"For the Sake of Heaviness" "Aftermath" "Can U Deliver" "Reign of Fire" The stage switches over and the one thing I notice is that drummer Bodo Schopf's kit is surrounded by Plexiglas. An oddity I thought to myself. I know why someone would use such a set up, it's just that I've never actually seen that at a concert before. Either way it ensured that we wouldn't be getting any photos of him as the
outside of the glass had too many marks on it too make photographs possible. Also, I notice that about 20% of the crowd has left? Strange indeed but those who left early definitely missed out. As the emcee calls out 'Please welcome Michael Schenker' the band takes the stage, the man himself first in his trademark fur hat, then the rest of the band, Guitarist/Keyboardist Steve Mann, Bassist Barend Courbois and Vocalist R.D. Liapakis join him. Even though the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP just released a new album Don't Sell Your Soul barely a month ago this particular tour is a continuation and celebration of his last endeavor, My Years With UFO, which was released last year and as such, this set was comprised completely of UFO tracks that he had a hand in. Kicking things off with "Natural Thing" from the 1976 album No Heavy Petting the stage was set for the evening. As my fellow photographer and I are in the pit shooting this as part of our first three songs I turn and notice a person sitting on one of the metal benches that make up part of the barricade. He looks oddly familiar but I can't quite place the face. After another minute or two of snapping photos it dawns on me and I tell my fellow photog 'I think that's Jeff Duncan sitting there'. He glances back and says 'it is!' and he walks over and says something to him and then we both give him a fist bump (he wasn't immediately recognizable because he had his hair pulled back). It was kinda cool that he was sitting there watching the show as we did our thing. What we got for the next hour and a half for a trip through UFO memory lane, a mixture of well known songs like "Only You Can Rock Me", "Hot 'n' Ready" and "Doctor Doctor" (which immediately reminded me of every IRON MAIDEN concert I've ever seen), as well as some lesser known tracks like "I'm A Loser" and "This Kid's", which included a nice extended solo. OF course those of you that are familiar with some of UFO's more classic songs know that extended solos are an original part of the song and for this show it with a guitar shredding clinic as Schenker, at age 70 now, shows why he is still one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Following "This Kid's" was "Lights Out", complete with the chorus changed to "Lights Out, Lights Out In Houston", then a short drum solo and then slowing things down just a bit with "Love To Love". The show and tour concluded with the triple shot of hits, "Rock Bottom", "Shoot Shoot", "Too Hot To Handle". If you missed this tour, well, you missed an absolute clinic. Even at 70, he still moves with the dexterity, the precision and style of guys half his age. The 'My Years With UFO' Tour continues into 2026, picking up with dates in Japan at the end of January before moving to Europe starting a couple of weeks later. Setlist: "Only You Can Rock Me" "Hot 'n' Ready" Source: http://knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=56219