MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP HEAD FOR BELFAST

By Andrea Clarke

GERMAN rock guitarist Michael Schenker is heading for Belfast with his band, the Michael Schenker Group.
The heavy metal rocker from Hanover, with his fluent style and successful mix of fiery rock licks, awesome power riffs and classical quotations have made him an icon for a whole generation of up-and-coming musicians.
Whether as a member of the Scorpions and the British act, UFO, a solo artist, or with his own band, MSG, Schenker has been involved in countless classics in the history of rock music.
His latest album Tales Of Rock‘n‘Roll - 25 Years Celebration highlights Michael Schenker not only as a brilliant composer and instrumentalist, but also surrounded by a number of renowned colleagues.
Every vocalist who has sung with MSG, namely Graham Bonnet, Gary Barden, Robin McAuley, Kelly Keeling, Leif Sundin, Chris Logan and the group’s latest addition, Jari Tiura, recorded one new song each.
Graham Bonnet for example, who played with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow before joining MSG, lent his voice to the programmatic Rock’n’Roll, and Gary Barden is featured on the haunting Life Vacation.
Schenker shares an intense era of his past with Robin McAuley: during the time of their collaboration, the abbreviation, MSG, stood for McAuley Schenker Group as a symbol of their close partnership.
The former Grand Prix vocalist proves on Tell A Story that his voice still suits Schenker’s deeply melodic songwriting perfectly.
The collaborations with Kelly Keeling on Big Deal and Chris Logan on Dreams Inside also deserve a mention, while Angel Of Avalon, sung by Leif Sundin, brings back memories of their successful cooperation on the album, Written In The Sand.
“All original MSG vocalists have delivered fantastic performances”, Schenker said.
“Sometimes we got the feeling that time stood still, that’s how good the vocal parts have come out”.
The most important new discovery in the MSG camp is of course Jari Tiura from Finland, who contributed the vocal parts to 13 of the 19 tracks.
He added: “Jari worked intensively on the material, and his vocals fit in perfectly with a long tradition of by no means insignificant MSG vocalists”.

www.michaelschenkerhimself.com

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MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP
DATE: FRIDAY 10th AUGUST
VENUE: SPRING & AIRBRAKE
TICKETS: £17.50
DOORS: 9pm