Hard to believe that the German hard rock institution known as the Scorpions have now been around for 50 years...and they almost didn't make it that far, as the band had threatened to retire a few years back but apparently had a change of heart and have kept on going strong. Back in 2012, the band set out on their Sting in the Tale world tour, culminating in an emotional homecoming show on December 17 of that year at the Olympiahalle in Munich in front of a very large, adoring crowd. Running through 21 songs from throughout their career (though only one from the Uli Roth era), this live set is a virtual hits collection of the bands material from 1980 to the present, and though the band have obviously aged a bit since their heyday, they still put on a highly energetic set that can easily whip a crowd into a frenzy.
It takes the band a few songs to warm up here, especially lead vocalist Klaus Meine, who has a hard time hitting some of the high notes on opening songs "Sting In the Tail", "Make it Real", and "Is There Anybody There?", but he settles in nicely on the rampaging "The Zoo" and seemingly comes out refreshed after the herculean instrumental "Coast to Coast". Very lively renditions of "Loving You Sunday Morning", "Raised on Rock", "Tease Me Please Me", "Blackout", and of course "No One Like You" and "Rock You Like a Hurricane" are the heavy rocking highlights, with lead guitarist Matthias Jabs still showing his stellar skills, though some might argue his guitar is a tad too high in the mix...guitar lovers certainly won't! There is a heavy reliance on the ballads here, but the band performs them impeccably, especially "We'll Burn the Sky", "Holiday", "Wind of Change" and "Still Loving You", the latter further proof why Rudolph Schenker should stick to what he does best, which is rhythm guitar, and not play solos (ouch!)
As for the audio and video quality it's quite good, though the camera work is quite schizophrenic and jumps all over the place at odd moments, and the director seems to have a fascination with drummer James Kottak, who gets an incredible amount of camera time. It's as if he tipped the crew to make sure he's one of the main stars here, as if having his name tattooed on his chest and adorning his drum set wasn't enough to get him noticed...and you'll note, he was recently replaced in the band by former Motorhead drummer Mickey Dee. As for the packaging, no booklet included or any bonus material on the Blu-ray, making for somewhat of a bare bones set, but the performance more than makes up for what might be missing.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
01. Sting In The Tail
02. Make It Real
03. Is There Anybody There?
04. The Zoo
05. Coast To Coast
06. Loving You Sunday Morning
07. We'll Burn The Sky
08. The Best Is Yet To Come
09. Send Me An Angel
10. Holiday
11. Raised On Rock
12. Tease Me Please Me
13. Hit Between The Eyes
14. Kottak Attack
15. Blackout
16. Big City Nights
17. Still Loving You
18. Wind Of Change
19. No One Like You
20. Rock You Like A Hurricane
21. When The Smoke Is Going Down