Accept – Koko, London – 8th February 2018

Support tonight came from US band Night Demon. Their latest album, 2017’s “Darkness remains” is a great album so I was looking forward to seeing them live. A three-piece, they’ve got a real NWOBHM influenced sound although the bands that inspired them had 4 or 5 members, so to have a similar sound with 3 members is impressive. It’s a great set and they look very happy on stage playing to a large crowd – it’s always ncie to see bands actually enjoying themselves rather than just going through the motions. Having enjoyed the “Darkness remains” album, I really enjoyed their set – as with many bands, the music just sounds better played live.

Then it was time for Accept. They’re an incredibly consistent band so you always know what to expect from them – a night of top quality metal played by a band that never put a foot wrong. Marc Tornillo is a great frontman and a great vocalist whose voice works for the new material and the old Udo-era material equally well. Wolf Hoffmann is almost a second frontman as he poses, grins and moves around as he plays – in fact the whole band spend time moving around, come to the front and play together giving the impression of them as a well-oiled machine.

With such a long career they’ve got a whole host of classic songs to choose from, and obviously some simply have to be played – “Fast as a shark”, “Metal heart”, “Balls to the wall” and “Princess of the dawn” all make the setlist tonight, but mainly the set is based around the four albums to be released since 2010 – the current era of Accept. It’s testament to how strong those albums are that the songs from them can sit alongside the classics that fans have been singing along to for decades and the new material stands up well to the comparison.

Tonight was a great night of music with both bands putting in great sets. Night Demon are a band I hope to see again before too long, and Accept are a band I’ll never tire of seeing.

Setlist:

Die by the sword
Stalingrad
Restless and wild
London leatherboys
Breaker
The rise of chaos
Koolaid
No regrets
Analog man
Final journey
Shadow soldiers
Neon nights
Princess of the dawn
Midnight mover
Up to the limit
Objection overruled
Pandemic
Fast as a shark

Metal heart
Teutonic terror
Balls to the wall

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