 | Written by: Alex Stojanovic Photographer: Rob Botten (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com @ The Mod Club Toronto, ON Canada January 10, 2017 Presented by Inertia Entertainment Closing the book on certain chapters in your life isn't always an easy decision, but it's always done for the right reasons. For the legendary Udo Dirkschneider, he made the decision to close the book on Accept and will perform those classic songs from his era that we all love for the last time before he stops singing them for good. What was supposed to be a couple of special shows last year, has transformed into a full-blown world tour, dubbed Back To The Roots - Farewell To Accept. The tour saw the band play all over Europe and Japan in 2016 and now it's North America's turn. It's hard to put into words the excitement us Toronto metalheads felt when Udo and his U.D.O. bandmantes, who are doing this tour under the name Dirkschneider, announced that they would be bringing this special tour to our city because Udo doesn't tour North America all that often, and the set is all the classic Accept songs sung by the original voice. I mean, how could you not get excited about that. |
The weather on this night was not cooperating at all, as snow fell throughout the day, then rain poured throughout the evening and there was howling winds, but that didn't stop a great group of devoted metalheads, both young and old, from heading to the Mod Club to witness this really special show. This show gave the new generation of fans a chance to hear a complete set of Accept classics sung by the original voice and it gave the old fans from the beginning a chance to re-live their youth. After seeing this show, all I can say is that I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the 2017 concert season. Now, let's talk about what went down on this special night, shall we?
| Local favourites Phear kicked off the night's festivities. I had the pleasure of seeing them last year as part of the Wacken Metal Battle Canada and they absolutely blew me away. I couldn't think of a better local opener for this show. Their music is very much in the vein of King Diamond and Black Sabbath. Aside from the band's tight performances, frontman Patrick Mulock was the star of the set with his King Diamond-meets-Bruce Dickinson-meets-Rob Halford vocals. Their show was enhanced by the lasers flashing from the stage as well as the laser pointers latched on Pat's leather glove. Recently, the band went through a rough period with the passing of their light guy Paul Carter back in November (R.I.P Paul). As a result, they dedicated their set to Paul. They later announced that they have an EP coming out and it contains a cover, and they treated us to that cover, which was Iron Maiden's "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", and they played the full 13 minutes. My jaw dropped when I heard how perfectly Pat emulated Bruce Dickinson's vocals. If you were blind-folded, you would think that Bruce was singing. Another fantastic performance by one of Toronto's best local bands. | (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photo: Rob Botten |
| (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photo: Rob Botten | Now it came time for the main event: Dirkschneider. As the opening riff to "Starlight" began, Udo entered the stage to a huge roar from the crowd. On stage, Udo sported his usual camouflage shirt and pants. The sound however was one of the key elements about their set that stood out because it was perfect in terms of instrument volume balance and clarity. The band focused primarily on tracks from Breaker, Restless & Wild, Balls To The Wall and Metal Heart, with select tracks from I'm A Rebel and Russian Roulette. Following "Starlight", the band headed into "Living For Tonite", "Flash Rockin' Man", "London Leatherboys" and "Midnight Mover". There were a couple of comedic moments during the set. The one that stands out was when people would yell for "Balls To The Wall" and Udo replied by jokingly saying "I never heard of the song. Is it a new one?" Guitarists Kasperi Heikkinen and Andrey Smirnov had several moments to shine with short guitar solos in between select songs. As the set went on, we were treated to several more fan favourites and deep cuts like "Head Over Heels", "Neon Nights", "Princess Of The Dawn", "Restless & Wild" and "Son Of A Bitch". Each time the crowd started chanting during a certain song, I had chills going down my spine. Towards the end of the set, the band treated us to tracks like "Midnight Highway", "Screaming For A Love-Bite" and "Losers & Winners". |
We then arrived at the encore, which started off with "Metal Heart", followed by "I'm A Rebel", then "Fast As A Shark" and "Balls To The Wall". A mosh pit started during the latter two. We all thought "Balls To The Wall" would be the last song, but it wasn't. The closing song was "Burning". Dirkschneider ended up playing a really long set, consisting of 24 songs, clocking in at 2 hours. You have to admire the band's endurance. With all that said, the show was absolutely incredible and people definitely got their money's worth. There's a lot of reasons why you must see this show. If this tour is hitting your city, be sure to go out and see it as it will be your last chance to hear Udo sing the Accept classics, so DO NOT MISS IT!
| PHEAR Patrick Mulock - Vocals Chris Lewis - Drums Tyson Emanuel - Guitars Graham Stirrett - Guitars Chris Boshis - Bass Label: Unsigned Website: www.facebook.com/phearband |  | DIRKSCHNEIDER Udo Dirkschneider - Vocals Fitty Wienhold - Bass & backing vocals Andrey Smirnov - Guitars & backing vocals Kasperi Heikkinen - Guitars & backing vocals Sven Dirkschneider - Drums Label: AFM Records Website: www.udo-online.de |
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