Legendary German guitarist Michael Schenker completed a Japanese tour, Michael Schenker Fest, earlier this month. The concerts featured appearances by three MSG singers: Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley. They were joined by Ted McKenna on drums, Chris Glen on bass and Steve Mann on guitar/keyboards. Combined, these men are responsible for such albums as "Michael Schenker Group" (1980), "Assault Attack" (1982) and "Save Yourself" (1989). Fan-filmed video footage of the August 23 Michael Schenker Fest event in Osaka, Japan can be seen below. In a recent interview with Roppongi Rocks, Michael stated about how the idea for the Michael Schenker Fest came about: "With all the other musicians in the past, I never really fired anybody. Every time it's time for a new record, I have to look around if the old members are still available. Sometimes they join other bands because they have to earn money. So I somehow ended up with different musicians all the time. But I guess that is also part of my life design. "Today, I have a chance now to enjoy all my past. I can embrace everything — Graham Bonnet, Gary Barden, Robin McAuley, and all the musicians. I have a really big world all of a sudden and it is a lot of fun. I can take off in any direction. I can go out with Graham Bonnet if I choose to, I can go out with Gary… The advantages of all these different formations, it's not all the same. Then there's TEMPLE OF ROCK, where Doogie [White] is basically singing my past and my current. That is a completely different concept again." He added: "It's a great opportunity to come out all the time. I'm very energetic, more than ever. I can go out and always come out with freshness, fresh surroundings." Schenker also talked about his current mindset as he prepares to take Michael Schenker Fest to other parts of the world. He said: "You know what? I live in the now. I only have good memories of everything. I'm a positive person. "Japan has been a fantastic audience for me over the years. They always understood what I was doing, more than people in Germany did in the beginning, but they are catching up. And the rest of the world is catching up. "Fifty years of AC/DC and… I think people are ready to hear a bit deeper music than that. "I think that in my middle years, I was able to withdraw and let bands like SCORPIONS and so on use what I created and made it in a more simplified way for their wider audience, in a nice packaging, for people to understand. "I think my assignment was to create something like this and then other people's assignment was to use it and present it in a commercial way. I think now it's time to come out and take everything I started in my first part of my life — taking it to the next level. That's what I'm excited about and that's what I am looking forward to do."
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