PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Tonight’s gig was the start of the first UK tour for U.D.O in many years – in fact I can’t even remember when they last came to the UK. Happily though former Accept vocalist Udo Dirkschneider has managed to bring his band to the UK, and he’s brought a couple of great support acts too.
The night kicked off with Austrian metal band Garagedays. With their drum kit set up in front of U.D.O’s there wasn’t a lot of space on this tiny stage which did seem to cause a few issues for them as the guitarist and bassist did look as though they were a little too cramped to move as much as they would like. Despite that they put in an excellent performance. The singer’s vocals have a fair amount in common with those of Udo Dirkschneider or Mark Tornillo, but he did seem to struggle – when he spoke to the audience after a song there was a long pause with lots of heavy breathing as he seemed to struggle to get his breath back enough to talk. An excellent start to the night – they impressed me enough that I bought a copy of their CD.
Next up were Swedish band Sister Sin, and they were clearly a popular choice judging by how many people packed into the small area in front of the stage for their set. They put in an excellent performance witha set that mixes old and new including several songs from their latest album (Black Lotus). Singer Liv Jagrell is a great frontwoman and like the rest of the band puts in a great performance.
Finally though it was time for U.D.O to make their long overdue appearanc. I’ve seen Udo Dirkschneider perform on stage in Europe a couple of times but only doing one or two songs as a guest of the band I was there to see, but this was to be my first time seeing him doing his own show – something I’ve been waiting a long time for. Well, it was definitely worth the wait.
With U.D.O having released fifteen studio albums over the last 3 decades, they certainly don’t have a shortage of material to choose from, so we get a nice long set which includes six songs from their latest album, Decadent. Udo Dirkschneider still has that powerful distinctive voice that he had right back at the start of his time with Accept, and has an intimidating stage presence as he’s built like a Panzer tank. Alongside him is a young band which includes his son on drums, and they all look to be having a great time as they put in strongperformances. It’s a great set and the time flies past till finally they end the set with “Metal eater” and leave the stage. Happily though it’s not long till they’re back out for an encore and after kicking things off with “Break the rules”, Udo breaks out the Accept songs giving us four to end the night – “Princess of the dawn”, “I’m a rebel”, “Fast as a shark” and “Balls to the wall”. There were only actually three Accept songs on the printed setlist, but Udo decided to add in “I’m a rebel”, and actually overran the curfew as a result after a set that lasted almost two hours.
An absolutely fantastic gig. Let’s hope U.D.O come back to the UK before too long.
Setlist:
Speeder
Blitz of lightning
King of mean
Decadent
Independence day
Black widow
Never cross my way
Bullet and the bomb
Under your skin
Tears of a clown
Secrets in paradise
Faceless world
Pain
Untouchable
Let me out
Metal machine
Metal eater
Encore:
Break the rules
Princess of the dawn
Fast as a shark
Balls to the wall
