The SCORPIONS
by LAURA SEDOR
The Scorpions are not showing any signs of fatigue as they rocked the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont on Sept 26th. Even though the original line-up is not perfectly intact, rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker started the band in 1965 and has had vocalist Klaus Meine with him since 1969. A documentary dedicated to the band is coming to select U.S. theaters on October 14. Titled Forever and a Day, the film was directed by Katja von Garnier, who was granted access to the group’s inner circle for 18 months while they embarked on their Final Sting tour in 2012. At the time, those dates were being billed as the Scorpions’ farewell, but as the shows wore on, the band members started rethinking their decision - a change that was captured by von Garnier’s cameras.
The Scorpions opened the show with a new song; “Going Out with a Bang”, from their 2015 release Return to Forever and then swept right into “The Zoo” and “Make It Real”. Klaus Meine was clearly nostalgic about the city of Chicago and the many times they’ve played here, bringing up their first concert in the city at the Aragon Ballroom in 1979 and telling the enthusiastic crowd how much they appreciate their support. They followed this with a great medley of deep cuts from the 70’s including “Top of the Bill”, “Speedy’s Coming” and “Catch Your Train” along with a few others.
After a fantastic guitar solo and the always crazy Kottak Attack drum solo on his elevated drum riser, the Scorps got into their biggest hits for the last 5 songs of the night. “Blackout”, “No One Like You”, and “Big City Nights”, and they closed the show with a two song encore of “Still Lovin’ You” and the amazing “Rock You Like a Hurricane.” The Scorpions played a tight set that sounded great with stunning visuals, an amazing performance from a truly professional band that has been around a long time and should continue to rock for many years to come