{"id":37932,"date":"2026-04-29T08:20:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=37932"},"modified":"2026-04-29T08:21:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:21:24","slug":"on-stage-legendary-guitarist-uli-john-roth-return-for-show-at-sellersville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=37932","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Legendary guitarist Uli John Roth return for show at Sellersville"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/div>\n
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Uli John Roth<\/p><\/div>\n

History has a tendency to repeat itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Seven years ago on April 25, 2019, guitar virtuoso\u00a0Uli\u00a0John Roth performed a show at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, www.st94.com<\/a>) as part of his \u201cTriple Anniversary World Tour.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Two years ago on April 24, 2024, Roth returned to the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com<\/a>) for a concert that was part of his \u201cInterstellar Sky Guitar World Tour.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Roth is continuing his late-April tradition of performing at the Sellersville Theater when he returns to the venue in Bucks County for a show on April 29.<\/div>\n
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Roth, a legendary guitarist and composer, has come back to America to treat fans with an extraordinary new program titled \u201cPictures of Destiny.\u201d<\/div>\n

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This highly anticipated tour is an awe-inspiring, three-hour extravaganza which features the premiere of compositions from his long-awaited \u201cRequiem for an Angel.\u201d<\/div>\n
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As a special addition, Roth will showcase a collection of his original oil paintings, inspired by his music and songs, in each venue\u2019s foyer.<\/div>\n
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Critics have described his artwork as \u201cRembrandt meets Star Wars,\u201d and these visually striking works of art will be integrated into the performances to enhance the audience\u2019s journey.<\/div>\n
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Through his exceptional guitar artistry and evocative paintings, Roth invites audiences to immerse themselves in a world of profound beauty and inspiration.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis is a three-week tour in North America,\u201d said Roth, during a phone interview last Thursday from a tour stop in Derry, New Hampshire.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe have one more week here. Then, we take the tour to Europe starting in mid-May in Berlin. It\u2019s a massive project.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The energetic concert is a 360-degree journey into Roth\u2019s unique world of artistic imagination. The integrated multi-media show will last about three hours.<\/div>\n
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Roth\u2019s new expansive \u201cPictures of Destiny\u201d show is split into two parts.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe show opens up in a solo mode,\u201d said Roth. \u201cThere are a lot of classical pieces from composers such as Mozart and Vivaldi.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ll also be playing some of my own music. And I\u2019ll be talking about my book. The book offers a strong sense of my past.\u201d<\/div>\n
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With Roth\u2019s shows, his past, his present and his future all swirl together.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWith the \u2018Pictures of Destiny\u2019 show, I wrote a lot of new music which was just performed for the first time on our recent tour of Japan,\u201d said Roth.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere were many songs that were premiered there. That is what we\u2019re bringing to the states now.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIn my opinion, the first half is more exciting for several reasons. These songs are relatively new \u2013 especially in live format. New pieces of music take on an identity of their own when they are performed live.\u201d<\/div>\n
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And Roth is also introducing a lot of his newer art pieces.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s called \u2018Pictures of Destiny\u2019 because I\u2019m also an oil painter,\u201d said Roth, a modern-day Renaissance Man.<\/div>\n
\u201cIf you connect the right visuals with the right kind of music, the impact can be very powerful. It\u2019s the same with certain styles of film music.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe new pictures all relate to my music. They\u2019re connected to my music and they complement it. We show the paintings as a backdrop and the music goes with it.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The door temporarily slammed shut on his painting career a little while ago.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI was painting a lot many years ago, but I had to stop for health reasons,\u201d said Roth. \u201cI was allergic to the solvents in the paint, so I stopped.<\/div>\n
