Scorpions Ignite The Santa Barbara Bowl

The Scorpions Ignite the Santa Barbara Bowl with their 50th Anniversary Tour

Scorpions-SantaBarbarBowl-SantaBarbara_CA-20151006-34 (28)By Allie Jorgen and Roc Boyum for LA Metal Media

Photos by Roc Boyum for LA Metal Media

The night of October 6, 2015 was as hot as any summer night and at the Santa Barbara Bowl it was the perfect setting for a hot outdoor rock show.

The sold out crowd was in intense anticipation for the Scorpions and you could hear the entire crowd singing Scorpions songs waiting for the band to hit the stage.

The Scorpions exploded onto the stage with one of their new songs, “Going Out With A Bang” from their new album Return To Forever, and the audience erupted with a resounding roar.

This tour is called the “50th Anniversary” tour and I was blown away at how amazing the band sounded. Frontman, Klaus Meine mesmerized the crowd, with his voice in prime form and reminding us what Rock and Roll legends are made of. It’s one thing to keep your chops up on an external instrument, guitar, bass drums etc. but for a vocalist it’s all about keeping your voice in top condition, and Klaus was just as incredible as ever.

 

The show was a full 90 minutes with songs from their entire catalog.

The 70’s material from the Uli John Roth period gave the audience incredible energy and was awesome to see live. It was songs like “Rock’n Roll Band ” from their latest LP, Return To Forever and “Big City Nights” from their 1984 Love at first Sting LP that had the audience singing every word and following Klaus’s every command. When Klaus announced “Winds of Change” from their 1990 Crazy World LP; a song about hope and bringing change to the world, the entire audience held up cell phone flashlights and lighters proving that music really can bring everyone together. Awesome!!!

 

 

As the band shredded through the show with Rudolf Schenker on rhythm guitar and the band’s newest member, Pawel Maciwoda on bass (since 2004) and Matthias Jabs on lead guitar they ripped through all the classics and exploded with their new songs. Matthias’ guitar solos sounded better live than on record.

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About three quarters of the way through the show came the “Kottak Attack.”

Southern California drummer, James Kottak, who has been with the Scorpions since 1996, was elevated in the air on his drum riser for a drum solo and crowd went into a frenzy. The crowd witnessed the high energy, crazy 80’s type Rock Drum Solo with assorted double bass rock chops. As he interjected various different monologues throughout his solo the finale ended with the crowd screaming Scorpions, as he repeated the bass drum call and the audience answered (Scorpions), which became faster and faster until it just became one big roar! Truly a classic rock show with a huge 80’s rock drum solo which is exactly what this era of music is all about; Entertainment!!!

The show then continued with classic tracks from their Blackout LP; “Blackout” followed by “No One Like You”. and the last song before the encore which is always a crowd favorite, “Big City Nights” from their 1984 Love At First Sting LP.

The encore of “Still Loving You” had the entire crowd on their feet and signing along, not wanting this incredible night to end and when the grand finale of the night started with “Rock You Like a Hurricane” everyone knew it was the perfect end to an amazing show; with the Scorpions showcasing their vast catalog and some of the best songs in the history of Rock & Roll.

Although the Scorpions do not have any more shows in the United States, they will continue on this tour over in Europe through the end of March 2016, so if you missed them in the states, be sure to catch this amazing show overseas and prepare for an awesome night of Rock & Roll!!!

 

For more tour dates http://www.the-scorpions.com

 

The set was:

Going Out With a Bang

Make It Real

The Zoo

Coast to Coast

Top of the Bill / Steamrock Fever / Speedy’s Coming / Catch You Train

We Built This House

Delicate Dance

Always Somewhere / Eye of the Storm / Send Me an Angel

Wind of Change

Rock’n’ Roll Band

Dynamite

In the Line of Fire

Kottack Attack

Blackout

No One Like You

Big City Nights

ENCORE:

Still Loving You

Rock You Like a Hurricane