on this tour Megadeth is playing 60 minutes it will depend on the curfew at the venue. Either way a must see band live.
Megadeth(7:30-8:20) 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 guitar solo and classic rock star poses 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 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 was 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). After the acoustic set”Wind of Change” was next with Klaus declaring our world needs another “Wind of Change”. The Garden lit up like a Christmas tree during this ballad. Back to the Hard Rock portion of the evening 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. During most drum solos fans run to the bathroom or to get a drink. Not one person left the seating area. All i could see was stunned and amazement from everyone in the arena. After the Drum solo was complete Blue strobe lights and sirens rang out throughout the venue which led all band members back on stage to perform the 1982 classic Blackout. During this song Rudy Schenker’s guitar had smoke coming from the bottom of the flying V. The band sounded great doing this classic Hard Rocker. Then it was time for a “Big City Nights”. How appropriate to play this song in the biggest city on the planet”New York City”. Just imagine 19,000 people singing “Big City..Big City Nights”. A major highlight to close out 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 the 19,000 plus fans who showed up on a Saturday night to Rock The Garden. 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(8:50-10:30) 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
More than 50 years after the band began, business for Scorpions is as good as it ever was. Guitarist Matthias Jabs and drummer Mikkey Dee joined Q104.3’s “Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show” to talk about the band’s incredible career, the undying love it gets from its worldwide fanbase and the miracle worker who cured Jabs’ smoking habit. (19:11 interview)
Short Documentary of the Scorpions weekend in New York City-conducted by DW Music
Scorpions will be chatting LIVE with Eddie Trunk today on Trunk Nation! Have questions for the legendary German rockers? Be a part of the Facebook Live at 3pm ET today (September 12th, 2017).
MEGADETH will join SCORPIONS on a North American tour which will kick off on September 14 in Reading, Pennsylvania and conclude on October 15 in Tampa, Florida. The 16-date trek, dubbed the “Crazy World Tour”, celebrates SCORPIONS‘ 1990 LP of the same name.
Asked by the “Lamont And Tonelli Show”, which airs on the Bay Area rock station 107.7 The Bone, how the SCORPIONS–MEGADETH pairing came about, SCORPIONS guitarist Matthias Jabs said (hear audio on the above link): “It was a suggestion by our agent, from New York, of course. We have known MEGADETH for a long time. In Europe, we played together at festivals — in Portugal, in Spain and in other countries — years and years ago. And so they’re nice guys, they make great music, and I think it’s a great package.”
Two of the SCORPIONS‘ best-known songs, “Winds Of Change” and “Send Me An Angel”, both appear on “Crazy World”.
“When our album ‘Crazy World’ was released back in ’91, right at the end of the cold war, we toured around a world that was pretty crazy back then, but there was so much hope in the air for a more peaceful future,” SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine said. “Now, 26 years later, things are getting more crazy every other day. After all these years, ‘Crazy World’ is still a good motto for our upcoming world tour.”
MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson told Roppongi Rocks in April that “it is really a cool bill to play with SCORPIONS. We have played festivals with them over the years and it’s a really good fit musically between the two bands and our fans. Plus I think every metal fan loves a SCORPIONS song. Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH mainman] and I have always been fans and they are one of Kiko‘s [Loureiro, MEGADETH guitarist] favorites, too. They are a real guitar player’s kind of band. In fact, when Dave and I first met in 1983, we had a friend who was attending the school Musicians Institute in Hollywood and would come over to our place and jam early SCORPIONS songs. We always studied a lot of the European guitar players, because they had a different influence that worked well in metal…mostly classical inspirations. In a way, those jam sessions were inspiring in the development of the earliest MEGADETH compositions, especially the complexity in the solos and riffs. It was a really creative and innovative period that defined some of those earliest songs for ‘Killing Is My Business…’ and even ‘Peace Sells…’. I think the tour is going to see a lot of us reliving some cool memories from over th
On November 10, BackstageAxxess conducted an interview with singer Klaus Meine of German hard rock veterans SCORPIONS. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.
