Novosibirsk, 19 May

[Gabi6912]

Hey Galya, I am looking forward to reading your reports.
I am extremely curious of somebody's review, who doesn't like the Scorpions anymore lol.

[Guest]

I am extremely curious of somebody's review, who doesn't like the Scorpions anymore lol.

LOL, A good point, Gabi !!

At least we know that both songs Hans mentioned were played... I´m absolutely sure she liked them, at least! Let´s hear it Gaalliinnkkaaa !!!

[Inulka]

Nadin, scorps have their own sound engineer who tours with them since 70ths. And well, it's not only in Russia when sound sux Maybe it's a luck, LOL.
Second, agree with Vova 100%
Third, like Gabi, I'm waiting for a review from non-fan anymore

[Nadin]

Oh, I didn't know that, Thanx, Inna - so maybe there was another reason.. but actually it doesn't matter for me - I've got the great pleasure from this show anyway ( of course, I wanted it to be ideal, though
and I also agree with Vova

[Guest]

What a wonderful video this is! Me too, I was a bit fed up with the band, and then... I found myself mermerized watching Klaus on stage in this one, again.

Living for tomorrow and The Best is yet to come

Watch on youtube.com

[Deleted User 13688]

It's like I said in another post; even tho they do the same thing over and over and you think ur sick of it and can't stand to hear these songs AGAIN...you get before them and everything changes. You forget all about being sick of RYLAH and sing along with it once again. You think that the same setlist couldn't be any more boring, but then their energy, their interaction, their vibe, the electricity, etc...all of that sets a tone of pure rock and roll craziness and instead of thinking, oh no, not THIS again, you find yourself rawkin and gyrating and arms in the air, pumping your fists and giving the rock sign, and it goes on!!!
Sooooo, even tho I would love to see a diff setlist, I will still go; get before them, rawk my ass off and sing along, forgetting the setlist.

[DeepAndDark]

Wow! Already the second page in my absence! That's so nice that you're so interested in my non-fan point of view. Ok, give me some more time. I hope it won't take more than an hour.

[DeepAndDark]

Let's start with the autograph session on 18th May.

In the morning I was quite stressed because I haven't printed the photos the day before. The session started at 17:30. At 10a.m. my mum called me to tell that people started gathering at that shopping mall. She knew it from her former colleague who was one of those who arranged it. Remember that I've watched that video of a queue in SPb... Frankly speaking, I started to panic a bit... Standing in a queue for nothing is not a prospect you're happy with. So I decided that I can skip hte last lecture and rushed home to print the photos... Well, Murphy's law indeed works. My dad was sitting at the PC. Guess what? He'd disconnected that hard drive where I had the selected photos to check another hrad drive for viruses. But he wouldn't be my dad if he hadn't connected it again in 10 minutes. I've selected 4 nice photos from the last year show in Hamburg (I hope HansD won't sue me for copyright violation ) and printed them monochromatic. It came out really good. Though the real reason was not my aesthetics, but the absence of magenta.
My dad was kind enough to drive me to that damned shopping mall and buy me an apple juice. (I guess after revealing this fact no longer have I right to complain about him. ) At 15:30 when I came, there were already about 50 people before me in the queue. Having nothing better to do I took out my topic for the English lesson and in half an hour I knew it perfectly. I looked round and noticed a small spider sitting on a girl in front of me. I thought that she'd scream or anything when I told her that I wanted to take that spider off her hair. She surprised me for standing calm and quiet when I was carrying out the rescue operation. That spider was so black and cute that I let him out on an artificial tree nearby. (Do you think Greenpeace will consider my contribution? )
After an hour spent in a queue together people started talking to each other. I had nice and funny people around me and we were joking until 17:30 when the doors opened to let in a few people who were standing first. Then the hell began. Those standing in the end of the queue rushed to the door and in a few moments no trace of a queue could be found. People raised their vinyls (Best Of Scorpions mostly), guitars (I saw one Gibson) and calendars not to loose them. Lucky tall like me could still breathe, but I'm not sure about a girl in front of me who was at least a head shorter. Another hour passed and we could finally pass the guards to walk down a service passage to the hall of the shop where the action took place. I was so relieved to feel free finally. Hands and legs were shaking not because of excitement, but because of exhaustion. And there I saw the brilliant 5 sitting.
The guards were telling everybody that we were allowed to take only one autograph. So I passed by Pavel, Matthias and Klaus stopping in front of Rudolf. James was sitting to the right wearing something dark so I didn't spot him right away. He was having a short break as there was nobody around asking for his signature. As I've already written he noticed my t-shirt saying in capital letters "FOS". I'm not sure that he recalled that people from official forum use this abbreviation, but still it was the only words I've heard from Scorps. Damn, I should have asked him if Rudolf was real or just a robot designed to give signatures because it really seemed to be like that.
After I'd received my photo back, the security hurried to push me further so that I won't hang around any longer. I found the boy I was standing in the queue with and slowly we left the damned place.

