What many fans thought was the final go- round in the summer of 2010, ended up extending The Scorpions “Final Sting” tour into 2012 and once again brought it back to the same place they have played 3 times in the last 5 years (Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto). In doing this, it surely affected ticket sales as modest crowd of approximately 5,000 witnessed another stellar effort from Germany’s best musical export.
Vocalist Klaus Meine sounded amazing the entire evening and hit almost every note with perfection. Guitarist Rudolph Schenker ran around all night like a madman and donned the famous mask that accompanied the cover of the “Blackout” album when they played that title track. Guitarist Mattias Jabs and Schenker played a custom made Explorer and Flying V respectively for the songs “Send Me an Angel” and “Holiday.” They both were very sharp guitars and I still haven’t seen anything like it since they brought the guitars out on their last run as well.
The Scorpions had had the guitar tech take the stage and play a 3rd guitar on “The Best is Yet to Come.” Kottak did the same drum solo he did in 2010, with a video accompanying his solo showing him going through Scorpions years past. Schenker is one of the most entertaining axe men on the planet and the show in Toronto was no different. He was everywhere and pointing and throwing out guitar picks. Meine also threw out drum sticks to the fans towards the end of the set. In fact, the entire band was very interactive throughout the performance. All of the songs sounded true to form minus maybe “Tease Me, Please Me,” which seemed to lack in tone and energy.
Overall , a great set by a legendary band that doesn’t get any Rock and Roll Hall of Fame talk, but should. If they do continue to tour, maybe they should get a new booking agent and hit areas that they haven’t played in years instead of going to the same ole venues.
Set List:
Sting in the Tail
Make it Real
Is There Anybody out There?
The Zoo
Coast to Coast
Loving You Sunday Morning
Wind of Change
The Best is Yet to Come
Send Me an Angel
Holiday
Raised on Rock
Tease Me, Please Me
Hit Between the Eyes
Kottak Attack
Blackout
Mattias Jabs guitar solo
Big City Nights
Encore:
Still Loving You
No One Like You
Rock You Like a Hurricane
We would like to thank Candace Valin from Livenation Canada for assisting BackstageAxxess.com in obtaining credentials to review the show.
