Can't count myself as a fully fledged member of the Accept fan club but since the comeback album was so immense, I had to venture out to this gig in case the earth shook and boy did it shake! This gig clashed with Turisas down the road so there was competition alright as far attendance goes, however the Accept guys are a big enough draw in their own right now and the Garage was pretty solidly full with I'd guess around 500 or so metal hearted warriors.
First up were killer old school heavy metal heroes, Wolf. Been loving these guys since the first album and the new one is not too far away either. Seen them live before and they were pretty cool. These guys love galloping away in Maidensque fashion and then some of course and that they did for the duration of their 45 minute set. They played songs from their latest albums in the main plus a couple of older songs. The sound was clear enough for a support band although the vocals sometimes got lost. I think they went down well with the older Accept crowd and made for a great pairing. As the singer quipped from stage, "We even named our band after the guitarist in Accept!" which raised a few horns of course. I enjoyed Wolf's set a lot and it was fun to nod along to the cool riffs and gallops.
After they left the roadies got the stage ready for Accept and after a fairly long wait of around half an hour the lights went down and it was time for the old German warhorse to lay waste and what wasting! The sound was absolutely huge and yet crystal clear. It sounded 10 times louder than Wolf and much crisper and I thought the Wolf sound was actually good. This sound completely dwarfed that!
They started the set with new songs off of Blood of the Nations and boy did they rock like a beast. The band looks ultra lean and mean these days and in Tornillo they have a front man who I can stomach much more than Udo to be honest. I have mainly been unable to get into Accept as a band due to Udo's unique and nauseating snarls, but this Tornillo character I find much more palatable. Granted he's not a million miles away from Udo in gruffness but his voice just doesn't grate as much as Herr Dirkschneider does.
Anyway the band was in shit hot form all night. Crisp, groove-some riffs, mean and moody headbanging stares from Wolf and taut angular bass thumping from the bass dude. The bass sound was very tight and high in the mix and almost crunchy. There was a great guitar and bass duel in one of the songs, I forget which and it was very cool to witness that. The new songs sounded immense live as if they didn't already on plastic.
Accept had the crowd eating out of their hands basically and whilst some say this isn't really Accept without Udo, I don't really share that view since the real Accept never meant that much to me in the first place. The more familiar songs such as Breaker, Restless and Wild and the immensely catchy Metal Heart near enough blew the roof of the Relentless Garage. The band just sounds like a tight, well oiled machine with not a note out of place. Son of a Bitch with it's stupid lyrics had everyone singing along with venom and was hellishly fun. Princess of the Dawn was the melodic highlight of the set.
At the main set's end the crowd chanted vociferously for an encore of course and they weren't disappointed. Three of the band's biggest anthems and songs which I suppose are synonymous with the Accept live gig were played, ultimately ending with their most well known song which I actually have never really been a fan of hehe. But heck it was miles better live than it is on record. I still wouldn't call myself an Accept fan but I must admit that they really deserve all the praise coming their way with this comeback. Udo fucked up!
1.Teutonic Terror
2.Bucket Full of Hate
3.Starlight
4.Breaker
5.New World Comin'
6.Restless and Wild
7.Son of a Bitch
8.Metal Heart
9.Neon Nights
10.Bulletproof
11.The Abyss
12.Aiming High
13.Princess of the Dawn
14.Up to the Limit
15.Burning
Encore:
17.Fast as a Shark
18.Pandemic
19.Balls to the Wall
First up were killer old school heavy metal heroes, Wolf. Been loving these guys since the first album and the new one is not too far away either. Seen them live before and they were pretty cool. These guys love galloping away in Maidensque fashion and then some of course and that they did for the duration of their 45 minute set. They played songs from their latest albums in the main plus a couple of older songs. The sound was clear enough for a support band although the vocals sometimes got lost. I think they went down well with the older Accept crowd and made for a great pairing. As the singer quipped from stage, "We even named our band after the guitarist in Accept!" which raised a few horns of course. I enjoyed Wolf's set a lot and it was fun to nod along to the cool riffs and gallops.
After they left the roadies got the stage ready for Accept and after a fairly long wait of around half an hour the lights went down and it was time for the old German warhorse to lay waste and what wasting! The sound was absolutely huge and yet crystal clear. It sounded 10 times louder than Wolf and much crisper and I thought the Wolf sound was actually good. This sound completely dwarfed that!
They started the set with new songs off of Blood of the Nations and boy did they rock like a beast. The band looks ultra lean and mean these days and in Tornillo they have a front man who I can stomach much more than Udo to be honest. I have mainly been unable to get into Accept as a band due to Udo's unique and nauseating snarls, but this Tornillo character I find much more palatable. Granted he's not a million miles away from Udo in gruffness but his voice just doesn't grate as much as Herr Dirkschneider does.
Anyway the band was in shit hot form all night. Crisp, groove-some riffs, mean and moody headbanging stares from Wolf and taut angular bass thumping from the bass dude. The bass sound was very tight and high in the mix and almost crunchy. There was a great guitar and bass duel in one of the songs, I forget which and it was very cool to witness that. The new songs sounded immense live as if they didn't already on plastic.
Accept had the crowd eating out of their hands basically and whilst some say this isn't really Accept without Udo, I don't really share that view since the real Accept never meant that much to me in the first place. The more familiar songs such as Breaker, Restless and Wild and the immensely catchy Metal Heart near enough blew the roof of the Relentless Garage. The band just sounds like a tight, well oiled machine with not a note out of place. Son of a Bitch with it's stupid lyrics had everyone singing along with venom and was hellishly fun. Princess of the Dawn was the melodic highlight of the set.
At the main set's end the crowd chanted vociferously for an encore of course and they weren't disappointed. Three of the band's biggest anthems and songs which I suppose are synonymous with the Accept live gig were played, ultimately ending with their most well known song which I actually have never really been a fan of hehe. But heck it was miles better live than it is on record. I still wouldn't call myself an Accept fan but I must admit that they really deserve all the praise coming their way with this comeback. Udo fucked up!
1.Teutonic Terror
2.Bucket Full of Hate
3.Starlight
4.Breaker
5.New World Comin'
6.Restless and Wild
7.Son of a Bitch
8.Metal Heart
9.Neon Nights
10.Bulletproof
11.The Abyss
12.Aiming High
13.Princess of the Dawn
14.Up to the Limit
15.Burning
Encore:
17.Fast as a Shark
18.Pandemic
19.Balls to the Wall
