Scorpions Guitarist Matthias Jabs Says It Was ‘Stupid’ to Announce a Farewell Tour
Scorpions have already completed their farewell tour — and thought better of it — so whenever they really do decide to retire, don't expect them to book another round of goodbye dates. As guitarist Matthias Jabs recently explained, he's come to believe that "it's stupid" for a rock act to announce its retirement.
Speaking with the Arizona Republic, Jabs said the whole idea for a Scorpions "farewell tour" came from their manager at the time. Through what seems like a fairly significant failure of communication, Jabs recalled that every member of the lineup thought his bandmates wanted to retire; it wasn't until they actually got on the road that they realized what was really going on.
"We thought, rationally, it might be a good idea to say 'bye bye' while we were still in the best shape, leave the scene with the best impression and be remembered as a band that runs around like crazy. But seven years later, that still goes as well," said Jabs. "We still run around like crazy. And we don’t look that much different. So we postponed the end of everything and now we don’t know."
Jabs admitted they need to be "more careful" about accepting offers for shows well into the future at this stage of their career — a concern recently underlined by the cancellation of the dates remaining on their joint North American tour with Megadeth due to singer Klaus Meine's severe laryngitis.
But for now, he says the Scorpions are all having fun — and they've learned their lesson about calling anything a farewell. "That’s kind of stupid to announce it," said Jabs. "And a lot of bands have done it. Finally … the First Farewell Tour, that’s how Phil Collins called one of his farewell tours. It’s getting a bit ridiculous when you say it and don’t do it, so we won’t do it again."
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