This weekend on Streaming For Vengeance we present a very special conversation with legendary Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker who talks about the band’s 19th studio album, Rock Believer, which is out on February 25th. In an excerpt from our chat, he talks about his 50 years leading the band, on every album and every tour. Unmatched in the music business!
Streaming For Vengeance will air this Saturday, February 19th at 3:33 PM EST on the BraveWords Facebook page or the BraveWords YouTube channel. For more information about Streaming For Vengeance, visit this location.
BraveWords: I’m talking to a musician who’s been working over 50 years, every album, every tour, and I can’t think of another artist living or dead who has done the same thing. Do you ever reflect on that? Do you look in the mirror and think, “Wow, this is a huge accomplishment!”
Schenker: “It’s the whoosh the band had! We come from Germany, and Germany somehow still has bad feelings from the war, especially with Russia. That’s the reason I said to my guys in ’82 already, that we have to go to Russia. ‘Why Russia?’ Because we have to show them that Germany has a new generation that has grown up. They are not coming with tanks and making war, they’re coming with a guitar and bringing love, peace and rock n’ roll! So that’s a good thing, it’s a way we can show them. That’s the reason why we went to Russia and why ‘Wind Of Change’ became the soundtrack of the most peaceful revolution on earth. Why we were invited by Mikhail Gorbachev when he was still in power. In all of these kinds of things if you use music not as music to build up your ego, but make music for bringing to the people and giving them a lift. That’s the reason why we played in so many countries over the ’80’s. I heard an interview recently from Metallica with Kirk and James, he got asked, ‘How many countries have you played so far?’, they said, ‘Not as many as the Scorpions. We would wait for the Scorpions to say they are playing there, and then we would go there as well.’ Because we were fearless. If we said we want to play somewhere, we play there. When grunge and alternative came, we went to Asia. We played all the stadiums in Asia, Jakarta, Manila, Thailand, Russia. That’s the way! Don’t fight, use the time. Like with COVID now, use the time and change something in your type of measurement.”
BraveWords: You know what you found when you went to these destinations? Kids and fans who were desperate to see rock music live, because it was either illegal or frowned upon. You guys were saviours.
Schenker: “Yeah. Yes!. That’s one of the reasons I am so happy. Exactly. When you come from Germany, you see the whole world, not only parts. We wanted to play the whole world, and that’s what we did. We have some countries left, which is great, and we want to do another tour.
BraveWords: Now, you have a really serious problem, which you admitted to, it’s having this thing called a travel bug and always wanting to be on the road. How have you been dealing with not being able to get on the road, considering you spent your whole life on the road.
Schenker: “I don’t think about it so much. You know, would I have problems with this, I would change it. But I don’t think. I’m - every time we, maybe, do an album because we feel we have to do it, because to be a musician is to be creative. Then the tour - the promoters come and they say we have this one and here, and we have this - great!The chemistry in the band is great. We have friends. What you can do sitting in the pub and drink your beer with friends instead, and on the other hand you go on the road and play Madison Square Gardens in New York or play in the Rock in Rio, wherever, there is no question about this. And our crew, the crew we have, they are also friends. We’ve had them for ages. So in this case with your friends on the road, and making music, and make rock believers believing in rock.”
BraveWords’ Streaming For Vengeance with Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker will air this Saturday, February 19th at 3:33 PM EST.
"Rock Believer" video:
"Peacemaker" video:
Scorpions will kick off their Rock Believer World Tour in March 2022 in Las Vegas, where the band will play nine shows as part of their residency at Planet Hollywood Hotel. Afterwards, they will cross the Atlantic to Europe where they will play six concerts in France and six shows in Germany supported by Wolfgang Van Halen’s new band, Mammoth WVH.
Skid Row will be the opening band for all nine shows of Scorpions' Sin City Nights 2022 Las Vegas residency, thereby replacing previously announced support act, Queensrÿche. Scorpions' stint in Vegas was originally supposed to happen in July 2020, then it got pushed back to May 2021, only to be rescheduled to March - April 2022 at Zappos Theater inside Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.
Tour dates:
March
26 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
30 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
April
1 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
3 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
7 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
9 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
12 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
14 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
16 - Zappos Theater - Las Vegas, NV
May
10 - Altice Arena - Lisbon, Portugal
13 - Zenith Toulouse Metropole - Toulouse, France
15 - Zenith De Lille - Lille, France
17 - Accorhotels Arena - Paris, France
21 - Hallenstadion - Zurich, Switzerland
23 - Arena Di Verona - Verona, Italy
26 - O2 Arena - Prague, Czech Republic
28 - Tauron Arena - Kraków, Poland
30 - Laszlo Papp Sports Arena - Budapest, Hungary
June
3 - Rockfest - Helsinki, Finland
8 - Schleyerhalle - Stuttgart, Germany*
10 - Olympiahalle - Munich, Germany*
12 - Festhalle - Frankfurt, Germany*
16 - Mercedes-Benz Arena - Berlin, Germany*
17 - Zag Arena - Hannover, Germany*
19 - Westfalenhalle - Dortmund, Germany*
23 - Hellfest - Clisson, France
25 - Rock Imperium Festival - Cartagena, Spain
28 - Palais Nikaia - Nice, France
30 - Le Galaxie - Amneville, France
July
2 - Zenith D'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand, France
* with Mammoth WVH
(Rudolf Schenker live photo by Thomas Mazerolles)
