Scorpions’ resumption of its Las Vegas residency at Bakkt Theater isn’t just singer Klaus Meine’s return to the stage after spinal surgery. The hard rock band from Hanover, Germany, plans to play classic Scorpions album Love at First Sting in full, from opening track “Bad Boys Running Wild” to closing power ballad “Still Loving You” and everything in between. It’s the precursor to a proper tour celebrating the band’s 60th anniversary of rocking fans like a hurricane while riding the wind of change.
It’s also a chance to make puns out of Scorpions song titles while the band is still active. Guitarist Matthias Jabs, the youngest of the First Sting album-era members currently in the band, will turn 70 next year during the anniversary tour if it runs through May. Meine’s voice is one of the most durable of his generation, still capable of hitting the high notes in “Big City Nights” at Bakkt shows without any discernible loss of power.
Guitarist Rudolf Schenker, the band’s leader, demonstrated the same level of physicality at Bakkt that he did at Scorpions’ historic performances at 1983’s Us Festival and the inaugural Rock in Rio festival in 1985. It was in that era that Scorpions went from becoming rock stars to superstars after more than 15 years of building its career concert by concert, album by album.
Schenker’s tastes in guitar-driven ’60s rock bands such as The Pretty Things, The Yardbirds and The Rolling Stones influenced the sound Scorpions developed and first put on record in 1972 with Lonesome Crow. Schenker’s younger brother Michael, a fiery forefather to the guitar shredders of the ’80s, left the band in 1973 to be replaced by enigmatic Uli Jon Roth, who was in turn followed by Jabs.
Jabs was the final ingredient in the recipe for success. He was fluent in guitar pyrotechnics but applied his talent with taste, serving the songs of Scorpions perfectly beginning with 1979’s Lovedrive. By the time of 1982’s Blackout, the stars had aligned. Hard rock was cool, MTV was established, and Scorpions had a cinematic-quality video for “No One Like You” that was perfect for heavy rotation.
Then, 40 years ago, Love at First Sting was released and Scorpions became an institution. “Rock You Like a Hurricane” became an MTV hit, Scorpions songs were all over American radio and made spandex look cool. If mainstream music fans had one hard rock cassette in the glove boxes of their Ford Escorts and Chevy trucks, it was likely released by Scorpions in the first half of the decade.
The members of Scorpions went on to find themselves drawn into the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, with 1991 song “Wind of Change” becoming an anthem to millions of fans for whom listening to Western music could draw state-sponsored scrutiny. Scorpions were one of the first bands to play in the former Soviet Union and its satellite states, kicking open a door that remains open for touring bands today.
Planet Hollywood. 8 p.m. April 11, 13, 18, starting at $59 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
Click here for your free subscription to the weekly digital edition of Las Vegas Magazine, your guide to everything to do, hear, see and experience in Southern Nevada. In addition to the latest edition emailed to every week, you’ll find plenty of great, money-saving offers from some of the most exciting attractions, restaurants, properties and more! And Las Vegas Magazine is full of informative content such as restaurants to visit, cocktails to sip and attractions to enjoy.
