The Loyal Loopers' love affair with the Scorpions continued unabated and unabashed last night at the Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island, 29 years to the day after their live debut here back in 1979 with the Loop at Navy Pier. The "Fountain Of Youth" is merely a myth, but you could swear the Scorps have found something akin to that in order to still be administering the same tight and exuberant style of show they became famous for three decades ago. This in spite of the fact that Scorpions lead guitarist Matthias Jabs nearly cut off the main fingers on his fretting hand in a kitchen accident only a few days prior. Maybe because this band has had to work at least twice as hard as anyone else to make it (having to first learn another language - english AND being from a part of the world that had previously never produced an internationally successful rock act), they still appreciate and cherish every opportunity to perform like no other act I know of. Especially when they are performing for the people who embraced them before any other... the Loyal Loopers of Chicago.

Shortly after an on-stage introduction from me, the Scorpions literally leapt to the stage and proceeded to deliver a mix of classic Scorpions rockers, plus a few surprises like "Make It Real," "Dynamite" and "I'm Leaving You" which were blended flawlessly with several new songs from their excellent recent disc "Humanity Hour 1" that kept the crowd on it's feet and roaring their approval all night. After the show, the band and myself adjourned to the Foundation Room at the House Of Blues for a post-show/end of tour celebration and surprise "birthday" party. After I mused on the air many months ago about the historical significance of the date on which they were to play Chicago again, word spread amongst the fans and management and we decided to surprise Klaus, Matthias and Rudolph with a "birthday" cake and a very warbley sung version of "Happy Birthday." Much laughter and good times were had by all. Particularly amusing were the remembrances we shared of one other very long Sunday night back in 1988 in a hotel suite at the Buffalo Hilton in Buffalo, NY. At the time, the band was part of the "Monsters Of Rock" bill that included Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, Dokken and Kingdom Come. That night, they had played before 80,000 people at the former Rich Stadium in Buffalo. One-by-one, Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen, Kirk Hammett of Metallica and Matthias Jabs and Rudolph Schenker (even Rudolph's family at one point) of the Scorpions as well as various other friends of mine piled into my room after the show. A kind of camping trip "around-the-campfire" type of atmosphere developed with singing, funny stories and general silliness that lasted well into the next day. By what seemed like noon the next day, I had hit the wall. Crawling into bed, I realized Matthias was still going strong and was urging me to stay up just a little bit longer with him. After managing to utter a weak "nein"... I was out. Rather appropriately, the Scorpions current album at the time was entitled "Savage Amusement" and the follow-up was titled "Crazy World." Indeed. Crazy times. Happy anniversary guys!

(See the Scorpions perform "Blackout" live at Charter One Pavilion here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw0F3l3bFnI&feature=related)

(See the Scorpions perform "No One Like You" live at Charter One Pavilion here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX7wdFVTebw&feature=related)

(See the Scorpions perform "Rock You Like A Hurricane" live at Charter One Pavilion here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOdRl0072Zw)

Unfortunately, Billy Corgan didn't make it to the Scorpions show last night to reprise his duet of "The Cross" from "Humanity Hour 1" with Klaus Meine and the Scorps as we had hoped. Billy grew up a huge Scorpions fan and was quite thrilled to be asked to contribute to the Scorpions latest CD. The previous night (Saturday), Billy and the Smashing Pumpkins played their first Chicago area show since reforming at the Venue at the Hammond Casino . A sold-out affair, the gig showcased the superb acoustics of the brand new room (part of a $500 million expansion at the casino) nicely.

(See the Smashing Pumpkins perform "Tonight, Tonight" live at The Venue here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNLb25l8yrU)