The never-ending farewell tour of German rockers Scorpions brought them to Belgian sole for the fourth time in two years. The 18.000 capacity of Antwerp’s Sportpaleis however proved to be a bit too large, so the venue was reduced. Still around 10.000 fans were anxious to witness this legendary band who sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. Founding members Klaus Meine (vocals) and Rudolf Schenker (guitar) both have turned 64, but on stage they’re still going strong and acting like true stage animals.

From opener ‘Sting In The Tail’, we were in for an evening of classic rock that was very predictable, but energetic and entertaining. The stage show was again mind-blowing, complete with a catwalk and huge video screens. Compared to their last performance in Brussels, the set list was a little shorter and contained two new songs with ‘Is There Anybody There’ and ‘Hit Between The Eyes’. It was a pity however that their pre-Tokyo Tapes period was largely skipped, apart from the superb rock ballad ‘In Trance’, which still is a classic. The mandatory break halfway the gig during which skin beater James Kottak let loose of all his demons in combination with a video show had however lost its effect after having viewed this several times already, but the fans didn’t seem to mind and had a blast. The sing-along moments during acoustic ballads ‘Send Me An Angel’ and ‘Holiday’ were alternating with head banging rockers ‘Blackout’, ‘Tease Me Please Me’ and ‘Big City Nights’. Their breakthrough ballads ‘Still Loving You’ and ‘Wind of Change’ couldn’t be left out either of course. The set was closed with a stretched out version of ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’.

After a career of more than 40 years, the Scorpions still know how to deliver a great and entertaining show. Although they have announced their farewell for several years now, it seems like the end still isn’t in sight. Till next year then…?