ULI JON ROTH (Live)

at The Think Tank, Newcastle, U.K., October 23, 2014

ULI JON ROTH (Live at The Think Tank, Newcastle, U.K., October 23, 2014)
Photo: Mick Burgess

As lead guitarist in German Rock legends Scorpions, Uli Jon Roth helped to launch the band on to the world stage at a time when bands from Germany simply could not breakthrough to the major international markets. With albums such as Taken By Force and In Trance building an ever growing reputation it was the double live album Tokyo Tapes that really made people sit up and take notice. Yet on the cusp of the big time, Roth quit to forge his own path with Electric Sun while the Scorpions went on to sell albums by the truckload throughout the 80s. They may have had greater commercial success in the post Roth years but that era is still held in reverence by many as the golden period of the band.

To mark the 40th anniversary of replacing Michael Schenker in the Scorpions Roth has embarked on an extensive world tour to play a set dedicated to his time in the band with the odd nod to his main influence Jimi Hendrix along the way.

From “Pictured Life” to “In Trance” and “We’ll Burn The Sky” this was an aural feast for fans of this era of the Scorpions and when he dug deep into the treasure chest and pulled out “Sails of Charon” and the psychedelic tinged “Sun In My Hand” it was a dream come true to hear such rarely played songs again.

Roth’s unique smooth tone and Neoclassical style broke new ground at the time and influenced a generation of guitarists that followed and the chance to see a virtuoso performance that climaxed with a stunning “Fly To The Rainbow” with Roth using his custom built Sky guitar to full effect was an absolute unmissable experience.

Author

  • Mick Burgess

    Mick is a reviewer and photographer here at Metal Express Radio, based in the North-East of England. He first fell in love with music after hearing Jeff Wayne's spectacular The War of the Worlds in the cold winter of 1978. Then in the summer of '79 he discovered a copy of Kiss Alive II amongst his sister’s record collection, which literally blew him away! He then quickly found Van Halen I and Rainbow's Down To Earth, and he was well on the way to being rescued from Top 40 radio hell!   Over the ensuing years, he's enjoyed the Classic Rock music of Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, and Deep Purple; the AOR of Journey and Foreigner; the Pomp of Styx and Kansas; the Progressive Metal of Dream Theater, Queensrÿche, and Symphony X; the Goth Metal of Nightwish, Within Temptation, and Epica, and a whole host of other great bands that are too numerous to mention. When he's not listening to music, he watches Sunderland lose more football (soccer) matches than they win, and occasionally, if he has to, he goes to work as a property lawyer.

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