The Scorpions at The Myth.

written by: Cory Q

LA Guns and Scorpions, The Myth, Friday, Aug 8th, 2008.

Let's talk about rock. And cool. And attending concerts. Let's talk about getting older while we are at it. You might have guessed that these topics are all wrapped up together. I'll cut to the chase for you: I have been going to concerts for nigh on twenty years and at this point can't even rightly name all the shows I have seen. This isn't a boast, it is just a fact. My mind is going. So are my knees. My hearing is still fine. I believe in ear plugs.

After all these years I have come to appreciate sitting down at a show since my knees hurt after four hours of standing on concrete. I'm also short so general admissions isn't generally kind to me. Oh, sure, I once raised my elbows and went into the pit when I saw Lords of Acid back in my college days, but those wild and unruly times are long passed. I also don't worry about who is playing at the hottest or biggest venues. Put simply: I'm fine with liking the music that I do and I don't care if anyone younger or older thinks it is cool. I'm only concerned with my own conception of cool nowadays.

One thing that is cool is a good friend (Kev, in this case, who is a metal head from way back) calling to offer up concert tickets. Another cool thing is when the tickets are for heavy metal legends, The Scorpions. How the heck could I turn down free tickets to that show? You're right. I couldn't.

The show was at The Myth on Friday, August 8th, 2008. The doors opened at 7pm. Neither Kev nor I had been to this venue before. The place itself is nice. A good amount of room on the floor, but the rear sides near the exit and restrooms is very narrow. There is a VIP section upstairs as well. If you are familiar with venues in the Twin Cities, think of a cross between The Varsity and The Cabooze but with a much better lighting rig than both places put together, and a little more 'upscale' or 'trendy' vibe.

The opening act, L.A. Guns went on exactly at 8pm. I like a venue that keeps things moving! For those that aren't familiar, L.A. Guns is a sleaze-hair-metal band that has fractured (original founding member and guitarist Tracii Guns started working with the group Brides of Destruction and then formed a different version of LA Guns...oh, the drama) but kept touring. The particular line up we saw featured Phil Lewis and Steve Riley (original singer and drummer) along with Stacey Blades on guitar and Scott Griffin on bass. I have only a passing acquaintance with LA Guns work, but I like the sound. They played a solid, hour long set.

Here is the best I could do for the LA Guns set list:
Sleazy Come Easy Go
Kiss My Love Goodbye
Over the Edge
Electric Gypsy (I think...)
Hellraisers Ball.

A just a tick after 9:30, The Scorpions took the stage. The immediate good part was that behind the band, there was a large wall that was basically a huge live time screen and the platform they were playing on was raised a little bit. The immediate bad part is that the floor, being general admission, was packed and being short I had to dodge a lot of heads to see anything. So it goes.

The Scorpions were in fine form and came out rocking. They were all very comfortable on stage and with each other. They loved the crowd*, and the crowd loved them. Klaus Meine (the lead singer) sounded great as did Rudolph Scheneker (guitars) particularly. In fact, the whole line up (the other members of the band being Matthias Jabs on guitar, James Kottak on drums, and Pawel Maciwoda on bass) was solid. During the tune "Coast to Coast" everyone of the guys (minus the drummer, obviously) was playing guitar. It was awesome! Later in the show, everyone was on the drums, too. I don't recall another show where the band so freely worked together. The intensity was high through the whole show. It was exactly what a rock concert in a venue that size should be: Loud, well staged, on time, well lit, and a generous mix of hits the crowd can sing with. I would say that if you have even a passing interest in the heavy metal sound of The Scorpions, you should try to catch a show. I definitely felt like I had reconnected with my inner rocker after this gig!

The set list #.
But The Best For You (??)
We Let It Rock… You Let It Roll
The Zoo
No Pain, No Gain
(??)
Coast to Coast
Send Me An Angel
Loving You Sunday Morning
Leaving You
Humanity
3 2 1
drum solo
Blackout
Big City Nights
-Encore-
No One Like You
Still Loving You
Rock You Like A Hurricane

*As Kev rightly pointed out, the crowd was split clearly between real metal heads, and folks who were out for an evening at a club and didn't really care about the show. I'm talking about the music lovers, which I think was the greater part of the crowd. And, for a crowd that size and so closely packed, everyone was pretty cool.

# Standing amongst people a head taller than you in a packed, dark, loud venue doesn’t easily lend itself to taking notes in a moleskine journal. But I do it anyway, for you, the reader! Any inaccuracies are due to not being able to read my own writing after the fact.

Scorpions official web site.

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