Shillong waiting with bated breath for the Scorpions

Shillong, Dec 10 (UNI) The excitement amongst the rock lovers of the North East is on peak as leading European rock band 'Scorpions' will be here tomorrow to launch their India tour.

The overwhelming enthusiasm for the rock concert has been testified by the fact that die-hard fans from the entire NE as well as Kolkata had been turning up at Shillong since early this morning, making almost all the hotels in this city jam-packed.

''This is a lifetime opportunity to watch the 'Scorpions' perform and I am not going to miss it come what may,'' Gautam Barua, an entrepreneur and builder from Guwahati said.

For the NE music lovers, it is yet another dream come true when the Scorpions, the ''Big Boys of Rock'', will make their magical presence felt at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex in Shillong on December 12.

The Shillong concert will mark the launch of their India tour. It will be followed by Bangalore and Mumbai on December 14 and 16 respectively.

Shillong was chosen over Mumbai and Bangalore for the inaugural concert because of its culture and spirit.

Shillong has been increasingly establishing its authority as the unofficial rock capital of the country as all the huge rock bands had been performing here on a regular basis, including Micheal Learns To Rock (MLTR), Mr Big, Air Supply, Firehouse and Paul Di Anno, making the hill station dance to their tunes.

''Shillong loves music and we want to promote it through tourism and hosting more international music concerts as we have proven again and again that Meghalaya is an oasis of peace,'' Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang said, as the music lovers made a beeline to Shillong.

''I am eagerly looking forward to the band belting out their chartbursting numbers like Still loving you, Holiday, No One Like You and other classics,'' Robert Marbaniang said.

''Humanity is one and the world is our home. Believe in love and not war. Be happy and make others happy,'' is the message the Scorpions want to communicate to the people of Shillong and the rest of the country.

''Our band members are excited to perform in India, which happens to be a land of charming music and philosophy,'' Rudolf Schenker, the founder member and guitarist of Scorpions, mentioned on their official website from Germany.

Led by Klaus Meine, a man with metal vocals, Rudolf Schenker on guitars, Matthias Jabs on lead guitar, voice box, vocals, they have been together since the 1980's Animal Magnetism. Besides, they are strongly supported by a very talented drummer-cum-backing vocalist James Kottak and Pawel Maciwoda on a pounding Bass guitar.

So much is the enthusiasm that all the tickets are being snapped up in the blink of an eyelid and even the lowest priced tickets are being picked up at a premium price of Rs 3,000.

''Both my wife and I am surely going to witness the rock band perform at Shillong,'' Mr Kishalaya Bhatarracharre, a television senior correspodnent of a prominent English news channel, said. His wife would also be joining him.

The Scorpions' first album was released way back in 1972 and lead vocalist Klaus is one of the longest serving rock vocalists still touring today.

UNI