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Wow, what a day here for me. I had been anticipating this show for over two years, now as that was when it was originally scheduled, but due to promoter problems was cancelled, nonetheless, the wait is over, the day came. At work the hours crept by, until around 6 PM when the hunger for real live rock'n'roll could no longer be contained. My brother and I pulled into the venue the Queens Park Savannah at around 7 PM or so, the parking lot was already a buzz with throngs of tailgaters grabbing some pre-show beverages. It's amazing as also in NY the number of metal people you see at shows yet in everyday life these people are seemingly non existent.The metal scene here is damn near dead as far as bands and concerts yet out of the abyss they appear... Anyway that's a good thing as I hope it encourages the promoters to perhaps bring in some more bands.
The aroma of pizza, cigarette smoke, gyros and beer consumed the still humid tropic air. The local DJ was spinning an assortment of 80's rock and metal from the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe and even a pleasant surprise he whipped out the Hear'n Aid single Stars, the large screens at the side of the stage were used as a music video channel as YouTube burned videos from the likes of Whitesnake and GNR were shown to pass the time before local band Orange Sky took the stage and they did at approx 8:30 PM.
Orange Sky are enjoying fairly moderate international success and have opened in the past for the one and only Yngwie Malmsteen and others in the US. Their sound can be best described as post thrash reggae groove rockalypso, tonight however they played a more 'heavy' set and generally I am unfamiliar with their material, however I think what they played of their newer stuff is more on the heavy side of things. They received a warmish reception from the home crowd, understandably so as the legendary German band was due on stage in a matter of an hour or so....
"Port of Spaaaiinnnn, Trieedaad" roared Klaus Meine to a thick crowd of maybe 10,000 plus, as they plunged into a selection from their Humanity Hour 1 CD. Again I am not really familiar with their material since Savage Amusement of which nothing was played. Anyway, the Scorpions clearly demonstrated why they are such legends tonight, given the limited sound technology afforded here this band tore flesh from limb satisfying the hit hungry masses with spellbinding renditions of The Zoo, No one Like You, Big City Nights, In Trance, Coming Home and Bad Boys Running Wild. The Trinidad audience like many others is primarily a hit-oriented audience and these songs over the years have gotten the most airplay locally as well as being international smash hits. Holiday had quite a sing along, the newer songs including the title of their current CD was also quite well received. A rather complete drum solo from James Kottack kept things interesting as at the end of his solo all members took sticks in hand and provided a percussion pound along with James. Midway through his solo he downed an entire energy beverage in one gulp,and gave the audience a glance of his back tattooed 'Rock'n'Roll Forever'!
Matthias and Rudolf were masters at their craft and experience was a clear cut case of how they ploughed solo after solo from the arsenal of hits fired up tonight. I think Klaus may have been a little shy, but his trademark yelp of "We love youuuu" echoed far beyond the hills bordering Trinidad. After all these years these guys still really seem to enjoy what they do and the Scorps have always been ambassadors of rock music to practically every corner of the earth. A riotous encore of Still Loving You was served and many rockers could be seen grimacing NOT because the song is a ballad, but because of the sheer emotion put into that song and many of us - myself included - have felt that way after the loss of a loved one in a relationship. Lighters abound swaying they supplied another very popular hit Wind Of Change to a capacity sing along. Alas not before hammering out perhaps their most monster of mega hits Rock You Like A Hurricane to a swarming mass of hair, fists - and cell phones and digital cameras. But sadly all things must come to an end and so too did this night, I know for sure the crowd would have loved another few tunes as calls were made for yet another ballad Send Me An Angel. As the stream of drunken and not so drunken rockers disappeared into the night, I was left with a little sadness that knowing I may not see another concert for quite awhile was a reality, yet a warmth came over me seeing the response and size of the crowd. And knowing now I have seen all the major bands live. I would really love to see Dio and Iron Maiden again, I would love to see W.A.S.P. again so much more as well. This show lived up to its hype and the German troops attacked and conquered, not complaining at all as many dates on this tour are acoustic, yet still I wonder what the response would have been had they played He's A Woman She's A Man, Steamrock Fever or even the ever controversial Virgin Killer????
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