The show in Athens was unspeakably great, as you can tell by the reviews from everyone. I met Antonis, Nikos, Arista, Lanita, EduRock (from Italy) at the venue. There was a sound check in the early evening but I forgot to write down the songs they practiced. First, Rudolf, Matthias, James, Pawel, and Uli first practiced, then Klaus arrived with the marvelous Greek singer (I am sorry, but I don´t know how to spell his name right now) came out, and then Michael Schenker and Herman Rarebell.
It appears the band was really busy backstage doing numerous interviews with lots of different media people. There was a meet-and-greet around 8:15 and Klaus, Rudolf, Matthias, James, and Pawel signed many things, had their photographs taken, and all of the Greek fans seemed really pumped. There was also a crew taping it for German TV.
The show started right on time, about 10:25. The set-list has been already posted here so I will not post it here. They played 25 songs, and the stadium was packed with wall-to-wall people. There were onstage fireworks, and some flame throwers that shot huge flames into the sky. I wanted to check my hair that it was not burned because they seemed so hot.
Michael Schenker, Uli, and Herman looked really happy to be there, and Klaus invited the Greek singer out and they sang "Holiday" together. They both teased the audience by challenging the audience to follow along with their "Ah-a-HAHs." Matthias seemed to really enjoy playing with Michael. And Matthias also seemed happy when Herman appeared. I am sure that all of them were happy to be playing together. I was on Matthias side so I could see from that angle the best.
We are in Larissa now. This will be the second and last show for us this year.
***Larisa show***
I think the setlist is already up so I won't repeat it.
Like the Athens show, the stadium was packed without any empty seats. The standing crowd was immense. I couldn't see the end of them. There were a few people who felt faint and were rescued by the security guys even before the show had started. (I hope they were better soon, because I really feel sorry for them if they missed any of the show.)
It was a really hot day and night, and the security people were giving a lot of water to the audience, passing water bottles back or throwing water on them. There were no flame throwers or fireworks for this show, which were spectacular in Athens (and I hope to see them again someday...hint, hint
), but the extra heat might have melted the stage.And, unlike Athens, there were no back dancers for "Tease Me Please Me," except for Pawel!!!!!
At one point, he was standing in the same place where the dancers performed in Athens and playing his guitar.
When the Greek singer, Vassilis, came out to join the Scorpions, the audience gave him a chorus of cheers and the band members looked liked they enjoyed having him, too.
I've never heard the actual voice of Matthias singing, but this time I did. When the band members were playing "321," I could hear him in a loud voice crying to the audience, "Sing it!" and singing "Are you ready to rock?" It was difficult to take a photo of Mr. Jabs during the show because he never really stopped moving, with lots of hops and leg kicks. Also, I loved the way Mr. Schenker held his guitar when they played this song. That was really cool. Kind of a "yoga" style. Playing the guitar with his knees bent, standing with his side to the audience.
When James played "Kottak Attack," he wore a uniform and screamed "Scream!" three times.
I think the uniform was Larissa's local sport team's uniform (a football/soccer team?) and the audience was really pumped to see it. Well, some of them probably were opposing teams' fans and saying, "Boo," too. That was fun, too.
When the band members played "Blackout," all the lights were turned off for a moment and it was a real blackout. That was a nice moment, too.
Very funny moment! While they performed "Big City Nights," I guess Mr. Meine had some trouble with his microphone stand so he had to chage it three times. In that way, I could see him holding the microphone in his hand so it was fantastic to see it. Later, when Vassilis handed a microphone to Mr. Meine, he immediately put it into the microphone stand and sang with Vassilis. I mean I like how Mr. Meine swings the stand around and sometimes lays it across one or both of his shoulders, but I really really also enjoy just seeing him perform with only the microphone.
Thank you God for all these moments.
When the band started to play "Still Loving You," somehow the lights attracted so many ant-lions on the stage and they feel off from the stage to the ground like rain. The band members looked surprised, but I guess even ant-lions wanted to dance with the Scorpions for their one-night lives.
The show was great. Even in such hot weather (this was the hottest temperature show I have ever been to), the Scorpions were at their best, giving their all for the audience. The audience gave a lot of energy back with their enthusiasm, shouts and screams, and arm-pumping-and-foot-stomping love of the music.
Sadly, the show was over, as usual, and people started to go home with calm music from the stage. I think this soft music is a good idea because you wouldn't want everyone driving home "...Like a Hurricane!"
We went back to our hotel, but not so smoothly because our rental car's GPS system always took us to the middle of someone's backyard or to the middle of some olive fields.
I just remembered one thing about the Athens show.
At the end of the show, a lot of confetti was blown by two machines to the left and right of the stage and it looked like snow flakes. The stage was covered with white confetti and the band members got some of them on their heads.
It was beautiful.
A beautiful blizzard on a hot Athens night!
***Hard Rock Cafe Athens the party with Herman Rarebell Photos***
http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c89/aepo/The%20Greece%20shows%202009/Hard%20Rock%20Cafe%20Party%20with%20Herman%20Rarebell/
