The newly built Kazan Ice Palace that hosted the Scorpions's concert on 29 August turned out to be too small to admit all the fans of the legendary band. The 50-300 rouble tickets were sold out in one day. Only 1.5 thousand tickets had been offered for sale, however. The VIP guests of Kazan had received special invitation cards. Those lucky enough to have found their way to the concert watched an unforgettable pageant. The powerful flow of energy and positive vibe, exuded by the Scorpions, stirred the house in an instance and kept it "tuned-in" till the end of the concert.

The musicians presented the Moment of Glory programme that had won the hearts of rock and classical music lovers all over the world. The Moment of Glory album Russian was presented in Russia in 2001. The renowned Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra took part in its recording.

The State Academic Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Konstantin Orbelyan, accompanied the performance in Kazan. Claus Meine admitted, it was a great honour for Scorpions to perform together with Russian musicians. The Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia is reputed to be one of the world's best. The orchestra gives annually over 140 performances, over 80 - abroad. The Kazan music lovers could hear Scorpions's best hits Drive, Still Loving You, Hurricane 2001, When Love Kills Love, Send Me an Angel and certainly the famous Wind of Change.

Scorpions are known to admire Russia where they are particularly welcome. In an interview Klaus Meine said that the first time the band came to Russia in 1988 to a rock festival. "That was a long time ago, many groups from all parts of the world have been here since. We arrived from the country, from which our fathers had arrived in tanks, we came back with guitars. We feel the history on our shoulders, still feel Russians love us, our band, our songs. This is simply amazing!" he said.

Having surmounted the "iron curtain", Scorpions gave 10 concerts in Leningrad. A year later, in August 1989, the Moscow Musical Peace Festival took place with participation of Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Skid Row, Cinderella, Ozzi Osbourne. Inspired by the festival, Klaus Meine wrote the Wind of Change hit that after the fall of the Berlin wall became the global hymn of the "cold war" ending, perestroika and reunion of Germany.

The musician said that this long love story between the group and the Russian audience has been going on. Before the concert started, the members of the group said with confidence that the concert in Kazan is to be the beginning of a long romance between Scorpions and the Kazan fans. During the concert, the vocalist addressed the audience saying: "My friends, my heart belongs to you." Klaus Meine admitted, he was astounded with Kazan, its beauty and amazing combination of the old and the new. The Kazan Kremlin left a lasting impression. Every concert given by Scorpions is not just a love confession to their audiences but, in a way, a mission of good. "When touring across the world, we try to convey a positive message through our music. The world today faces various cataclysms. We hope that common sense will prevail and the political situation will become one degree cooler," said Klaus Meine.

The beautiful voice of Klaus Meine and extraordinary performance of Rudolph Schenker, Mattias Jabs, James Kottak and Pavel Mutivoda were not the only attractions of the show. The band brought from Germany 8 trucks with musical equipment and 2 trucks with lighting equipment. Scoprions are to stay in Kazan another day after the concert. They want to take part in the celebrations of the city's millenium, go on a sightseeing tour and buy souvenirs. The group is to continue their tour in cities of Europe. They will visit Germany, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, France. In autumn, Scorpions will record a new album. Kazan will hopefully leave an impression and inspire a song or two.

29.08.2005
Source: Intertat.ru
Photo by L.Kozlovsky