Uli Jon Roth at the Arcada Theatre (4/19/2024)

Uli Jon Roth has long been my favorite guitarist of all time. His output with Scorpions in the ’70s is nothing short of legendary, influencing everyone from Kirk Hammett to Yngwie Malmsteen along the way. His ability to blend flawless virtuosity with pure emotion is untouched to this day, making for some of the greatest guitar riffs, melodies, and solos ever laid down on tape. And when these said riffs, melodies, and solos are brought to life onstage, performed by the maestro himself, the experience can only be described as transcendent.

Unfortunately for us Americans, it’s been quite some time since Master Uli last graced our shores, 5 long years to be exact. The Interstellar Sky Guitar Tour was originally slated to take place in 2020, only to be thwarted by COVID like every other tour that was set to take place through 2021. A rescheduled 2023 jaunt was derailed by an emergency kidney removal operation that left Roth unable to travel overseas for the better part of a year. This finally brings us up to Friday, April 19, 2024, the evening of which after 5 long years, Uli Jon Roth returned to the Arcada Theatre stage.

Addressing his prolonged absence, Roth told the loyal crowd that he decided to bring “two shows for the price of one” this time around, and he sure did. The first half of the show was the “Interstellar Sky Guitar” portion, in which Roth performed neoclassical guitar suites solo. For as important as heavy metal and hard rock is to Roth’s storied career, classical is equally as important, if not more so. The hour plus mostly instrumental voyage saw Roth covering Mozart (“Rondo Alla Turca”), freely improvising (“Passage to India”), and offering his own electrified spin on Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”. He also gave a sneak peek of his brand new book, In Search of the Alpha Law, in which Roth lays out his philosophies on music, spirituality, nature, and more.

After a brief intermission, Roth returned to the stage, this time accompanied by his full band for a musical trip back in time to the heavy ’70s. Considering Scorpions’ live repertoire these days consists almost exclusively of their most commercially successful era from Lovedrive (1979) through Crazy World (1990), Roth is the sole torchbearer of early metallic opuses like “In Trance”, “We’ll Burn the Sky”, and “Fly to the Rainbow”. Both he and his band breeze through these classics with the same fire and exuberance as they were when featured on Scorpions’ groundbreaking Tokyo Tapes live album.

In true UJR fashion, there were also nods to his post-Scorpions band, Electric Sun (“Electric Sun”), his solo career (“Land of Dawn”), and his fallen brother, Zeno, with a beautiful cover of “Don’t Tell the Wind”: One of the greatest AOR songs ever recorded. By the time Roth and his band closed with a scorching rendition of his masterpiece, “The Sails of Charon”, the crowd was in absolute awe of the nearly 3 hour musical marathon they were treated to. For a show that was half a decade in the making, Master Uli delivered and then some, taking us by force and leaving everyone “In Trance”. We wouldn’t have it any other way!

Setlist

Set 1

• “Amadeus”
• “Rondo Alla Turca” (Mozart cover)
• “Queen of the Night” (Mozart cover)
• “The Cry”
• “Passage to India”
• “Child of the Thunder Mountain”
• “Spring: The Triumph of Spring” (Vivaldi cover)
• “Winter – Metamorphosis” (Vivaldi cover)

Set 2

• “All Night Long” (Scorpions song)
• “Longing for Fire” (Scorpions song)
• “Sun in My Hand” (Scorpions song)
• “Electric Sun” (Electric Sun song)
• “Land of Dawn”
• “Don’t Tell the Wind” (Zeno cover)
• “We’ll Burn the Sky” (Scorpions song)
• “In Trance” (Scorpions song)
• “Fly to the Rainbow” (Scorpions song)
• “Pictured Life” (Scorpions song)
• “Catch Your Train” (Scorpions song)
• “The Sails of Charon” (Scorpions song)