Ach...the Scorpions...seems weird, but thinking back it was my younger brother whom got me interested in Hard Rock music, and I remember that, before he introduced me to Kiss (the band which took me over the line to start a collection of records), his two foremost band in his collection were AC/DC (which I originally found sounding far too sharp – but that was due to the lousy small record player he had) and Scorpions (the band which I originally branded as “too sweet” for my taste – of course, I redeemed myself discovering the band's 1980 album – check it for yourself – and afterward got myself the band's complete earlier collection of albums).
That “nice” image of the German band, is still valid today! I mean, not ever will you have found these kind fellows use the “F” word...that's how nice they are, really! While in the process of recording their 2010 studio album Sting In The Tail (which would be the first album of the band reviewed by a colleague of mine), Klaus Meine and friends decided to make an end of the continuous touring-writing-recording cycle, and let it be their last studio album, to be followed by a 3-year farewell tour. Of course, that was counting without the label people, who came up with the enticing idea of recording an album of re-recorded versions of some of the band's own hits, in combination with covers of some of the band members' favourite '60s and early '70s Rock songs. Making use of a big resting period in between parts of the Farewell tour (which was to take the band through 5 continents) the album Comeblack came to life, and was released towards the end of 2011 (early 2012 in the US).
Eventually however, the Farewell tour came to an end, and as the guys were asking themselves what would come next, the band's record label came along with the idea of having them do an MTV Unplugged. The idea wasn't thàt far-fetched, as in the past Scorpions hàd occasionally graced stages accompanied by an orchestra, and even brought acoustic versions of some of their songs...but at first the guys hesitated somewhat. Then, they took the positive resolve to do it, as such an event was still missing from their career. Of course, they wouldn't go into this event half-cocked, and therefore contacted their Swedish friends and producing team consisting of Mikael Nord Anderson and Martin Hansen to pick a selection of songs they felt would be best suited for a 2-hour set, taking in account that some of the classics simply hàd to be there. But otherwise, the guys had a choice of pick from the band's complete catalog, and a wish was communicated to also include some songs which the band had not played live in recent years! Once the choice made and communicated back, the more serious preparations began. Guitarist Matthias Jabs then traveled to Sweden to start working with the production team, whom had also attracted Hans Gardemar for the orchestration arrangements. Of course, things had to be interesting for the band somehow, and therefore the original guitar parts were somewhat re-written, to be played by 4 to 5 guitar players (including both Andersson and Hansen, but also Swedish friend Ola Hjelm, and for some songs even Jabs' guitar tech Ingo Powitzer) with additional arrangements for interesting additions on piano, harmonica, accordion, and mandolin and (acoustic) slide guitar. Meanwhile, MTV was contacted about the project, and the band spoke out the wish to do the event(s) in Athens, Greece. For the orchestral parts, the band had Gardemar (whom on stage would take care of all piano and accordion) prepare an octet from Athens (to be known later as the Strings From Heaven), with which the band then did some extra rehearsals in the hotel prior to the sound-checks on stage.
With the dates known beforehand, fans came along from several parts of Europe, some families traveling from England, others coming over from Israel, but of course the main bulk of the audience were the so very emotional Greek, for which the site had been chosen on purpose. By the way, those three concerts at Athens' outdoors Lycabettus Theatre were MTV Unplugged's very first open air events ever! From their hometown of Hamburg, the band also brought in extra percussionist Pitti Hecht (whom somewhere 2/3 in the set does a duo drum-percussion “solo” with Scorpions' own drummer James Kottak. They are not the only ones doin' a “solo”, you know, as Jabs (accompanied by the rest of the band) allows Klaus to have a rest by bringing the new instrumental “Delicate Dance”. Rudolf lengthens that rest period some more, by doin' the lead vocals for his new song “Love Is The Answer” himself. And then Klaus does a réal solo, by picking up a guitar and bringing a very emotional acoustic version of “Follow Your Heart”. To emphasize the attention on the solo, the rest of the band actually leaves the stage...that is, all except the orchestral octet, who actually stay seated for the complete show from beginning to end, even though they only come in after the 3rd song, and also do not play during the drum solo and the ensuing “Rock And Roll Band”, nor during the set closing “When The Smoke Is Going Down”!
There were a couple of guest singers on the shows (besides the backing singers consisting of the complete Swedish complement of the band with the addition of Gardemar and Hecht – and boy, were they versatile indeed, occasionally sounding like a female backing choir too!)...and in order of appearance they were the Greek Dimitra Kokkori (bringing the spoken word intro to “Born To Touch Your Feelings”). The next vocal guests would however bring a song in duet, starting with Hamburg's own Cäthe on the song “In Trance”, Johannes Strate (of the German band Revolverheld) on “Rock You Like A Hurricane”, and Morten Harket on “Wind Of Stage”. In total, you get no less than 25 songs, which for some silly reason were somewhat edited on the CD's. I mean, there was not actual need for it, as the total of the show was only 126 minutes, you know, and that would go onto two discs without any trouble. So...what are you missing on the CDs which you still have on the DVD? Check that review to find out!