SCORPIONS – Last Saturday, June 19, 2010, I and Best Metal Buddy Scott Coverdale watched, sang along to and jumped for Metal joy as the ultra legendary Scorpions performed as the headliner, closing out a memorable day of Hard & Heavy Rock ‘N’ Roll, at the 2010 M3 Rock Festival in Columbia Maryland. Never once did I really dwell about the fact, that this is the Scorpions farewell tour. How could I? The Scorpions, for as long as they were on stage that night, made me feel as though the world around me was in unison with the Metal euphoria that I was experiencing. Sound sappy? Not to me… this was the Scorpions and I was finally seeing them, hearing them and experiencing their songs LIVE. O.k., I did dwell a little.
The Zoo and Big City Nights were two songs the Scorpions played at M3 that I shall never forget. Just the thunderous power from Paweł Mąciwoda’s bass and James Kottak’s drums as The Zoo began it’s Heavy Metal stomp, was an exhilarating feeling and sound to envelope my mind and ears! The power, the excitement, the LOUD Heavy Metal that exploded around me from this Scorpions performance is what I was anticipating and wishing for, weeks leading up to this M3 Rock Festival. To say I felt like a teenager again is an understatement. I did. So be it. It’s not a crime to feel so damn good from the music I am hearing, from a band I revere so highly, in an outdoor live setting like M3. Metal be thy name.
I don’t think I have ever, in my Metal life, sung along to Big City Nights as loud as I did that night at M3. Riveting. My body felt as if I was picked up and given wings to fly, while Big City Nights was being played by the Scorpions. After all these years, of listening to such incredibly classic songs like Blackout, I am finally seeing Klaus Meine on vocals with Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs on guitars… owning the stage. Klaus Meine explained his voice was a tad under the weather, in response to a fan close to the stage wanting him to sing louder. Klaus Meine explained to the thousands of fans that he was – “singing straight from the heart”. Yes, you were Klaus. I and Scott Coverdale were loud and proud lawn creatures for this M3 Rock Festival… and we both heard the great Klaus Meine just fine. Thank you Klaus Meine for giving it all you had that night… I’ll never forget hearing your voice sing live.
I have been ecstatic, blown away and wowed by the new Scorpions album – Sting In The Tail since it’s release day. Hearing the Scorpions play Raised On Rock… live… gave me more ostrich bumps up and down my arms than ever before, in my entire Metal life. If a song is so grand, so personally emotional to me, I can easily be driven to happy tears. Hearing Raised On Rock, played live by the Scorpions that M3 evening, brought me to those happy tears. Sound Sappy? Not to me… this was the Scorpions… F’n live.
Each time a song ended, Klaus Meine would thank the thousands of screaming Scorpions fans. Scott Coverdale still kids me now… and will never, ever, cease to kid me… that I shouted right back – “No, thank you Klaus”!! I could not help myself, I needed to thank Klaus Meine and the Scorpions for all the wonderful moments I spent alone as a teen… listening to their albums and songs for inspiration. Inspiration to get through another grueling day of high school. I was thanking this iconic band for all those wonderful moments, where I partied till dawn with their albums being played… Blackout, Animal Magnetism, In Trance, Savage Amusement and Love At First Sting… just to name more than a few. I was shouting back my “thank you’s” for being a band that my ten year old twin daughters and Rockin’ great wife think are the greatest too.
Seeing, hearing and being a part of the Scorpions live performance at the 2010 M3 Rock Festival was much more about the music, it was about saying goodbye. Saying goodbye to an old, good friend. Saying goodbye to knowing this important and Rock historic band, shall may never get near my neck of the woods again for a concert. Saying goodbye to knowing in three years, it’s over for the Scorpions as a band. Still, in my Metal heart, this night at M3 felt more like a celebration to me. A night to personally celebrate a live performance of the Scorpions and really feel their songs go through me.
I met and talked to a real cool dude this night at M3, he sat in a folding chair next to me on the lawn. A middle aged dude, very friendly and a knowledgeable Scorpions fan. A very loyal Scorpions fan too. You see, this dude checked himself out of a hospital, just before a major operation, with multiple fractures in his hip, just to see his favorite band play live… and bid farewell to them as well. I could see the pain in this dude’s face, yet the Scorpions made him feel no real pain that night… he stood up for the last two songs of their set with some help of his friends… and he sang along with his fists pumping in the air.
When the Scorpions finished their set, with the encore performance of Rock You Like A Hurricane, the celebration was nearing an end and reality began to set in. I fist pumped into the air, sang the lyrics to this ultra memorable song very loudly and felt my body jumping up and down… without my control. This is what Rock ‘N’ Roll is about. This is what the Scorpions are all about. This… is what a band that has meant so much to me, made me feel like that night at M3.
As Scott Coverdale and I made our long trek back to his air conditioned SUV, I felt both exhausted and wired, inspired and very hungry. Walking amongst the enormous crowd, I heard many fans speak of the Scorpions performance. Sure, there were plenty of fans wanting “their song” to be played that wasn’t. Not hearing “a certain Scorpions song” was never an issue for me that night at M3. This night was NOT the time to squabble about petty stuff like that. No sir. Just knowing I have a lifetime memory of seeing the Scorpions live on their farewell tour, seeing them play their hearts out on stage for us fans… that is what it’s really all about.
THANK YOU SCORPIONS, FOR A MEMORY OF A METAL LIFETIME.
I’ll miss ya’ Scorps.
Stone.
