BANGKOK CONCERT
Published: 15/02/2011 at 12:00 AM
In a month in which the guitar superstars of the world are jostling for space at Bangkok's Impact Arena, turning up 35 minutes late to your show is no way to distinguish yourself. But if the hordes of rock fanatics who descended on Muang Thong Thani last Thursday night were frustrated by Scorpions' tardiness, all was quickly forgiven as the band erupted into a thrilling introduction and segued, rather loudly, into Sting In The Tail, the title track off the band's 17th _ and, purportedly, last _ release.
The purpose of the show was to showcase that album and, as a farewell, wrap things up neatly for the sake of Bangkok's many reverent Scorpions fans. With Eric Clapton, The Eagles and Carlos Santana all jetting in to Suvarnabhumi over the coming weeks, however, Scorpions were never going to let their opening advantage go to waste. Instead, the sexagenarians delivered a performance as immediately electrifying and deeply refreshing as if they were playing their classic material _ some of it going on 40 years old _ for the first time.
It was only frontman Klaus Meine who disappointed at the outset. While his countertenor was in sparkling form, Meine stood fairly static, clutching a microphone stand, as the rest of the band did the running for him. Vague lassoing gestures were as close as Meine got early on to whipping up the crowd's passion as two vocal cord surgeries and the debaucheries of rock 'n' roll life seemed to have finally caught up with him. It took until Loving You Sunday Morning and the substitution of a microphone for a guitar for Meine to step his performance up that missing notch.
With three guitars and a bassist strutting down the stage's runway, raining killer solos down upon a captivated audience, Scorpions were finally playing as one. The adoring audience was going along for the ride.
Steering an impressive audio-visual journey through the band's discography, US drummer James Kottak had the crowd at his command. The "Kottak Attack" saw the arena throbbing with the force of his solos and echoing the cheers of a wildly appreciative audience as Kottak played each section of the room against the other to hilarious effect.
When, after downing an entire schooner in one fell swoop, he ripped off a T-shirt reading "Rock and Roll Forever" to reveal a back tattooed with the identical words, it was obvious that this was no gimmick. For even when the band went into relatively intimate mood, playing the closest approximation to a ballad a heavy metal band could manage, the energy levels and the fans' participation in call-and-response moments never diminished.
By the time perennial favourites Holiday, Send Me An Angel and Wind of Change made appearances, the rapture in the stands was palpable. Things were helped along by Scorpions' admirable cultural sensitivity. It's not every day that you get rock superstars wai-ing (Thai greeting with the palms pressed together), yelling "sawasdee krub Bangkok!" and "khob khun krub" as each monster track comes to its inevitably explosive conclusion.
As a non-stop hit-filled set list finally came to a close, the tone was one of mutual admiration. The entire arena was bathed in the warmth of ecstatic applause and a band clearly playing out of sheer enjoyment.
Scorpions thanked the crowd for their support since the group's first tour of Thailand in 1982, and the audience was equally grateful that the band had chosen Bangkok as their only Asian stopover this year. One encore quickly became two as Still Loving You drew a standing ovation and Rock You Like A Hurricane pushed the band still further.
Just when we thought it was over, things got bigger, brasher and louder. This was Guitar Hero fiction playing out in real life. If the show proved anything about Scorpions, it's that age has not wearied them. As the name of the tour would have it, this was Scorpions' sting in the tail. Legitimate farewell or not, the lyrics to The Best Is Yet To Come rang true: "soldiers never die".
Credit: Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com)
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