- Scorpions playing with Doro in Wacken
For about an hour and a half, the Scorpions played at the Heavy Festival in Schleswig-Holstein's Wacken. As a surprise guest, Doro Pesch, the Metal Queen, appeared on stage just before the end of the concert. The native Düsseldorf resident supported Scorpions singer Klaus Meine during the song "Big City Nights". There was also much applause for a long drum solo by Mikkey Dee.
The band from Hannover played their anthem "Wind of Change" and many of their hits from earlier times, such as "Still Loving You", and finished with "Here I Am".
Walk of Legends
A few hours before their performance, the Scorpions, Pesch, and Joey Belladonna, the singer of the US band Anthrax, became the first metal legends to be immortalized in the Wacken-planned "Walk of Legends". They all left their handprints in concrete slabs that will be set into the ground at the entrance of the Wacken inn. "We were the house band here for a while," said long-time Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee, who now plays for the Scorpions.
Scorpions singer Meine described the festival as "probably one of the most beautiful and successful open-air events worldwide". "It's the third time in the past 20 years that we're playing as headliners in Wacken, and it's always a very special event that we really look forward to," said Meine to the German Press Agency. It's about "the atmosphere, the fans, and the guys who made Wacken what it is today".
Pure Joy of Life
Thomas Jensen and Holger Hühn founded the Wacken Open Air in 1990. The 33rd festival lasts until Saturday. The 85,000 tickets were sold out within four and a half hours.
There are many wonderful open-air events worldwide, "I think of 'Rock in Rio' or the 'Hellfest' in France," explained the 76-year-old Meine. "But the story of how a few guys in the countryside turned their love for rock music into a true musical natural event is unique. Wacken, that's rock'n'roll with heart and soul, simply pure joy of life," said Meine.
The concert in Wacken featured a performance by the Scorpions, and during their rendition of "Big City Nights," Doro Pesch joined them on stage, adding a special touch to the big city theme. After the concert, the Scorpions, along with Doro Pesch and Joey Belladonna, left their handprints in concrete slabs as part of the Wacken's "Walk of Legends," celebrating their status as major figures in the big city of heavy metal music.
