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Still rocking you: The Scorpions go big for this week’s Joint residency

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Erik Kabik/Kabik Photo Group
Jason Bracelin

Three and a half stars

Scorpions with Queensrÿche. May 18, 20-21, 8 p.m., $50-$150. The Joint, 702-693-5222.

The 67-year-old in the sleeveless denim jacket might have been singing about winds of change, but he and his bandmates, all decked out in hyena smiles and snug leather, remained thoroughly impervious to said weather patterns. This was a good thing.

As veteran hard rockers the Scorpions, now in their 51st year, dug into their Blackout in Vegas residency at the Joint on Saturday, they proved themselves to be as durable as the protective casing of the nasty little arachnids they’re named after. Even in his late 60s, singer Klaus Meine doesn’t just hit the high notes, he knocks ’em over the fence into the bleacher seats.

Meanwhile, livewire guitarist Rudolf Schenker, the band’s founder, makes some of rock’s greatest “O” face—devoid of context, his facial ticks are suggestive of a man in the throes of either ecstasy or electrocution. He even rocked a sweet flying-V acoustic guitar—who even knew such a thing existed?—during a medley of ballads midway through the band’s fleet, full-contact 100-minute set.

Scorpions at the Joint

That was one of two song-suites the Scorpions played on Saturday, the other being a thundering, fantastic mash of late-’70s/early-’80s jams (“Top of the Bill”/”Steamrock Fever”/“Speedy's Coming”/“Catch Your Train”), their considerable torque heightened by former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee, a hair-flinging fireball subbing for regular drummer James Kottak, who’s out battling health issues.

Despite the rocket-booster-thrust of much of the Scorpions’ catalog, few bands of their ilk have penned as many earnest, starry-eyed paeans to the power of love as these guys. Two of their most famous (“No One Like You” and “Still Loving You”) came late in the show in a climactic rush of fan favorites.

Riffs, emotions, grins, hits—it’s all outsize, all the time when it comes to these dudes.

“Too much of everything can never be too much,” Meine howled on “Rock ’n’ Roll Band,” taken from Return to Forever, the group’s latest album and 18th overall. It might have been a new song, but the sentiment has defined this band since it first plugged into those Marshall stacks five decades ago.

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