Now you tell me if it was worth going there? Is that sheet of paper with some signs of a marker on it worth it?

[Nadin]

Oh, Galya, finally!!!!!
Thanks a lot for the first deatiled part of repot , it's very nice written, as usually

Now you tell me if it was worth going there? Is that sheet of paper with some signs of a marker on it worth it?

U know, I thought the same when I saw that damn queue in SPb - that's why I didn't take part in that session ( well, there wasn't a necessity for me in it, actually - cause I'd collected all the autographs in the airport , and besides have nothing to sign except maybe my arms or forehead ( oh, btw, James was intended to put his autograph on my forehead , but I refused ).

And, u r lucky that I wasn't that girl with a spider, cause if I was, I think my shout would scare even scorps themselves , and besides u'd definitely have to call a doctor for me - cause the spiders ( even the smallest) are my nightmare

So... we're waiting for the second part!!!!!

[DeepAndDark]

And now get ready to hear about the concert itself.
Part one. Sabaton.

Me, my mum and my friend came to the venue at 17:00. (Note that the concert began at 19:00!) There were already about 60 people near the entrance. I've met another friend, had a chat with him, then he stayed with his friends and we made our way to an acquaintance of ours because that girl was much closer to the door. The securities were opening the doors from time to time. The crowd rushed to one door and back when they did so for the first time, but nobody was fooled the next time. A couple of long-haired guys was standing in front of me and my friend. Their gorgeous hair made a lot of trouble for me. Somebody from the back asked "Are Scorpions rock or what?", that made my day.
Finally the doors opened to let everybody in. It was already 18:30 or so. My ticket was all cramped and the guy checking my ticket laughed at me saying "For Christ's sake why have you done it to the ticket?!". My friend and I ran to the entrance to the dance floor, found my mum and managed to get a place in the second row on the right side of the scene extension (I wonder how it's called... a tongue? ).
Half an hour of waiting and the lights are finally out.
Sabaton are a great band. They worked with the crowd really well asking everybody to jump when they were playing "Primo Victoria". At first I thought that they had a girl on drums because their drummer has very long blond hair. Imagine my shock when I saw that the drummer had nothing on top. I was like "What? Does she always goes on stage like that?", then the drummer raised his head and everything became clear.
Of course, the singer told us that he didn't expect such a warm welcome for a supporting band. I bet it was a lie and they get the same response everywhere. Anyway hypocrisy is a part of business, isn't it?
The setlist of Sabaton was the following.
1. Ghost Division
2. Panzerkampf
3. Attero Dominatus
4. Stalingrad
5. Primo Victoria
6. Metal Machine / Metal Crüe
The singer was makign faces, teasing and kicking his guitarists. Well, they didn't let him get away with it either. He also boasted of his knowledge of Russian: spasibo, dobryi vecher, pivo, vodka (thanks, good evening, beer, vodka). Somewhere in the middle of the setlist the singer took a few sips of water from a bottle and.. threw it in the crowd. That was really nice of him because it was getting hot on the dance floor.
What I liked the best was the way they switched from Metal Machine to the Metal Crüe.

[Engel-Wegweiser]

Good beginning! =)))))
Waiting for the another part! =)

[Daniel Gartsman]

I suppose, because of Matt.. to be exact, because of uneffective tuning of his guitars..

Have you seen Tease me Please me Live video from Spb in VK? Take a look... smth was wrong..

Daniel, Ingo is a brilliant guitar tech who has been with Matthias for years. It's more likely the soundman's fault, as it has been before in the past.

And I wanted to add; you all get far more than WE do.....so please just enjoy what you do get. kay? After all, you just might live in Australia or Vietnam!!

However...i saw as just a human that smth really was wrong that moment.. it was just my supposition... i actually don't know what happend and whose mistake has been done..

And also, i'm really happy after the show =) Moreover, i was one of those who urged all the fans to stop mention of some features of, for instance, Set-list...... I really enjoy what they do and what i do as a fan at each one concert)) trying to catch every minute of such a great feelings, i will never stop this never-ending support to them=)

Huh)) It won't matter in this "After all" period =))

[Rūta]

Can't wait for the part about Scorpions Galya! while reading about the session the radio started playing Lorelei, so come one!!

[Daniel Gartsman]

"@Inna - yep, I understood your though - but I suppose we both know the main reason why there are s few russians here - it's the language problem - most part of russians don't speak english at least at the intermediate level,or maybe some of them just afraid to post here"

Absolutelly not.. Many of them just use VK recently - it became more popular and they express their emotions out of here)

[DeepAndDark]

Part two. Scorpions.

