overlap

Two of the best gigs I've seen this year have been The Scorpions and Europe, which is how I'm moved to ponder the appeal of songs written by non-native English speakers. Abba were early masters of the art, of course, and there does seem to be a marked difference between the Scandinavian and Germanic nations compared with the Romance language ones. I'm guessing it's a matter of simplicity; for someone like me who always hears the words a long way in advance of the notes and chords, it seems strange to claim low expectations are a good thing. It's certainly true that mother tongue linguistic infelicities really grate, but for our fellow europeans I'm prepared to be a lot more tolerant. The Scorpions can make no great claims of erudition and philosophical sophistication, and even in what might be argued to be their most worldly song, Europe aren't that gifted either. What it comes down to is that I love bawling along with a straightforward melody, even though I couldn't carry a tune in big pink sparkly suitcase with my initials tastefully stencilled on the side. And maybe this is my musical equivalent of a feelgood film you can just switch off and be mildly diverted by without thinking too hard.

Labels: Europe, rock, The Scorpions

Sixty minutes chock full of classic big dumb euro metal, performed by people who have no right to act as enthusiastic and joyful as that. If I'm doing a job I enjoy as much as they clearly do when I'm approaching my fifties, I'll be a very happy man. Hell, I even joined in clapping my hands above my head, that's how much fun I was having. And if you don't really know what you're missing, I'd thoroughly recommend getting yourself a copy of WorldWide Live, turning it up to eleven and rocking out to The Scorpions. Now, the new Judas Priest album is a bit not-quite-great, to me at least. Yeah, I'm glad to see a classic band perform in a classic line up once again, and maybe it's just the nature of Priest music that things are the way they are. I love the more uptempo stuff like Living After Midnight and BreakingThe Law, and I'm less keen on the longer, more slowly chugging stuff. And yes, Ian Hill does have an alternative career as a Bill Bailey lookalike wheneverhe's ready, they've clearly spent a good few quid on the set, and they do try to deliver a *show* rather than just go through the motions. Maybe I was too highly expectant after the Scorps were so fantastic, but the Priest set just lacked a little something for me. I was distracted by Halford disappearing offstage every thirty seconds to change his many leather jackets and coats - no, really. No, I didn't expect Halford to have turned into DLR and be doing aerial splits on a tightrope whilejuggling chainsaws, but there's very little menacing nor entertaining for hours on end about shuffling around like an arthritic grandad, though I'd much rather see him immobile but hitting the notes - TheRipper for one was absolutely spot on - than underperforming vocally due to trying to run about like a 19 year old. I'm prepared to accept this is just my take on the gig - I enjoyed Priest, and the Scorpions were well worth the money alone, but if both bands were playing the same town on the same night at some point in the future, I know for sure which one I'd be watching, even if they didn't do a human pyramid!

Labels: Judas Priest, rock, The Scorpions