STUNG BY SCORPIONS LeSoleil, March 15, 2008

English translation of an interview with Paul, conducted by Marc Allard, LeSoleil, Saturday, March 15, 2008 (see left)

When Scorpions burned up the Plains of Abraham during the 2006 Summer Festival, a Quebec City group replaced the Scorpions for one song, “Blackout”. The crowd never realized bands switched until singer Klaus Meine introduced these guys.

 “My friends, oh yeah, I guess, I guess that’s the moments the dreams, the dreams come true, for these guys here, you know, there the ones, our favorite Scorpions tribute band, the best one in the world, all the way from Quebec, your boys, here onstage with us, this is IN TRANCE!!!!!” he yelled at the 90,000+ fans packed on the Plains.

 For Paul Gagné, it was consecration. Since he founded IN TRANCE, 12 years ago, it was the first time Scorpions publicly recognized the huge talent of the band consisting of Paul Gagné (rhythm guitar), Steeve Chiasson (drums), Stéphane Dorval (vocals), Marc-André Gingras (lead guitar)* and Jeff Carrier(bass).

 IN TRANCE founder Paul was stung by Scorpions, when he was 11 years old in 1982. Back from church in his hometown St.Redempteur, on an sunny April Sunday morning, he helped out his father cleaning the family car. Then “No One Like You” came out of the car radio, and Paul froze still. “It was the most beautiful thing I’ve heard in my life then. I still have chills, thinking about that moment. The dramatic, pompous side of that song, a quasi-religious experience.”

LOVE AT FIRST STING

 Paul first saw his favorite band play in 1982 at the Coliseum, opening for Rainbow. The young man fell under the spell of the energy of rhythm guitarist and Scorpions’ founder Rudolf Schenker. “When I saw him, I told myself that’s I want to do with my life”, tells us this guitar maker who happens now to run the guitar repair shop at famous Richard’s Music Store.

 He saw them again in 1984** and when the Scorpions were back in 1988 for their “Savage Amusement Tour”, Paul was lucky enough to get a backstage pass to meet his idol, Rudolf Schenker, to whom he had sent a 12-page letter months before. Then Rudolf Schenker remembered “Yes-yes-yes!!! I remember! Ohhhh! It was you!!!! Then he told the others: “ It's him the crazy kid I told you about! Okay Paul, I really want to talk with you after the show. Are you availaible?” The young man came back after the show and tech talked with Rudolf and bass player Francis Buchholz until 2am.

 Paul always believed that the Scorpions were one of the most underestimated band of rock history. He made this belief his mission. “This band will always be remembered for the songs, not enough for me though, but never acclaimed for its huge technical habilities. It’s very frustrating. Three hugely influential lead-guitarist came out of this band (Michael Schenker, Uli-Jon Roth, Matthias Jabs) who are awesome players. On the other hand, Rudolf Schenker and his band inspired Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Dream Theater, Europe, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Nickelback and thousands of others”, said Paul in a recent e-mail to us.

“I play songs I like, and we take the liberty to modify some of them and they (Scorpions) are the first to say: “Gee, we really liked the way you played this song” “- Paul Gagné, leader/founder of Scorpions tribute IN TRANCE

 Since he made a very special custom guitar for Rudolf Schenker in 1994, Paul Gagné always kept contact with Scorpions. At a time they wrote letters, now they exchange e-mails and text messages. Sign of the times.

 Meanwhile, IN TRANCE built a reputation here and around the globe by recreating the music and onstage magic of Scorpions shows with exact replicas of their famous guitars, clothes and stage props. Paul Gagné do not really care that some people make fun of tribute bands, accusing them of lacking of originality. “I play music, the music I like the most, and we take the liberty to modify some of the songs and they (Scorpions) are the first to say: “Gee, we really liked the way you played this song” “.

 Photo caption: Paul Gagné posing with one of his Flying V guitar replicas, as used by Rudolf Schenker.

 *Guitarist Marc-André Gingras was absent from IN TRANCE at that moment, touring with his band MAG Project, supporting Yngwie Malmsteen and doing other projects. Marcel Dufour replaced him until November 2007, upon his return.

 **  Journalist forgot to mention 1984 Love At First Sting Tour.

IN TRANCE at The PRESTIGE Club, St-Émile, QC, 11.25.2006

A review by Laury-Ann Bédard of Metal Universe  www.metaluniverse.net

The Prestige rock club is a venue that regularly features rock /metal tributes every Saturday nights. Saturday, November 25, the famous Scorpions tribute, IN TRANCE, was playing at this venue. After being special guests of the real Scorpions last summer, the IN TRANCE guys were back in the clubs to share their passion with the hardcore Scorpions fans. The show was delayed a bit and started at around 11 pm.

True to their inspiration, the IN TRANCE members wore stageclothes matching their respective Scorpions member. It was a two-set show and as usual, the two guitar players each used a half dozen of guitars suited and tuned for the right numbers, and most importantly, all of these guitars are replicas of genuine Scorpions guitars.

The show started with the "Moment Of Glory" symphonic intro, then the band tore through the first set with "Coming Home" and "Blackout".  It seems that a lot of fans of the Scorpions were in the audience and everyone gave me the feeling they were watching the real Scorpions performing.

IN TRANCE played 12 songs before taking a short break. I had the chance to watch a couple of IN TRANCE live videos before, but I was astonished by the quality and the rendering of their Scorpions covers. Singer Stéphane's voice is really close to Klaus Meine's and rhythm guitarist Paul really looks and sounds like the real Rudolf Schenker. I have rarely seen such a great complicity between bandmates onstage. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun playing together. After a showstopping solo by lead guitarist Marcel, who had the difficult job of succeding to the extraordinary Marc-André Gingras (MAG) last spring, IN TRANCE closed their first set with "Big City Nights" and "The Zoo".

After a short break, IN TRANCE was back with "Lovedrive" and many other classics like "Still Loving You", "No One Like You" and "Rock You Like A Hurricane".

During "Holiday", the crowd was delirious and the audience sang very loudly with singer Stéphane. We were even treated with a ten minute long drum solo. All night long, the energy onstage was astonishing. At some key moments during the show, some members of IN TRANCE jumped offstage and played through the audience! At the end of the show, the audience was shouting for even more and that was 3 hours after the beginning of the show! The band came back and played a killer version of "Blackout", to close that wonderful evening with the family of spiders.

PICTURES: http://www.metaluniverse.net/photos_061125_intrance.php

SETLIST:

Intro: Moment of Glory-Hurricane 2000
Coming Home
Blackout
Bad boys Running Wild
Loving You Sunday Morning
Always Somewhere
Tease Me Please Me
Is There Anybody There?
Love'Em Or Leave'Em
Wind Of Change
We'll Burn The Sky
- - - Solo Marcel - - -
Big City Nights
The Zoo