QUDOS Bank Arena, Sydney
Wednesday 26 February 2020
Reviewer : Grant Ottley
Photographer : David Youdell
When the news came through around lunchtime on Saturday that this show had been postponed due to a Medical Emergency, which turned out to refer to Scorpions lead Singer Klaus Meine suffering with Kidney Stones… dejected though I was, I just hoped that it was nothing too serious. But I also couldn’t help but think of the local Scorps fans who had gone though a similar disappointment in 2018 when the band pulled out on the day of a show with Def Leppard. However, by Tuesday, the news had come through that the show would indeed go ahead the next day.
It was a respectable crowd for a Wednesday given that there would almost certainly be a chunk of people who had travelled from afar for the show on the weekend that couldn’t make it back for mid-week. I have to say that gaining entry into Arena shows in this day and age is almost as painful as catching an international flight! There have always been bag checks, I know there are all sorts of security issues to be aware of, but the body-scans & pat downs seem over the top.
Once inside & seated, it’s not long before the lights go down and Whitesnake’s intro music ‘My Generation’ strikes up… a clever intro song if ever there was one. “Here’s a song for ya” from Mr. Coverdale, and into the Opening salvo: ‘Bad Boys’, ‘Slide it in’ & ‘Love Ain’t no Stranger’. The Whitesnake fans, waiting since 2008, couldn’t ask for a better opening.
What’s really obvious by now is that this band is red hot! Tommy Aldridge, in his 3rd stint as a snake, a blur of arms and hair with machine gun double kick. On the Rickenbacker bass, and killer backing vocals, introduced as “the suave, the debonair, the man with all the goodies“, Michael Devin. Bandleader Reb Beach seems to be covering all the bases, from great backing vocals and lightning solos, while also giving the Viking looking Joel Hoekstra plenty of room to shine as well. With Michele Luppi on organ rounding out the lineup, David Coverdale has always been an expert recruiter, and he’s excelled himself with this latest incarnation.
With “All those F@#king fires are out I hope?!” we get a superlative ‘Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City’. Guitarists Reb Beach & Joel Hoekstra trade guitar solos before joining together with a crowd pleasing ‘Waltzing Matilda’ to finish. Tommy Aldridge provided his famed drum solo, throwing his sticks into the crowd halfway through & proceeding to beat even more hell out his kit using his bare hands.
Just as the opening stanza had plenty of punch, the band finish with a series of bangs… ‘Fool For Your Lovin’’, ‘Give Me All Your Love’, ‘Here I Go Again’, and ‘Still Of The Night’, before David Coverdale leaves us with “Be safe, be happy and don’t let ANYBODY make you afraid!” Sage words in this current climate!
The Scorpions’ intro video of a helicopter flying through a dazzling cityscape and dark figures abseiling out of the chopper before the band run out on stage, kicking into ‘Going Out With A Bang, is really effective. In fact, with the whole stage covered by projections throughout the show, the production is stunning, and Klaus Meine, after his health issues of days before is immense. For the little fella to be onstage at all is a victory, but he kills it tonight.
Rudolf Schenker is a bundle of energy and crazy faces, while Matthias Jabs and bass player Paweł Mąciwoda prowl the stage keeping everything rocking along, and up the back, Mikky Dee is thrashing his kit into submission. While surrounded by video screens, it seems like his kit is suspended in mid air. Later, during his solo when the kit is lifted some 15 feet, he actually IS. If there is a human incarnation of the drummer from the Muppet show, it’s this guy!
Not being overly familiar with the set, it feels like the band play more instrumentals than they normally would perhaps to give Klaus a bit more recovery time. Whether that was the case or not, he certainly made use of it as he was fresh and in great voice throughout the set. Highlights were ‘The Zoo’ from Animal Magnetism, the medley of 70’s tunes mid set, newer song ‘We Built This House’ and ‘Blackout’ really stood out. I can really see why these guys are held in such esteem. All the while the projection show went from fit-inducing strobes, to trippy psychedelia, cool 3d effects, and a stage full of virtual Marshalls, the production a rollercoaster ride on its own.
‘Send Me An Angel’ goes out to the firefighters and wildlife rescuers, while ‘Winds of Change’ in front of a projected Berlin Wall gets the crowd singing along en masse at the crowd cam shown on the side screens. Klaus gives an emotional apology for the delay of the show, before going out with ‘Still Loving You’, and finishing with (of course) ‘Rock you like a Hurricane’.
I’m really glad for the fans (and the bands) that this show came off in the end, hopefully we’ll see each of these bands back in these part one more time.
SCORPIONS
WHITESNAKE