Speaking about the departure of longtime drummer James Kottak — who was dismissed from the band during his well-publicized his battle with alcoholism — and addition of former MOTÖRHEAD member Mikkey Dee, Klaus said: “With Mikkey, it’s fantastic. It really gives the band a fresh shot of energy. Mikkey, [he] joined this band where we just played the big encore. And at the end of this year, we all need a break. And Mikkey is, like, ‘C’mon, guys. We’ve gotta keep going. This is so fantastic. We have such a good time. The fans are amazing around the world. And let’s keep going.’ And we say, ‘Okay.’ But at this point, we’ve played everywhere. We’ve been everywhere — we’ve played all continents, and even in Australia. So at the end of this tour, we all need a break. But, of course, we will pick it up at some point, because it really feels great with Mikkey.”
He continued: “James [had] been with us for twenty years; it’s such a long run. And we’re still in touch, and it’s great to hear from him. He’s feeling much better now and he’s getting back on track. We said to him, ‘James, it’s so important… You’re a healthy guy. You’re the guy we all love so much — the band, your family, the fans — so you’ve gotta really take care of yourself and really think of you first and your health situation. So he went into a long rehab and was really taking it serious and really taking care about himself. And we gave him all the support we can give him. And it looks like he’s really in a good way, and his health at the end of this year is so much better than it’s been ever before. So that’s really good.”
Klaus added: “But what can I say? There came a point in the spring when we had to make this decision and really what’s great is that Mikkey came in and joined the band. He’s a great drummer, a great musician, a very powerful drummer and very well respected after more than twenty years with MOTÖRHEAD. It’s all about attitude, and he’s a great guy. The chemistry between us worked right away. We had a great time between when we played the Carolina Rebellion in early May until now. We had a lot of fun, and the SCORPIONS fans welcomed Mikkey. And at the same time, they’re sending their thoughts and prayers to James, which is a wonderful thing.”
German hard rock veterans SCORPIONS took part in a press conference prior to their October 21 concert at at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre in Singapore. You can now watch video footage of the question-and-answer session below.
Speaking about what keeps SCORPIONS going five decades into the band’s career, singer Klaus Meine said: “When we started the band, it was about the passion for music, love for rock and roll. We shared the same visions, and we shared the love for music, and [the desire] to be in a band. It was always… all those years, especially in the early years, about chemistry. Of course, you have great musicians — a great drummer, a great guitarist — but it was also about… You know, you spend so much time [together] being in a band, it’s like your second family, it’s your rock and roll family. And the guy can be the best musician in the world, but if he doesn’t fit right in, if you don’t feel comfortable spending so much time [together] — 24 hours [a day] and month after month and year after year. It’s very important to have a good company, and in a way, this was the foundation for the SCORPIONS — to have not only great, talented musicians, but also good friends, and travel the whole world. So there was this vision from the early days on — we take our music all over the world, and we did.”
He continued: “We’ve been pretty much all over the globe all those years, but the passion for what we’re doing is still there, the fire is still burning very strongly. And we feel a very strong connection with our fans all over the planet, in so many places, and therefore it’s so great to come here back to Singapore. We believe we have a great show this time around, and we wanna share it with our fans, and it’s a wonderful thing.
“Yes, we celebrate fifty years of SCORPIONS, but I guess it’s much more than that. The fact that the band is still together and we still put on a damn good show. And with Mikkey [Dee, drums; ex-MOTÖRHEAD] just joining the band, there’s a fresh wave of energy, and it’s a lot of fun, and we enjoy every night.
“So we’re still excited about doing all those trips and taking our music all over the world. This vision never left us. And at the same time, creating new songs — playing not only the big classics on our show, but also to present new material, new songs from our latest album, ‘Return To Forever’. So it’s the whole package, I guess, that makes the band very, very special. And we still enjoy it very much — not being superstars or anything, but being musicians, being artists, and expressing ourselves though the music and having a wonderful time with our fans all over the world.”
SCORPIONS in September announced the addition of former Dee as a permanent replacement for SCORPIONS‘ longtime drummer James Kottak. Dee had spent the last few months filling in for Kottak, who was said to be on break while he sought medical attention.
