Scorpions Finally Rocked Trieste Too, on the Eve of Their Big 5-0! (2015)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Trieste / Palatrieste / Italy
Concert date: November 13, 2015
Attendance: 4,500
Ticket price: €57.90 (floor)

The indestructible German rock giants Scorpions, rock ‘n’ roll legends from Hanover, are once again conquering the world’s biggest concert stages. After the extensive North American leg of the new tour, on which the famous band is celebrating a round fifty years in the business, meaning their first Abraham, the boys are back on the old continent to play one last run of shows before the new year. The band, which has performed for the past decade with Rudolf Schenker (guitar), Klaus Meine (vocals), Matthias Jabs (guitar), Pawel Maciwoda (bass) and the freshly recovered, booze-sins-cleansed returnee James (Nar)Kottak (drums), has indeed been saying its goodbyes on its recent tours for quite a while now, and yet. The new album »Return To Forever«, released at the start of this year, proves that the quintet is still full of energy and drive, which is nowhere near a sign of retirement, the one Scorpions have been announcing for a few years now with every new tour.

The third Italian show in a row on the new tour, this time in nearby Trieste, was tailor-made for a quick hop across the border to paint your Friday night rock ‘n’ roll colors. It’s a little before eight in the evening. Outside the Palatrieste it’s buzzing, and crowds hungry and ready for a good rock ‘n’ roll party are pouring into the stands and onto the floor. Inside, the Italian standard-bearers of epic, Hollywood-style power metal Rhapsody of Fire are already »chirping« away. The Triestines, who after more than twenty years together were handed the great honor of opening for Scorpions for the third time on this tour, right in the middle of their hometown, earned it with sweat and blood. The spacious stage welcomed a quintet commanded by the operatic voice of the charismatic Fabio Lione, which has gone through one more lineup change this year, on bass. The band got only half an hour. Still, Rhapsody of Fire were treated to excellent sound in the hall. The vast, almost gigantic stage nearly swallowed the group, but the energetic Fabio made the most of the available space and filled it, with both his authoritative vocals and his movement around the stage. The band started and finished the show furiously! With two hugely popular songs from their career, Emerald Sword and Dawn of Victory, from the days when they were still called Rhapsody.

A little after nine, things really started to thunder. The floor was teeming with fans from Slovenia, though once again the loudest were the ones from Croatia, even if they were a small minority. It felt like we were in Hala Tivoli. Slovenian all around my ears! Stage hyper-production. A gigantic »catwalk« up front, with most of the crowd squeezed to the left and right of it. Scorpions remain the great masters of concert spectacle. There’s no doubting that, and this time was no different. In fact, every single song was followed by a change of guitars and outfits! A real fashion show and guitar exhibition, of course. The guys, in excellent and cheerful spirits, ran back and forth across the stage, all the way to James Kottak, who had his drums raised on a huge platform, and then up front to the edge of the »catwalk« and back. Behind them, giant projection screens, and the stage lighting was woven from »trillions« of spotlights playing with contrasting color washes and haze. The band’s playful mood quickly spilled over to the audience, which, against expectations, didn’t completely let loose right away. The reactions were fairly calm, except of course for the best-known hits of Scorpions’ career, when the Palatrieste came fully alive.

Up front on the floor, the sound was carried forward and swept away, since the stage was rather high. The guitars were harder to hear because of that, and the initial sound calibration added its share too. But Scorpions are an exceptionally experienced band, and they build their nights up gradually. In the early part of the show they conserve their strength, then slowly shift into an ever higher gear. That’s perhaps most typical of Klaus Meine, who sang the show at a truly excellent level, especially for his age. Matthias Jabs and especially Rudolf Schenker remain the big entertainers on stage. The latter scurries around in short steps, slightly hunched forward, with his Flying V guitars slung down at his knees. Tight leather was swapped long ago for eighties spandex. During Blackout, there’s the obligatory guitar with a mounted exhaust pipe. It can’t be done without it. The band also played an acoustic set in the middle, in which Schenker’s acoustic guitar, with a body carved in the »Flying V« shape, again grabbed the attention. These guys have a ton of money, no doubt about it. Kottak got his five minutes of fame too, toasting the crowd with a beer from up under the ceiling and showing off his famous tattoos.

All three new songs slotted brilliantly in with the older material and the famous high points of their career. After Kottak’s party minutes came the peak of the show. Hit after hit until the end. Scorpions first headed for the absolute atmospheric peak of the evening with Big City Nights, then topped it off in the encore with the two expected numbers that must never be missing (Still Loving You, Rock You Like A Hurricane).

Scorpions are still Scorpions. Those mature gentlemen radiate a sincerely childlike spirit on stage. Everything is strictly professional, every second calculated down to the last crisp bill. Yet the hearts haven’t gone stale. And you can feel it. That wave of warmth, those unstoppable avalanches of positive energy and life bursting out of these grand old gentlemen of rock ‘n’ roll. In Trieste they really hit hard, and the Palatrieste shook and seethed with rock energy. Let’s hope the boys stop constantly »scaring« the world with their imminent retirement, because judging by their stage energy, an excellent new album and a phalanx of tour dates, they show no signs of being worn out.

The superb, unforgettable spectacle of an evening with Scorpions was tarnished, though, by the tragic events unfolding at the same time in Paris during the Eagles of Death Metal show. How drastically the Paris catastrophe will affect the world concert scene in the coming seasons is something the near future will tell.

Setlist

SCORPIONS:
1. Going Out with a Bang
2. Make It Real
3. The Zoo
4. Coast to Coast
5. Top of the Bill / Steamrock Fever / Speedy’s Coming / Catch Your Train
6. We Built This House
7. Delicate Dance
8. Always Somewhere / Eye of the Storm / Send Me an Angel
9. Wind of Change
10. Rock ‘n’ Roll Band
11. Dynamite
12. In the Line of Fire
13. Kottak Attack
14. Crazy World
15. Blackout
16. Big City Nights
—encore—
17. Still Loving You
18. Rock You Like a Hurricane