Well ever since it was announced this UDO doing Accept songs (for the last time?), kinda special tour, did sound interesting enough to want to go to, despite being a little pricey.
Arriving a little later (not that it mattered) after openers Palace (a half decent, 3rd rate Gamma Ray meets Accept/Udo hybrid that has put out some seven albums to this point without making any serious mark on the scene, I was greeted by a huge queue of people outside the club waiting to exchange their tickets to get in ever since the gig got upgraded to a larger club, a week prior to the actual engagement. It was only then as well that palace were announced as a band on the bill. Well I had to wait for a while to get through this process that goes to show that we Greeks tend to be a little inefficient when it comes to simple tasks, ie doing a repetitive thing like in the least amount of time. A thing that 4 people would have handled in almost zero time, got handled by 6-7 people that would not co-ordinate and ended up giving different direction ie go to that ticketing station – then having that guy say “no go through the door and they ‘ll do it there”.
Anyhow that little confusion led to missing most of the show of Palace as I ended up entering, during their last song. Yeah nothing to lose one’s head about, I went to browse at the shirts, expensive as ever at 25 euro, but the thing is because of some dodgy idea of the manager of Anvil who wanted initially to tax evade, but wasn’t allowed to, she decided to have Anvil shirts sold at… wait for it 36 euro(!) a piece, some 1 color outline/logo shirts. Well, screw that. A brave soul even did seem to buy one…
Onto Anvil, now, who when I first saw em were quite involved and passionate, both times – oh well – the last two times I saw them, including this one, they seem to be largely going through the motions, with diminished energy a half decent selection of a setlist and even in our case here some 20 minutes of useless “wanky” solos (they could have easily played 2-3 songs in that time). Adding a “thumb hang” or a “Tag team” in there” would have really made a bit of difference… maybe… Well, opening with “March of the Crabs” and proceeding with “666” did get some of the audience to respond, but choosing to air quite a few later-day songs didn’t set the crowd alight, as the band might have hoped with “Hope in Hell” and a few others ending up sounding pretty hopeless, despite being not bad songs as per ce. Obviously Mothra and “Winged Assasins” and “Metal on Metal” did get a bit of more crowd attention and participation, but seriously, I think it ended up being a rather disappointing show, the second in a row, after having watched them boring the fuck out of 3000 at KIT fest a few years back.
Quite a long break ensued between Anvil exiting the stage and Dirkschneider kicking off their show, so a few beers later… a cue that the show was about to begin came in the bizarre form of David Lee Roth’s cover of “I’m Just a Gigolo”, playing as an intro tape…
So grabbing another cup and moving on forward and to the side was just a natural thing to do. Udo and company then proceeded to “demolish” the club for the next two hours. Like a well oiled wrecking ball. Not straying a “T” from their “tour-setlist” or showing any signs of slowing down – only maybe holding back in 1-2 cases and being a little careful with the timing, Udo performing a two hour show at the age of 63, was quite a sight to behold. No disrespect, but he sounds more convincing than Tornillo when singing those songs, without Tornillo sounding bad, by any means…. But it’s maybe a case similar to Ripper/Halford. Both doing fine live performances, for the most part, but the classic singer, getting always more “love”. I must say having seen Accept at Rodon in what was it 1994 (!?) and then several UDO as well as the 2005 reunion shows that this one was one of the “better” and more impressive ones, obviously never able to remove the memory of the “first time”… sure the setlist was quite beefy, but I’m pretty sure a couple of “Objection...” songs would have really been the icing on the case, in the place of a couple of slightly boring “deeper cuts” that were selected instead, I mean I’d be happy with a “Slaves to Metal” and a “I Don’t Want to Be Like You” instead of “Neon Nights” and “Wrong is Right”.
Still – “Starlight”, “Living for Tonite”, “Flash Rockin’ Man”, “London Leatherboys” just didn’t let people to catch their breath, while “Midnight Mover” got even more people “moving”… “Breaker” what can I say… Icicle brains – bicycle chains – the unlikeliest of rhymes, but what a damn hymn! One of the first hymns… “Head Over Heels” and “Neon Nights” did trim things a bit down and gravitated them towards a more melodic side, but “Princess of the Dawn” with its extensive sing-alongs, plucked out of the golden book that is the Accept “hymnal” did restore the balance.
While I‘d take “Can’t Stand the Night” any day over “Winter Dreams” both songs are firm favorites, but only the second got aired, while I quickly ventured for a leak. Returning in good time for “Restless and Wild” and “Son of a Bitch” a one-two that’s hard to beat… “Up to the Limit” and “Wrong is Right” offered somewhat of a breather before “Midnight Highway” another excellent cut from “Breaker” and probably one of my most favorite Accept songs ever. While “Screaming for a Love-Bite”, “Monsterman”, “TV War” and “Losers and Winners” sort of continuing the euphoric climate with constant audience participation… finally a five track encore, for which some of Accept’s bigger hits were reserved came about, with “Metal Heart”, “I’m a Rebel”, “Fast as a Shark” complete with its hysterical intro that really had me scratching my head when I first heard it in the early nineties, whether there was something wrong with the tape I had purchased at the time (only to find out when dat guitar landed, that it was all intended) and then “Balls to the Wall” and “Burning” another one of the super-duper favorite Accept songs, which concluded the show with the band taking their bows and receiving an ovation over a tape outro, of Sinatra’s “My Way”…
A bit of shenanigans followed but the Euphoria was apparent with everyone feeling really happy that they had partaken in this metallic celebration. Long live Udo, one of the last few icons of metal still alive and rocking as f@#k!
