Former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. singer Udo Dirkschneider last month embarked on a special tour during which he is performing ACCEPT songs one last time under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner before he closes the chapter for good. Asked by the Neon Sunsets web site if he will miss performing the ACCEPT classics once the current tour is over, Dirkschneider said: "It will not be easy; I have to admit that. But I have to make a clear break for myself — close the book and this is it. And I have the problem that people come to me and ask me to play more ACCEPT songs. Other people ask me why I play ACCEPT songs at all, because there are fifteen U.D.O. records. I want to avoid such things and avoid the repeating questions concerning ACCEPT. I just can't stand that anymore. There is nothing more to be said. U.D.O. exists longer than ACCEPT. We have more records than ACCEPT." He continued: "This tour is lots of fun to me. The fans enjoy it too. We will release a DIRKSCHNEIDER show as a [concert] DVD and CD. And after that, it is over. A little backdoor is left open, a very small one. If the band ACCEPT dissolves one day in the near future and I am still around with U.D.O., then there is a chance that I put ACCEPT songs back in the setlist. But currently there is ACCEPT, so go see them [if you want to see those songs performed live]. They are playing these songs." While acknowledging that some ACCEPT fans want to hear the band's classic songs performed by the group's original singer, Dirkschneider explained that "you always have these comparisons [between how these songs are played by ACCEPT and U.D.O.]. I don't want this anymore either. [The current lineup of ACCEPT] also play 'Metal Heart', they play 'Balls To The Wall' and 'Princess Of The Dawn'. And then some people tell me, 'Oh, [current ACCEPT singer Mark Tornillo] is doing it better than you.' And I go, 'That's fine. Enjoy yourself.' But I don't want this anymore. And to avoid all of this in the future, I said, 'We are doing this one more time.'" According to Udo, the original plan was for DIRKSCHNEIDER to only "a few shows," and "then [the tour] got bigger and bigger [due to demand]." But, he added, "I don't want to complain about that." Fan-filmed video footage of DIRKSCHNEIDER's entire March 18 concert at Principal in Thessaloniki, Greece can be seen below (courtesy of Industry Kills). The April 2 DIRKSCHNEIDER concert at Kaminwerk in Memmingen, Germany will be professionally filmed and recorded for a DVD and CD release later this year.
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