After various ‘Fest’ and ‘Temple of Rock’ incarnations, Schenker revived the original MSG monicker for a couple of recent albums and has been on a 50^th anniversary tour for over two years now. It is something of a divine resurrection. Both the albums ‘Immortal’ and ‘Universal’ are strong; and the tour, if tonight’s scintillating gig is the benchmark, has been an unqualified success. It is so good to see this genuine six-string genius on top form.

Though it didn’t quite start in fifth gear. Kicking off with the instrumental ‘Into The Arena’ felt a little low key. Schenker was tucked up stage right and suffering, from my perspective, with a slightly muffled sound. I shifted position as he introduced Robin McAuley to the stage. ‘Cry For The Nations’ proceeded to hit the sweet spot with the crowd who were suddenly energised on the big chorus. The famed Schenker mid-tones were fully restored in the mix and all was well with the world.

Audience participation became a repeating theme throughout a strong set filled to bursting with bonafide UFO and MSG classics. ‘Doctor Doctor’ peeled off the stage early and prompted a good deal of bobbing and frenzied singing amongst the masses.

‘Looking For Love’ from 1981’s ‘MSG’ album was also well received, Schenker grinding out the chunky riff with floaty keyboards over the top and nailing the melodic solo. And then ‘Lights Out’ followed with almost undue haste. This felt like a band in a rush. No messing about. Such a great song and wonderful to hear the solos delivered with every nuance, pause and inflection indelibly captured on the remarkably durable 1979 live opus ‘Strangers in the Night’. (Look, I got to paragraph four before dropping this in, OK?) A word here for long-time Schenker collaborator Steve Mann who was doing a great job flitting between keyboards and rhythm guitar on this track, whilst shaking his tousled mane and looking like he was having an absolute blast.

‘Red Sky’ was maybe the first deeper cut. This was the first track for which the bloke next to me didn’t know any words. ‘One of his new ones’ he bellowed at his mate. It’s actually from 1983’s ‘Built To Destroy’, if that counts as new. Delivered here with a dirty riff and loads of space in the slower section for Schenker to weave his lead breaks around a busy, bass-driven drum track from Bodo Schopf.

For the first time I parked my obsession with the blond bomber and properly watched and listened to Robin McAuley. He was doing a fine job. Better than that, he was owning the stage and bringing a powerful delivery. Criticisms of being too lightweight and too melodic for this material have been levelled at McAuley on occasion, but I genuinely didn’t feel that here. ‘Shoot Shoot’ for instance, gave me goose-pimples. And the crowd were only too happy to help out with raucous vocals on pretty much every track.

‘Emergency’ came next and was the only new track on view, coming from last year’s ‘Universal’ release. In fact it was the only track in the entire set recorded this century! It sounded dense and insistent tonight, built on a chugging riff and another tight rhythm party from bassist Barend Courbois and Schopf. Another brace of beautiful soaring solos to boot. McAuley handled the vocals well, arguably better than Ronnie Romero on the studio version.

In a recent interview, Schenker was asked how he decided which vocalists got which song, given that he has used four or more on recent albums. He said “I let the universe do the work. I send the same pieces out to everyone at the same time and see who comes back first. Whoever responds first gets the song.” I sometimes wish Romero was slower off the mark…

‘On And On’ is perhaps not the strongest of MSG tracks but again Schenker’s two solos were things of joy, especially the growling, heavy mid-track break. But this was merely a vegetable crudité before the raw steak feast offered up by ‘Let It Roll’. I honestly believe this was the best rendition of the song I’ve ever witnessed. Fast, slow, hard, soft and crystal clear. Note-perfect solos that shivered and withered. Mann worked hard on the keys/rhythm guitar exchanges to keep the thrill levels high and McAuley stage front was smiling and guiding the Empire chorus through lusty vocals. Glorious moments. The highpoint of the night for me.

The next trio were also crowd favourites and blasted along on a rising tide of celebratory enthusiasm: ‘Attack Of The Mad Axeman’, a sublime ‘Natural Thing’ and a wonderful ‘Armed And Ready’. The show had belted along to this point, with barely a moment for the crowd reactions to subside between songs; or for much McAuley chat before the next riff kicked in.

However, the final three tracks of the main set saw a noticeable change of pace. ‘Let Sleeping Dogs Lie’ and ‘Desert Song’, the latter a much less-played track, worked so well together. The grinding riff and pummelling drums of the former contrasted with the measured, expansive sound of the latter. It was the soaring keyboards of both tracks that knitted them together. That and the searing solos casually burning through each.

I hold ‘Rock Bottom’ and its extended guitar solo so dearly and yet I’ve seen and heard it mutilated a few times – including by Schenker himself in some of his darker days. So I’ll confess to a touch of trepidation when those opening notes ring out. No fear tonight though. The audience response that McAuley evoked on the chorus was deafening and made us grin. He departed the stage for Schenker to bring alive his finest instrumental passage once again, aided and abetted by Mann’s keys/guitar. The piece followed the ‘Strangers’ template almost perfectly and the climax was brought home in fine style amid air guitar burn-ups to the left and right of us. Schopf rounded out the track with a drum solo of sorts that sounded more like a thrash-fest, but did the job well. This probably broke in to my top five ‘Rock Bottom’ renditions. (Doesn’t everyone have such a list?)

There was no real break before the ‘encore’ and we were back in the fast lane with an almost reckless ‘Too Hot To Handle’, where Steve Mann eagerly grabbed the first solo and featured yet more crowd singing. ‘Only You Can Rock Me’ is a firm crowd favourite and was good choice to end the evening.

Not an overly long show, just short of 1¾ hours, but stuffed with intensity and played out in a triumphant, passionate atmosphere. No Scorpions tracks in the set, but given the on-going spat between Michael and Rudolph, maybe that’s no surprise. A night of classic tunes delivered by a band in good form and a guitar maestro with apparently all his talents intact at the age of 68. Heck, Schenker had even returned to his fabled, authentic Gibson Flying V of yore. Was this 1983 all over again?

Review by Dave Atkinson
Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)