Anyhow that little confusion led to missing most of the show of Palace as I ended up entering, during their last song. Yeah nothing to lose one’s head about, I went to browse at the shirts, expensive as ever at 25 euro, but the thing is because of some dodgy idea of the manager of Anvil who wanted initially to tax evade, but wasn’t allowed to, she decided to have Anvil shirts sold at… wait for it 36 euro(!) a piece, some 1 color outline/logo shirts. Well, screw that. A brave soul even did seem to buy one…
Onto Anvil, now, who when I first saw em were quite involved and passionate, both times – oh well – the last two times I saw them, including this one, they seem to be largely going through the motions, with diminished energy a half decent selection of a setlist and even in our case here some 20 minutes of useless “wanky” solos (they could have easily played 2-3 songs in that time). Adding a “thumb hang” or a “Tag team” in there” would have really made a bit of difference… maybe… Well, opening with “March of the Crabs” and proceeding with “666” did get some of the audience to respond, but choosing to air quite a few later-day songs didn’t set the crowd alight, as the band might have hoped with “Hope in Hell” and a few others ending up sounding pretty hopeless, despite being not bad songs as per ce. Obviously Mothra and “Winged Assasins” and “Metal on Metal” did get a bit of more crowd attention and participation, but seriously, I think it ended up being a rather disappointing show, the second in a row, after having watched them boring the fuck out of 3000 at KIT fest a few years back.
Quite a long break ensued between Anvil exiting the stage and Dirkschneider kicking off their show, so a few beers later… a cue that the show was about to begin came in the bizarre form of David Lee Roth’s cover of “I’m Just a Gigolo”, playing as an intro tape…
So grabbing another cup and moving on forward and to the side was just a natural thing to do. Udo and company then proceeded to “demolish” the club for the next two hours. Like a well oiled wrecking ball. Not straying a “T” from their “tour-setlist” or showing any signs of slowing down – only maybe holding back in 1-2 cases and being a little careful with the timing, Udo performing a two hour show at the age of 63, was quite a sight to behold. No disrespect, but he sounds more convincing than Tornillo when singing those songs, without Tornillo sounding bad, by any means…. But it’s maybe a case similar to Ripper/Halford. Both doing fine live performances, for the most part, but the classic singer, getting always more “love”. I must say having seen Accept at Rodon in what was it 1994 (!?) and then several UDO as well as the 2005 reunion shows that this one was one of the “better” and more impressive ones, obviously never able to remove the memory of the “first time”… sure the setlist was quite beefy, but I’m pretty sure a couple of “Objection...” songs would have really been the icing on the case, in the place of a couple of slightly boring “deeper cuts” that were selected instead, I mean I’d be happy with a “Slaves to Metal” and a “I Don’t Want to Be Like You” instead of “Neon Nights” and “Wrong is Right”.
Still – “Starlight”, “Living for Tonite”, “Flash Rockin’ Man”, “London Leatherboys” just didn’t let people to catch their breath, while “Midnight Mover” got even more people “moving”… “Breaker” what can I say… Icicle brains – bicycle chains – the unlikeliest of rhymes, but what a damn hymn! One of the first hymns… “Head Over Heels” and “Neon Nights” did trim things a bit down and gravitated them towards a more melodic side, but “Princess of the Dawn” with its extensive sing-alongs, plucked out of the golden book that is the Accept “hymnal” did restore the balance.
While I‘d take “Can’t Stand the Night” any day over “Winter Dreams” both songs are firm favorites, but only the second got aired, while I quickly ventured for a leak. Returning in good time for “Restless and Wild” and “Son of a Bitch” a one-two that’s hard to beat… “Up to the Limit” and “Wrong is Right” offered somewhat of a breather before “Midnight Highway” another excellent cut from “Breaker” and probably one of my most favorite Accept songs ever. While “Screaming for a Love-Bite”, “Monsterman”, “TV War” and “Losers and Winners” sort of continuing the euphoric climate with constant audience participation… finally a five track encore, for which some of Accept’s bigger hits were reserved came about, with “Metal Heart”, “I’m a Rebel”, “Fast as a Shark” complete with its hysterical intro that really had me scratching my head when I first heard it in the early nineties, whether there was something wrong with the tape I had purchased at the time (only to find out when dat guitar landed, that it was all intended) and then “Balls to the Wall” and “Burning” another one of the super-duper favorite Accept songs, which concluded the show with the band taking their bows and receiving an ovation over a tape outro, of Sinatra’s “My Way”…
A bit of shenanigans followed but the Euphoria was apparent with everyone feeling really happy that they had partaken in this metallic celebration. Long live Udo, one of the last few icons of metal still alive and rocking as f@#k!
