A U.D.O. visit is always a welcome event, but at the same time, an entirely predictable one. Ever since Udo Dirkschneider and Stefan Kaufmann resurrected this valiant project in the late '90s, their concerts in russia became a constant. Udo himself has been to our country over ten times; one must also count two visits as part of ACCEPT (1993 and 2005). The total number of concerts the band has given in our country long ago passed fifty, and while in 2006, for instance, they came only to st. petersburg and moscow, two years earlier the band had conducted a two-part tour across all of russia, including cities where concerts by bands of this caliber are a great rarity. That same 2004 saw the creation of a song written to the melody of "Katyusha" — "Trainride in russia" — with which Udo Dirkschneider's band has traditionally closed every russian concert for many, many years. A typical Udo program consists of about 20 songs, of which, depending on the tour's concept, a sizable portion may be ACCEPT compositions. Only three main hits are invariably on the setlist: "Princess Of The Dawn," "Metal Heart," and of course "Balls To The Wall." As for the rest — on the "Mission No. X" tour, there were no other ACCEPT songs at all; on the following tour, "Burning" was added to the list; and in recent years, the ACCEPT repertoire returned firmly to the setlists: "Breaker," "Midnight Mover," "Fast As A Shark," "I'm a Rebel," "Winter Dreams," and so on.
U.D.O. is one of the most active heavy metal bands of our time. Over the past 15 years, 9 albums have been released, and after each one the band tours actively, covering Western and Eastern Europe quite thoroughly. They're less in demand in the USA, where the reunited ACCEPT with a new vocalist currently generates more interest. Speaking of U.D.O. — it must be understood that Dirkschneider himself is the band's undeniable symbol, but at the same time, the other musicians have long since become integral parts of it. Bassist Fitty and guitarist Igor are inextricably associated with U.D.O. by now. And Kaufmann goes without saying — he is the producer, manager of the band, and author of virtually all the material.
The most unusual thing for me at the start of the concert was Mr. Dirkschneider's attire. Instead of the traditional military shirt, leather coat, and the like, this time he came out simply in a tour t-shirt and without any excessive pathos launched into the title track from the latest album — "Rev-Raptor." Besides it, "Leatherhead" was also played from that record, plus another wonderful ballad — "I Give As Good As I Get" — memorable for its extremely minimalistic video, in which practically only Udo's head is shown the entire time. From every other album, a little bit of each was played. A few years back, when I was interviewing the band, Dirkschneider lamented that he can't play songs from all his albums since he also plays ACCEPT material, and there are 11 solo albums — and you need to work in new programs. Well, today there are 13 albums, and the total number of songs from the solo period alone exceeds 160; combined with ACCEPT material, it's around three hundred. No wonder composing setlists in that situation is a challenge. At the same time, there are solo hits without which U.D.O. concerts are hard to imagine — for example, the title banger "Thunderball" from 2004. The first part of the tour raised some concerns, as too many interesting songs had disappeared, but by the russian dates the setlist was pleasantly expanded. The brilliant "Independence Day" returned, and after several years of oblivion, the stunning "Heart of Gold" reappeared. "Holy," however, wasn't played this time, and even "Animal House" — a calling card of the band's early period — vanished. That said, all the singalong numbers remained. And "Man and Machine" was naturally present — the audience certainly didn't let anyone down. The pompous, slow "Vendetta" from the penultimate album still hasn't won the crowd's affection, but apparently the musicians themselves are quite fond of it — there hasn't been a single concert without it in the last 5 years. "Two Faced Woman" (1997) and "Break The Rules" (1989) were a big surprise, though judging by the audience's reaction, not everyone recognized these songs.
The ACCEPT song selection this time was very, very interesting. No need to talk about the immutable trio — naturally the hall sang "Princess of the Dawn," the Beethoven "Fur Elise" melody embedded in "Metal Heart," and chanted "Balls to the Wall." The performance of "Screaming for a Love-Bite" — now that was a genuine surprise of the current concerts, and the ballad "Neon Nights" would also have been hard to predict before the tour. In the second half of the main set, "Up to the Limit" was also added for good measure. As for "I'm a Rebel" during the first encore — it simply tore the hall apart. Remarkably, the musicians showed practically no signs of fatigue at the concert's end, despite playing for nearly two hours and ten minutes. 19 songs and two solos — drum and guitar. The latter is another tradition — a glorious, positive, and very entertaining one. Igor Gianola begins the solo onstage but very soon finds himself in the VIP area. What happens next depends on the VIP section's layout: at club Milk, it forms the letter P, so the guitarist lingered there for quite a while. One complaint, though: what is it with every musician's desire to play "Kalinka-Malinka" year after year? Sure, the solo builds well on it, but it really needs some variety. And I repeat — this applies not only to U.D.O.'s guitarist; it's a widespread affliction of a good dozen musicians who tour russia. If only someone would at least learn the verse part of that same "Kalinka" for a change.
The first encore also had in store the opener from the previous album, "Dominator" — the track "The Bogeyman." The second, essentially, consisted of "Balls To The Wall" and "Trainride in russia." Worth noting is the considerable progress among the audience. Six years ago, only the first verse of "Katyusha" was confidently sung. Then they learned the second. And this time, for the first time ever — miracle of miracles — all three verses of the famous song (lyrics by M. Isakovsky, music by M. Blanter) were sung.
Over the past 6 years, I've seen Udo and company 6 times, including once at a major foreign festival, and not once has he given me anything to criticize about his performance. Even though the vocal side sometimes looks far from ideal, he continues, with his supreme professionalism and indispensable charisma, to be a living legend of heavy metal. So all that remains is to congratulate Udo Dirkschneider on his approaching sixtieth birthday and wish him creative success. And honestly, one would hope the albums become a bit more varied — but let's be realists...
Setlist:
- Rev-Raptor
- Thunderball
- Leatherhead
- Independence Day
- Screaming for a Love-Bite (Accept cover)
- Heart of Gold
- Vendetta
- Princess of the Dawn (Accept cover)
- I Give As Good As I Get
- Guitar Solo
- Neon Nights (Accept cover)
- Break the Rules
- Drum Solo
- Man and Machine
- Up to the Limit (Accept cover)
- Two Faced Woman
- Metal Heart (Accept cover)
Encore: 18. The Bogeyman 19. I'm a Rebel (Accept cover)
Encore 2: 20. Balls to the Wall (Accept cover) 21. Trainride in russia (Poezd Po Rossii)
We extend our gratitude to Spika Concert Agency and personally Vera Dmitrieva for the provided accreditation