Once more the lineup of shows was uniquely VegasVille. Early in the night, it was ventriloquist Paul Zerdin with his “Mouthing Off” show at Planet Hollywood Showroom.
Later, it was a scramble to the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel to catch veteran German rock band The Scorpions fronted by Klaus Meine, a diminutive man with a towering voice.
One is an appreciably nonplussed, polished performer who effectively interacts with his onstage co-stars by using impressive vocal dexterity.
This is the first such multi-show Las Vegas appearance by the band that blasted to widespread fame with the 1982 album “Blackout,” its first release to go platinum. The Hard Rock has hosted a high complement of rock bands from The Scorps’ era: Journey, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, KISS and Guns N’ Roses.
Thus, the hotel and booking partner AEG Live have again hit a pocket of the right number of shows from a band with enough recognizable songs and solid fan base to sell about 15,000 tickets in a week (this series ends Saturday night).
Yet again, we see a band largely defy the advancement of time. Meine and fellow original member Rudolph Schenker are 67, and longtime lead guitarist Matthias Jabs is 60 going on 23. The show burst with an opening of “Going Out With a Bang,” “Make It Real” and “The Zoo.”
The band performed in front of a wide video image of stacks of amps (Rush also has used amplifiers as props in its latest tours), elevated runway and backing LED screen that spanned the width of the stage.
Playing at top proficiency, The Scorps used the video displays to impressive effect, showing images of a giant peace sign above the Berlin Wall during the soaring “Winds of Change”; Meine’s visage behind an American flag during “Coast to Coast”; and the “Blackout” cover of artist Gottfried Helnwein with his head wrapped in gauze with forks across his eyes.
