Scorpions’ Veikkaus Arena stop kept 10,600 fans in its pincers for one unforgettable evening.
Scorpions proved they still had plenty left in the tank when opening their massive show at Veikkaus Arena on Tuesday evening.
“There’s lots of gas in my Trans Am / It’s wham bam, thank you ma’am,” vocalist Klaus Meine sang during “Gas In The Tank,” from the Scorpions’ 2022 album Rock Believer.
The tune is solid. It marks their 19th studio outing. There’s plenty of attitude and catchy riffs, plus hard-hitting drums by former Motorhead drummer Mikkey Dee, who plays on a Scorpions record for the first time since joining the band in 2016.
The Finland leg of their 60th anniversary tour kept a tight set list, closely following the pattern of last December’s Coming Home Live album.
But nothing beats the real thing; the live experience has a different sting!
The arena show was refined, with crisp sound and rich vocals from the 78-year-old Meine, whose chops were strong and smooth—like the whiskey he drank in the 1980s that reportedly resulted in the album title of Blackout.
During Dee’s most intense five-minute solo, his double-bass drums thundered and the snare wailed like a canyon echo, while the screens framed him in trails of sparks.
“The Zoo,” with its bluesy undertones from their 1980 album Animal Magnetism, was one of the highlights earlier in the set—not least because of lead guitarist Matthias Jabs’ virtuosity on the talk box, morphing heavy riffs into melodic cries.
Scorpions served solid rock anthems such as “Make It Real” (Animal Magnetism), “Bad Boys Running Wild” (Love At First Sting, 1984) and the crushing instrumental “Coast To Coast” (Lovedrive, 1979)—the latter allowing bassist Paweł Maciwoda to shine by anchoring the track’s heavy, driving groove under a soaring wall of guitars.
The German hard-rock titans drew loud gasps when the Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius appeared on stage in a muted silver dress.
Lampenius breathed new life into classics from Crazy World (1990): the haunting ballad “Send Me An Angel” and the unforgettable whistle of “Wind Of Change.”
Other notable classics came in a row: “Tease Me Please Me,” “Big City Nights,”—decade-defining, hands-in-the-girls’ back-pocket anthems of the ’80s.
Then the lights went out and the band thanked us for the evening.
“I guess that’s it,” I said out loud, lifting my seat up.
“No, no . . . there’s always an encore,” said a bearded man sitting next to me. “And besides, Scorpions would never leave without playing one of their most massive hits!”
He was right! A gigantic motorized scorpion descended over the stage as they roared into “Blackout.”
Sure enough, Scorpions closed on a high note: “Rock You Like A Hurricane” had the crowd singing and swaying.
By the end, everyone felt the sting.
