Fermín Cabanillas I Sevilla, (EFE) “just like the Rolling Stones” are already performing for three generations.
Six weeks after performing in the Plaza de España in Seville, within the framework of the Icónica Festival, Jabs (Hannover, 1955) reveals in an interview with EFE the secret that Scorpions have been together for more than 55 years: “We get along well as people and we have the same goals.”
“We have enough musical talent to put out a new album even after more than 55 years, highly praised around the world,” boasts Jabs.
It also reveals that the members of the group don’t see each other unless they have a concert or a recording together, and that after so many years they could perform with their eyes closed and without the need to rehearse.
“We only need one day to prepare musically”, says Matthias Jabs, who defends that in the band “everyone is professional and prepared”, to the point that “there are three of us who come from Germany, our drummer comes from Sweden , and our bass player from Poland”. When they are in the place where they are going to play “we rehearsed one day with the team and we can start.”
The evolution of his fans
The conversation with the guitarist drifts towards the origins of the band, the evolution of their fans, or the renewal of the public that attends their concerts. “We have a lot of fans from the beginning who have been loyal. If they are still alive, they also like to come to concerts.”
But the next generation also follows him, “and for a few years, through social networks, we also have the youngest, who are 20 years old or less, that’s why we’ve been playing for three generations for several years, just like the Rolling Stones”.
Jabs explains that in his concerts there are from the eight-year-old boy who sits on his father’s shoulders to the grandfather, “who is younger than us.”
Scorpions has had some changes in its components throughout its career. But “our bassist has been with us for 20 years, and our drummer, and with the way the shows are going and touring around the world right now I would say that the current lineup is the best Scorpions we’ve ever been.”
Old rockers that fill stadiums
As for the health of rock, Jabs says that “at the big festivals and concerts where we sell out, you can see that the fans all over the world are very excited and there are so many of them”.
In South America, they played in stadiums with a capacity of between 35,000 and 60,000 people, “in Lyon the tickets were sold out, as in all the concerts in Germany. The German Wacken Festival will have more than 80,000 guests. That shows that the world of rock is alive, more than ever.”
“There are new young bands coming up, like Greta Van Fleet. There will be a new generation that may do it a little differently”, says Jabs, who recalls that they were in Seville at the 1992 Expo invited by the then president of Lower Saxony, Gerhard Schröder, who later became federal chancellor.
Throw the memory back to remember the Seville of 92, and look forward to anticipate that for the Icónica Festival, on the night of July 11, “we have a blockbuster, and everyone says that the show is sensational. And it will be even better than the last tour.”
Matthias Jabs is clear that they will be on stage as long as the body lasts and recalls that in 2025 the band will be 60 years old, “and everything is open, but I’m sure we’ll do great things.” EFE