Scorpions – Farewell to Kings

By: Robert Cavuoto

The Scorpions played PNC Arena on Friday night in New Jersey for what could possibly be the final leg of their Farewell Tour – The Final Sting. A bitter sweet evening if true!

In the 100 degree New Jersey heat, the band exploded onto the stage to a fury of lights and images displayed on three huge video screens. From the opening song, “Sting of the Tail” to the encore of “Rock You Like a Hurricane” the band was super charged and played like it was their last show.

Tonight the fans got exactly what they wanted, a chance to relive the classic ’80s songs that are so etched in their brains, plus a few new ones from their 2010 CD, Sting in the Tail. Highlights included, “Rhythm of Love”, “Big City Nights” “Blackout”, “Holiday” and “Raised on Rock”.

Matthias and Rudy continuously ran from one end of the stage to the other as they traded off licks to appease the audience who has waited almost two years to see them.

Rudy had an arsenal of his trademark Flying Vs and seemed to have a different one for almost every song. One resembled a Ferrari’s grill and another looked like the stick shift console in a Mercedes.

During “Blackout” he came out with a diamond plated Flying V with an exhaust pipe that blew smoke! He even used an acoustic Flying V for “Winds of Change” and “Holiday”.

During James Kottak’s drum solo, “Kottak’s Attack”, his kit elevated 20-30 feet as he played to pre-recorded Scorpion songs while a video of him and a female model brought to life some of the Scorpions’ most infamous and racy LP covers.

When the Scorpions last played this venue in 2010, Klaus Meine was battling the flu and didn’t have much of a voice for the show. He reminded the crowd that two years ago his heart was giving 100% but his voice only 50%, but tonight both were giving 100%!

And that’s exactly what he did; Klaus owned the stage and whipped the crowd into frenzy from the onset of show and his voice was in excellent form.

I had the chance to speak with him prior to the show and asked him if this was really the end, he said, “We will just have to wait and see as you never know what life brings.”

Let’s hope for the best because we still need them to bring that energy and magic back to the stage.

Be sure to catch this show as it may be the last time you get to see the Scorpions live.

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