Michael Schenker is widely considered one of the most famous German rock guitarists, renowned for his work with UFO, Scorpions, and the Michael Schenker Group. Known for his signature Flying V guitar and melodic yet aggressive style, he remains a legendary figure in hard rock and metal.

We had to wait a bit for Michael Schenker to hit the stage — about 30 minutes past the scheduled time — but at 9:45 he finally appeared. There were roughly 1,000 people in Die Kantine, mostly 50+. I have to admit, I expected a bigger venue and a larger crowd for a household name like Schenker — at least something like E‑Werk.

Sure, he’s 71, and the sound of heavy metal has changed a lot over the decades. There might be technically “better” players out there today, but it was immediately noticeable just how professional he is. From the first song on, the band simply rocked. And by that I don’t mean just heaviness or volume — you can feel when a band is truly tight and cohesive.

That’s exactly what we had. Michael didn’t need to jump around or run up and down the stage to own it. He owned it through presence alone. You could feel the stability in his playing.

The band around him was just as professional — musicians with serious mileage who know exactly when to dig in and when to pull back. There was no competition between the instruments, yet there was never any emptiness either. Everything came together beautifully as one unit.

For me this was also personal. Michael Schenker was one of the guitar players I listened to as a teenager. Being there was a bit of a bucket-list moment — never mind the fact that I got to photograph the show for metal.de. That was just the cherry on top.