For most bands getting on their years, sometimes the stage show and showmanship starts to dwindle off a little- something that definitely was not the case for the longtime German band The Scorpions. The band’s nearly two-hour set [...]]]>

Klaus Meine & the Scorpions live in an earlier date in 2010 (Photo: www.scorpions.com)

For most bands getting on their years, sometimes the stage show and showmanship starts to dwindle off a little- something that definitely was not the case for the longtime German band The Scorpions. The band’s nearly two-hour set showed that they still gives us the big stage show and rock spectacle that bands 20 years younger than them struggle to do.

Playing to a crowd around 10,000, The Scorpions started off with the title track from their new album, Sting in The Tail, showing off a band still in good form and running around stage with the greatest of ease despite most of its members pushing 60. Guitarist Rudolf Schenker was the most active, as he kept fans on both sides of the stage entertained.

The Scorpions spent a good part of the first half of the set on new material, such as the ballad “The Best Is Yet to Come” and the driving track “Raised on Rock.” As to be expected, the loudest reception early on came through fan favorites “The Zoo” and “Tease Me, Please Me.” The band also did a mini-intimate set at the catwalk of the stage, playing the Crazy World-era ballad “Send Me An Angel,” which got a big pop from the audience.

After a very spirited drum solo from the sole American playing with them, James Kottak (including a very unusual visual montage behind him), the band seemed to hit their stride. With the big riffs of “Big City Nights” and “No One Like You” carrying them, the band would go into bigger songs like “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and kept the fans jamming all the way to the end.

Given the Scorpions enjoyable set, and a 50-minute performance from a resurgent Cinderella (I honestly could hear “Gypsy Road” and “Shake Me” all night and be just fine), this was quite the show. If this was in fact the last time the Scorpions hit Detroit, nobody in the audience should complain about the show they put on.

After 40+ years in the music business, the band that brought German hard rock to the masses for the first time is starting to wind down their career. In 2009, the band announced to fans that the band had written their last [...]]]>

The Scorpions' hurricane force rock hits DTE on Thursday.

After 40+ years in the music business, the band that brought German hard rock to the masses for the first time is starting to wind down their career. In 2009, the band announced to fans that the band had written their last album and was gearing up for a lengthy farewell tour.

The Scorpions released their final album, “Sting In The Tail”, back in March to positive reviews and showed that the band is still putting out quality music, even as the founding and longtime members of the group pushing the age of 60. And fans seemed to be pleased, as the album debuted here in the States at #23 upon its release- which became the band’s highest charting debut since 1991’s huge album “Crazy World”.

But now that the band has released their album, the band is going out on the road for a tour that the band plans to extend into at least 2012. Except the band to hit a huge amount of cities and festivals in this time, so you should get a chance to see the band before they call it a day.

The band’s first leg of their “Get Your Sting & Blackout Tour” will take place in the U.S. through August 21^st, and one of the early dates on the tour will come to DTE Energy Music Theater as the band plays on Thursday, July 1^st. Long time hair metal band Cinderella opens the show as you will get to hear the new and old from these bands.

Given the fact that the tour plans on going until at least 2012, it is likely that it won’t be the very, very last time the Scorpions play Detroit- but you never know. Instead of taking a chance on a future show, make sure to get out to Clarkston and hear the numerous hits and hear the band’s new “Sting”.

The Scorpions play at DTE Energy Music Theater on Thursday, July 1^st. Tickets range from $35-45 for pavilion seats and $10 lawn tickets are available. Additional dates and band info are available at www.the-scorpions.com.

After almost 40 years in the business and 17 studio albums, longtime German rock band The Scorpions recently announced that their latest album, Sting in the Tail, would be their last and they would be retiring. But the band wanted [...]]]>

The Scorpions' 17th and potentially last album should please core fans.

After almost 40 years in the business and 17 studio albums, longtime German rock band The Scorpions recently announced that their latest album, Sting in the Tail, would be their last and they would be retiring. But the band wanted to give fans one last album that should show fans if there is any  ’sting in the tail’ left (yeah, I know – that was really bad).

With the new album, the Scorpions don’t try to go off in bizarre directions or try to pump out their greatest hits to a symphony (they already did that back in 2000), but go for a group of songs that will satisfy fans of any era of the band’s music.

The album starts with the only track that may seem a little off to Scorpion fans of yore, the boogie based “Raised to Rock,” in which the track comes off like something more out of Aerosmith’s back catalog than the Scorpions. But they make up for the opening song sputter with some songs that are sure to rekindle the 80s hard rock glory days. Tracks like the title track and “Slave Me” come off as polished and sound fresh, in which the guitar duo of Matthais Jabs and Rudolf Schenker show they haven’t lost it after all these years. Check out the track “No Limit” and tell me you don’t hear echoes of one of their 80s hits, “Big City Nights.”

Even though this reviewer isn’t a fan of power ballads, fans of the “Winds of Change” early 90s Scorpions will want to check out songs like “The Good Die Young” and “Lorelei.” The band bids adieu to its fans on the final track, aptly titled “The Best Is Yet to Come” that comes out as a fitting end for the band (if they don’t decide to come back in a couple of years).

Sting In The Tail is the  musical equivalent to a TV show that might have jumped the shark during their run but you still want to come back for the final episode to see how it ends.  Even people that lost track of the Scorpions after their heyday will be pleasantly satisfied, unlike many bands of that era, to see that the band will most likely end on a positive note.