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\u201cBut not long ago I found out that they are making solvent-free paints. I tried this new type of paint, and the result was a whole burst of painting. I did quite a lot of painting.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Roth suffered a different kind of health setback a few years ago.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI had a major health issue,\u201d said Roth. \u201cI lost one of my kidneys. \u201cNow, I\u2019m running on one kidney and it\u2019s working well. I just have to drink enough water and eat the right things.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Roth is one of the best \u2013 and most famous \u2013 rock musicians to come out of Germany.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI was born in Duesseldorf and grew up in Hannover Germany,\u201d said Roth. \u201cIn 1980, I moved to the U.K. I still live in the U.K. \u2013 in Wales.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve had bands since I was 13 and played classical and rock guitar. I started to gravitate toward classical because of the unlimited potential.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI like to expand boundaries. I was attracted to the great composers \u2013 Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt. I love them all.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Roth, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players ever, played his first ever show in December 1968 \u2013 the month when he became a teenager.<\/div>\n
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He became famous as Scorpions\u2019 lead guitarist and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre.<\/div>\n
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He is also the founder of Sky Academy and inventor of the Sky Guitar.<\/div>\n
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During his ground-breaking Electric Sun period, he took the art of playing electric guitar to a completely new and unprecedented level.<\/div>\n
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Virtually singlehandedly, Roth pioneered a unique style of guitar playing which combined complete technical mastery of the instrument with an intensely melodic and emotional appeal.<\/div>\n
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Roth\u2019s musical scope is enormous and ranges from vintage Jimi Hendrix and Cream to the technically much more demanding world of classical music.<\/div>\n
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Roth has written classical concertos and symphonic pieces and is equally at home in both worlds.<\/div>\n
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As a guitar player and artist,\u00a0Roth is in a league of his own as legions of guitar players will attest. Joe Satriani has recently stated in one of his interviews that — of all the guitarists who ever played in the G3 —\u00a0Uli\u00a0impressed him the most.<\/div>\n
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Roth\u2019s playing and onstage presence is always inspirational, and each concert is a unique event, because of his ability to make his instrument soar and sing emotionally and his spur of the moment improvisations.<\/div>\n
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His musical scope is enormous and ranges from British blues rock trios to the technically much more demanding world of classical music.<\/div>\n
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Somehow, he\u00a0manages to create exciting bridges between these seemingly musical opposite languages.<\/div>\n
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Roth\u00a0has written classical concertos and symphonic pieces and is equally at home in both worlds, which makes him a distinct phenomenon and a very rare breed among guitar players.<\/div>\n
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This tour definitely showcases Roth crossing a bridge.<\/div>\n
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The first half is very melodic with a strong classical music influence.<\/div>\n
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The second half is balls-to-the-walls classic rock \u2013 especially early Scorpions material.<\/div>\n
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Roth is celebrating the golden anniversaries of two Scorpions albums, 1975\u2019s \u201cIn Trance\u201d and 1976\u2019s \u201cVirgin Killer.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201c\u2018In Trance\u2019 and \u2018Virgin Killer\u2019 were both recorded over a two-year period in 1975 and 1976, so that makes them both 50 years old,\u201d said Roth.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re playing the best tracks from these albums. It really works \u2013 which is not the case with every album you can think of.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re also playing a lot of my songs and other Scorpions\u2019 hits. We play the Scorpions\u2019 \u2018In Your Yard,\u2019 which I never played live with them.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI now have a really good band with three guitars, bass, drums and backup vocals. With the old songs, we\u2019re staying very close to the originals.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Video link for\u00a0Uli\u00a0Jon Roth — https:\/\/youtu.be\/sae8v6q8LpM?si=DBf7IG7hUI1ospWk<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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The show at the Sellersville Theater on April 29 will start at 8 p.m.<\/div>\n
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Ticket prices start at $39.50.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times History has a tendency to repeat itself. Seven years ago on April 25, 2019, guitar virtuoso\u00a0Uli\u00a0John Roth performed a show at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, www.st94.com) as part of his \u201cTriple Anniversary World Tour.\u201d Two years ago on April 24, 2024, Roth returned to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5166],"tags":[3912,13230],"class_list":["post-37932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-uli-john-roth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37932"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37934,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37932\/revisions\/37934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}