As you know, we had a very good view of the stage. I was very surprised seeing the stage set up after the curtain with Sabaton logo was taken off. The drum platform hanging on 4 chains, this scene extension, a technicians put a chair and microphones under the stage and that bear from SPb in a hat and with balalaika in front of James' set... Finally I could see a show of a world level.
The venue was packed full by that time. By the time the lights were switched off again, the crowd was really fed up with warnings that mobile phones should be switched off and that cameras are not allowed to be used. The famous Intro with that deadly mistake in the text "San BrenaRdino valley" where R is missing followed. The Intro was in English, not in Russian. Then the drum platform started rising... ok, you know each element of the show so I'll tell you only about some highlights. The setlist follows.

1. Sting In The Tail
2. Make It Real
3. Bad Boys Running Wild
4. The Zoo
5. Coast To Coast
6. Loving You Sunday Morning
7. Living For Tomorrow
8. The Best Is Yet To Come
9. Send Me An Angel (acoustic)
10. Holiday (acoustic)
11. Raised on Rock
12. Tease Me Please Me
13. Dynamite
14. Kottak Attack
15. Blackout
16. Six String Sting
17. Big City Nights

Encore:
18. Still Loving You
19. Wind Of Change
20. Rock You Like A Hurricane

Encore 2:
21. When The Smoke Is Going Down

I was rather happy to hear LFT and WTSIGD. And right after the concert when I was able to reach my phone I've texted Hans about it (I hope you don't mind me revealing your reliable source, Hans? ). It was so stuffy that I had to hold my hands raised in the air to chill myself. Pretty exhausting way of chilling. (For those who don't know it - you can cool your body by cooling your hands, wow! )
I don't remember which song it was when Matthias came to James' platform. Both of them weren't looking at what their hands were doing, they were looking at each other's eyes. I could see only James and he was so happy, so deep in the music, enjoying it, smiling, nodding... that's one of rare moments of the concert which I remember that good. That's the advantage of front rows - you can see musicians' faces and understand what they're thinking of.
Somewhere in the beginning of TBIYTC I started yawning thinking when the hell it will be over... Fortunately, soon they've moved to the front stage to play a couple of acoustics. I was looking at nobody but James. He was having fun sitting, smiling, looking around, making faces... well, being a normal human, being James. When Matthias approached our side of stage all the people around stretched their arms and shouting... everybody but me. Then I've noticed that he's looking exactly at me. I bet it's strange to see a girl who's not crazy about you. It's strange to understand that there are dozens of eyes looking from the crowd and the person on stage is looking exactly in yours.
Kottak Attack was not as entertaining as in 2008. Or was I mostly looking at the screens, not at James? Oh no, I'm wrong - it was just as entertaining as always. I've forgotten that during his usual ritual of making one or another part of the venue scream back, he wasn't happy with people to the left and immediately let us know it.
Well, from the previous reviews I remember that I'm expected to praise all the jumping and running of Rudolf, but as I'm not a fan, I believe I can write the following. He was not enjoying the concert. He was like a machine which knows its duty. So the assumptions I made at the autograph session were confirmed. Who did I see? A man who rocks his life? I'm not that sure now. Though I have a theory explaining it - one young Russian beauty is sucking his life out of him.
The closer to the end of the concert, the crazier people went. The first encore was a torture for me as one little b*tch behind me was trying to get closer to the stage. Her boyfriend lifted her up a couple of times, then they moved further to disturb other people and I was happy to listen to WTSIGD without an unwanted disturbance.
After the lights were turned on (why do I keep speaking about lights? ), we recorded a message for Klaus and took a couple of photos in front of an empty stage. When moving to the exit we noticed a group of people. There were two guitarists of Sabaton talking with fans and making photos with them. Really nice guys, don't you think?
Well, that's pretty all I can tell you about that day. Yeah, the way home from the venue took about an hour on foot. Luckily we had a bar of chocolate.

[Engel-Wegweiser]

Thank you, Galya! =) nice to read your point about the concert =)))

[oldscorpsfan75]

Well I see that russians fans have been lucky,they had Living for tomorrow in the setlist

[HANS33]

Wow!
Awsum, fantastic, cool, wonderful review Galya (but I didn't expect anything less from you).
It was a pleasure reading it. And very nice of you what you did for Phuong.

[Guest]

Wow!
Awsum, fantastic, cool, wonderful review Galya (but I didn't expect anything less from you).
It was a pleasure reading it. And very nice of you what you did for Phuong.

Agree with this speaker here !!

Thanks Galya !! It was a refreshingly different review

[Inulka]

Thx for the review! It was interesting to read it