Uli Jon Roth
BB King’s Club
New York City, New York
October 11, 2008
Tony Pijar
Many of us older folk know and appreciate Uli Roth from his days with the Scorpions. He was with the band through the 70s and gave us classics such as “Virgin Killer”, “In Trance”, and “dark Lady.” While the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and others garner the headlines, Roth has inexplicably not shard that same spotlight. And while Roth has always been excellent on record, to see him live is an almost surreal experience.
The show at BB King’s Club marked the end of an extensive US tour and the surprises included Alex Skolnick from Testament, Chris Caffery and Joe Stump – more on them later. Roth and his six piece band opened with a tight, rocking instrumental that led into “Land of Dawn” from “Under a Dark Sky.” “Land of Dawn” is a sprawling, spectacular composition with many twists and turns. Mark Boals and Liz Vandall are phenomenal singers that not only complement Roth’s music, but each other as well. The band walked through most of the “Under a Dark Sky” record while shying away from other Roth releases. Too bad they didn’t perform anything from the Electric Sun days.
The real surprises were in the form of old Scorps’ songs like “Fly to the Rainbow” and “In Trance”, and before tackling the rest of them Roth introduced his guests for the evening: Joe Stump, Chris Caffery and Alex Skolnick. Stump and Caffery joined Roth onstage for “Polar Nights”, “I’ve got to be Free” and “Pictured Life.” Skolnick jammed with Roth to Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower”. As good as these guitarists are, they pale in comparison to Roth who is heads and shoulders above most guitarists in the world.
There are not enough adjectives to describe Roth’s playing. He is simply a genius on the guitar and is at a level that most musicians can’t even begin to aspire to!
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