 At the end of his European tour Michael Schenker played two shows in The Netherlands. On May 29th in Roermond. One day later in Haarlem. The Dutch shows were added late in the European Tour schedule. Even that late the dates are missing on the tour shirts that were sold in the merchandise stand. The tour started early April in Russia and went through many countries in Europe before ending with these two shows that were followed by a London date and two final shows in Spain.  At the end of this tour the band has been changed in a well oiled machine. They really gelled and sounded great. There was also much fun on stage and we even saw the axeman himself smiling a lot and facing the crowd several times. There have been times in the past he hardly showed his face to the audience during a live show. Last year they toured Europe for the first time with this line-up. Besides Michael on guitar there's Doogie White on vocals, Francis Bucholz on bass, Herman "Ze German" Rarebell on drums and Wayne Findlay on guitar & keyboards. 
They recorded a year ago the DVD "Temple of Rock Live" in the 013 venue in Tilburg overhere. This time they performed in two smaller places. On Wednesdaynight in the South of the Netherlands in the ECI Cultuurfabriek in Roermond and on Thursdaynight in Patronaat in Haarlem near Amsterdam.Greyzone, an old school hardrock band from Norway, was the support for the two Dutch shows. As support act they performed a nice set for a venue that slowly got filled during their performance. Michael Schenker plays this tour a greatest UFO, Scorpions and MSG hits. There's only one new song, "Horizons", from the not yet released "Bridge The Gap" album. "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" is dedicated to Ronnie James Dio, Jon Lord & Trevor Bolder. It's a excellent night for all fans who are into UFO and the Scorpions as we get all their greatest hits. With three ex-Scorpions members on stage a logical move although Michael had the most success with his UFO period. Doogie handles these songs very well. Not all material is new to him as he has done some of the UFO tracks on a tribute albums series in the past. So, not counting last years tour, it's not the first time in his carrier he faces this material. From his solo albums Michael plays songs from various line-ups like "Armed And Ready" & "Into The Arena" (from Michael's first solo album which featured Don Airey on keyboards and was produced by Roger Glover), Attack Of The Mad Axeman (from Michael's second solo album with Cozy Powell on drums) and "Assault Attack" (from the short-lived Graham Bonnet period). This shows several ex-Rainbow members already were involved with Michael Schenker in the past. And last year he recruted Doogie White to fill the vocal spot on his European Tour. Doogie provided before that the vocals on one song ("Before the Devil Knows You're Dead") of the "Temple of Rock" studio album. They started recording early this year the new album "Bridge The Gap" which is expected to get a release at the end of 2013. So it seems the collaboration between the Mad Axeman from Germany and the rawkin' Scotsman will continue.  After a good live set the band returns for a handfull of encore songs. "Holiday" is sung enthousiastically by the full audience. In "Rock You Like A Hurricane" Herman Ze German takes over the microphone. They finish with two other hits from the Scorpions & UFO days; "Blackout" and "Doctor Doctor". It was a fine night. Great to see Doogie perform on stage again. And he was in the company of some real good hardrock musicians with ofcourse the spotlight on axehero Michael Schenker. The band was in great shape at the end of their two month tour through Europe. They'll be touring South America later this month before returning to Europe for some festival and club dates. setlist 
LovedriveAnother Piece Of Meat Assault Attack Armed And Ready Into The Arena Rock My Nights Away Attack Of The Mad Axeman Horizons Before The Devil Knows You're Dead Coast To Coast Shoot Shoot Only You Can Rock Me Let It Roll Too Hot To Handle Lights Out 1e Encore Holiday Rock You Like A Hurricane Rock Bottom 2e Encore Blackout Doctor Doctor  |