Accept – Forum, London – 7th December 2015

First tonight is British band Hell.  I’ve seen them live several times and they always put on a fantastic show. Since the band was resurrected a few years ago when Andy Sneap teamed up with them, they’ve released two great albums and tonight’s set includes songs from both of those albums.  Singer David Bower is an actor and that is clear when you watch his very theatrical performance.  He puts in a very intense performance – when he looks at you, you feel he’s looking through you, and really does lift things from a great musical performance to a fantastic show.  He leaps from the stage to get close to the crowd as he lays his hands on them like a demented preacher, and later in the set he brings out a flogger and whips himself.  While David Bower is the centre of attention, the rest of the band put in great performances – this really is a great band.  An excellent start to the night.

Then it was time for German heavy metal legends Accept.  They’re a band with an impressive track record and a catalogue of songs most bands would be envious of.  Alongside the old classics such as “Fast as a shark”, the last few albums have been really good, so they’ve got plenty of songs to choose from for tonight’s set.

Accept are a band that are so experienced that they make putting on a great show seem easy.  They’re clearly having a great time on stage and have a stage set that gives them plenty of light to make sure the crowd get good clear views of them, as well as having a lightshow that looks good from further back in the crowd.  Coupled with that they have plenty of space on stage and use that to it’s full extent as they move around.  Mark Tornillo is a great singer who handles the old and new material with equal ease and he interacts well with the other band members.  They play a good long set before ending with the classic “Fast as a shark”.  After a short break they come back for the encore and give the crowd three more songs before bringing out Andy Sneap to join them on guitar.  Andy Sneap is not only guitarist with Hell, but also works as producer on the Accept albums, so it’s no surprise he is playing with them, and the song chosen to end the night is another classic – “Balls to the wall”.  A fantastic end to a superb night of music.

Setlist:

Stampede
Stalingrad
Hellfire
London Leatherboys
Living for Tonite
Restless and Wild
Midnight Mover
Dying Breed
Final Journey
Shadow Soldiers
Flash Rockin’ Man
Bulletproof
No Shelter
Princess of the Dawn
Fall of the Empire
Dark Side of My Heart
Pandemic
Fast as a Shark

Encore:
Metal Heart
Teutonic Terror
Son of a Bitch
Balls to the Wall

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About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.