My unreal great and undeniably loving Mother passed away on July 10, 2009. She just turned seventy years old this past April of 2009. To look at her, you would never know she was seventy, really. My Mom is a true hero and inspiration to me, always will be. She suffered a series of strokes in the Fall of 1990, therefore my Mom was a courageous survivor for nearly twenty years. Not being able to speak and having paralysis on the right side of her body were the two biggest obstacles that my Mom endured for two decades. That did not stop her from enjoying life, seeing her children get married and enjoying four grandchildren. Thanks to my heroic Father who became my Mom’s full time caregiver, many people and family members were given the gift of my Mom’s presence, thoughts and love for much longer than was initially predicted by doctors. Being born from my Mom was a gift and she was a gift to me for forty three years of my life. I now am convinced, that my Mom can speak and walk again up in heaven, where she has been reunited with her parents and without any doubt… my incredible sister too. I am at peace knowing my Mom is healthy again in heaven, no more suffering… my Mom has earned her place with the angels.
Alright, as my Mom would probably say right about now… enough with all of the sad stuff, let’s have a good time. I cannot resist reflecting on good times, heck, that is why they are called that in the first place. You see, my Mom was in her own special right… a fan of Heavy Metal. She was without question, one of the biggest advocates for Heavy Metal amongst any other Mom I knew, while growing up as a teenager back in the 1980’s. Her knowledge of the past and current bands back in the late 1970’s and through the 1980’s was admirable. There was a hiccup, however, when I was in sixth grade, in regards to my being allowed to have a KISS album in the house. My Mom took one look at the cover of KISS Alive ll and she said – no way. The blood spewing from the mouth of Gene Simmons was over the top for her. She specifically said that no son of hers would have that in her house. Well, to make a long story short, after she heard the song I was Made For Lovin’ You by KISS, the decision to allow KISS and any of their albums into our house was cleared to go. KISS was in… the world of Heavy Metal had a new fan… my Mom.
Yes, my Mom would go out of her way to drive me and my buddies thirty minutes – out of town, to Strawberries Records and Tapes. These Heavy Metal excursions, (as we called them back then), would happen at the drop of a dime! After school, on the weekends, on days off from school and during the Summer… with my Mom it was no problem. She loved those trips to Strawberries. We sometimes would have four dudes in the back seat, with me up front and my Mom leading the way behind the wheel – those Heavy Metal journeys, (we called them that too), are memories that no money can buy. At least half of my Heavy Metal collection of albums and tapes, were courtesy of what my Mom would pick out on her own back then. We would storm into Strawberries and my Mom would seek out albums like a bobcat seeking out it’s prey. She is responsible for my having every Rainbow album ever made at the time. Iron Maiden too. Honestly, I never would have listened to Scorpions World Wide Live if not for my Mom, she would find and buy some prime albums for me back then.
I am Metal psyched about another great Metal album coming out in this month of September of 2009, Children of Bodom – Skeletons In The Closet
I cannot wait to get my hands on this new album and crank it up extremely loud, on September 23, 2009, I will. I am just very curious as to how the Britney Spears cover of Oooops! I Did It Again… is going to sound like. What about the Kenny Rogers song? Man, that should be a Metal hoot. Knowing the way Children of Bodom play their Metal, I am confident they will rage these songs into Extreme Metal bliss. Still, I cannot believe I am writing about Britney Spears, Kenny Rogers and Children of Bodom in the same post. One thing is for sure here, Children of Bodom can never be accused of not being diversified. The cover songs represent a darn cool list of bands here… Slayer, W.A.S.P., Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Scorpions, Ramones – these are legendary bands without question. Thank you, Finland, for the fine Metal export they call Children of Bodom.
In 1985, I received a really cool Christmas present… the Scorpions “World Wide Live” double LP. That is what I am talking about when memorable Christmas gifts come to mind. My Mom, she certainly knew the bands I liked back then. I could always feel confident she would have a decent Heavy Metal album on her Christmas shopping list, just for me. My Mom would wrap and hide the album she bought each Christmas, making certain it was secured from my finding it. Not a chance. Each year, I would find that album, heck, I would actually smell where that album was hidden, like a Heavy Metal bloodhound. In 1985, “World Wide Live” was wrapped and supposedly hidden, until I unwrapped it and gazed away at the album cover – front to back. I was in Metal glee, knowing that on Christmas morning I would be able to crank up the Scorpions “World Wide Live”, a double live album no less. Each year, my Mom always knew I would find and unwrap the album she had bought for me, it was a cool and funny joke that I always was able to share with my Mom.
It is May 25th, 2009, Memorial Day in the United States. Today is also… the 61st birthday for Klaus Meine, lead vocalist for the incredible, dynamic and legendary Scorpions. Metal Odyssey gives out a loud, Metal filled, Happy Birthday to Klaus Meine! I can go on for days as to how much Metal joy that Klaus Meine and the Scorpions have given me, with their Heavy Metal, throughout my life. My favorite Scorpions album ever, is “In Trance” – this album showcased an up and coming Heavy Metal band that was filled with the Metal hunger and talent needed to sustain such a long standing, unbelievable career. Released in 1975, the third album, this is a Scorpions release unlike their “Animal Magnetism”, “Blackout” or “Love At First Sting” albums. This is Scorpions Metal that was raw, rough and edgy, in other Metal words – great tunes without the Arena Rock flamboyancy. Do not get me wrong, I support and revere every album ever released by the Scorpions. Only this is a Scorpions band in their Metal infancy, the dynamics are clearly heard on this album, which makes me choose “In Trance” as my favorite Scorpions release. This vinyl Metal Classic still exists in my collection today, after so many plays on the turntable. I am still amazed that I was able to keep this album, in such incredible condition, for this long!
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