Westfalenhalle 2, Dortmund, Germany
23rd January 2014
Scooter - 20 Years Of Hardcore Tour
Exciting news at the beginning of 2014 – SCOOTER are celebrating 20 Years of Hardcore. On occasion of the 20th anniversary, H.P. Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan und Michael Simon are on big German tour, leading them to twelve halls and arenas. One of the last shows of the tour was taking place in Dortmund.
From the roots of Synth band CELEBRATE THE NUN, SCOOTER grew to one of the biggest German (Hardcore) Techno bands of Germany. They are one of the few German bands who have shaped musical landscape in their home country and abroad. Sure, you either love or hate this band, but over 30 million sales and more than 80 gold and platinum awards all over the globe underline their extra-special status. Any of the 51 released singles entered German charts, many of them the Top Ten. This makes SCOOTER the most successful German band since launch of the Charts. Celebrating the band’s 20th anniversary and fifteen studio albums, SCOOTER release those albums as ‘20 Years Of Hardcore - Expanded Edition’. A new album is already in progress. ‘The Fifth Chapter’ will be released on spring 2014. SCOOTER currently is H.P Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan and Michael Simon, but founding member Jordan will leave the band after the current anniversary tour, having his last show with the band on 24th January on Hamburg. http://www.scootertechno.com / https://www.facebook.com/scooterofficial
Music & Performance
When I arrived at the hall, loud singing on the space in front was filled with loud singing of the fans. It was the younger ones who were already partying outside. Entering the venue I realized that there were much more people in my age or older attending the show. Seems many people grew up with SCOOTER and still celebrate their techno parties. When at half past seven the lights went down, first a DJ warmed up the crowd with well-known techno and dance tunes. When he had left, there was another support, the party brass band of a famous herb liqueur (no, we won’t do any commercial here, but anyone knows anyway what liqueur I am talking about). The band entertained the fans with several new and not so new hits and party songs, from ‘We will Rock you’ to ‘Gangnam Style’ and finally SCOOTER’s well-known ‘Maria…’ when people loudly joined in the singing. 
It took not really long afterwards when finally SCOOTER opened their “20 Years of Hardcore” tour with a big bang. “Maria, I like it Loud”, and yes indeed, SCOOTER really like it loud! Bass was hammering and you could feel it in your whole body. But that’s how it should be, I believe! You can think of SCOOTER what you want, you may like your music or not, but what the three guys put on stage here was a fantastic show and the whole hall was celebrating a big party. Fronter H.P. Baxxter was in his element. There was fire, steam columns, fireworks… and when he screamed his senseless statements towards the crowd, loud yells answered. You should not search for a deeper meaning in the lyrics… they are rather nonsense (How much is the fish?) but the crowd was here to celebrate and they did. And they attracted a wide audience. From the hardcore techno followers to EBM/ Electro heads and even some Metal guys I met who will later this year party hard at Wacken. And anyone obviously had a good time.
When the show had started with the loud bang and the curtain was falling down, is H.P, Rick and Michael entered the stage accompanied by fantastic light show and soon, when H.P. was storming the front, he was surrounded by fire and sparkling columns. Already during ‘Ramp’, the audience literally freaked out, jumped and sang loudly. It immediately gets hot in the hall, not only because of real fire, but also because the band was on fire from the first minute. Two more hours of an highly energetic show were to follow where H.P. seemed not to have aged during the last years. The show was not only accompanied by pyrotechnics, but also sexy dancers were joining the band on stage, offering even more eye candy for the audience. Additionally, SCOOTER brought the best jumpstyle dancers from Netherlands to support their show. The audience was already exhausted when the best known hits were up to come. Firstly, there was ‘Maria (I Like It Loud)’ ending the show.
But you won’t believe that it was over yet. People loudly chanted one line from the last song (no, there is yet still no meaning in it): "Dö döp Döp Döp Dödödöpdöpdöp" and the band returned with ‘Fire’, and fire was all around. Once more SCOOTER impressed with a well-composed fire and light show. Already said how much I liked the visuals, didn’t I? With ‘How much is the Fish’ and ‘Hyper Hyper’, the trio brought two more smashers and then, just like the show began, it was over again with a big bang. What’s left to say? It was loud, it was exhausting and it was eye candy when it comes to the fantastic light show, supported by big LED screens. Even if you don’t like the music, watching just the light show was really worth it. Fans were happy and now you knew that SCOOTER are still a band for fantastic shows, even after twenty years. 
Setlist
01. Intro (20 Years Of Hardcore Tour 2014)
02. One (Always Hardcore)
03. Ramp! (The Logical Song)
04. Army of Hardcore
05. Lass Uns Tanzen / Shake That!
06. Roll Baby Roll
07. No Fate
08. Bit a Bad Boy
09. J'adore Hardcore
10. Back in the U.K. / Rebel Yell
11. Metropolis / Sunrise (Here I Am) / Jumping All Over The World
12. Jigga Jigga!
13. Posse (I Need You on the Floor)
14. Fuck the Millennium / Habanera
15. The Question Is What Is The Question? / And No Matches
16. Ti Sento
17. Call Me Mañana
18. 4 A.M.
19. Nessaja (Peter Maffay cover)
20. Maria (I Like It Loud)
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21. Fire
22. How Much Is the Fish?
23. Hyper Hyper / Move Your Ass!
Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 10
Sound: 8
Light: 10
Total: 8 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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