How long can Scorpions roll?

Scorpions is a German rock group that performed at Starlite Festival, Marbella. Starlite

The veteran quintet has earned the right, after 19 studio albums, to celebrate its long history. Their current tour is billed as the 60th anniversary of their debut album, even though it wasn’t released until 1972.

In songs such as ‘Coming Home’, ‘Bad Boys Running Wild’, ‘The Zoo’, ‘Loving You Sunday Morning’ and epic instrumental ‘Coast To Coast’, they proved they still have plenty of power in the engine room.

And fans of a certain vintage will have appreciated the mid-1970s medley of ‘Top Of The Bill’/‘Steamrock Fever’/‘Speedy’s Coming’/‘Catch Your Train’, although it’s later, lighter-waving ballads such as ‘Wind Of Change’ and ‘Send Me An Angel’ that have exposed them to a more mainstream audience.

Emphasising one’s longevity can be a double-sided coin, however, for while guitarists Rudolph Schenker and Matthias Jabs keep the fire burning (along with bassist Pawel Maciwoda and former Motorhead drummer Mikkey Dee), diminutive frontman Klaus Meine – one of the great hard rock vocalists at his peak but now 77 years of age – was clearly struggling.

In fact, he said to the crowd: “You are singing better than me tonight.”

The band closed out their 90-minute set with an encore of early ’80s favourites ‘Blackout’ and ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’ with a giant scorpion (no, not a real one) providing the theatrical backdrop in true Spinal Tap fashion.

Klaus may have ‘Rock & Roll Forever’ emblazoned on the back of his jacket and it’s a noble sentiment, but for a band that has created a wonderful legacy and still knows what it needs to do to thrill – musically at least – the sad reality is that the finishing line surely can’t be too far away.

Other Starlite Occident events include Will Smith (July 26), the Beach Boys (July 28), Santana (August 3), Tom Jones (August 5) and Texas (August 11)…