Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Munich / Tonhalle / Germany
Concert date: January 14, 2018
Attendance: 2,100
Ticket price: €45.00 (on the day of the show)
Making the pilgrimage to see the legendary Accept has become something of a mantra since they got back together in 2008 (and for good, with no Udo Dirkschneider in the lineup). The band is in the middle of a long renaissance and a fresh, youthful second bloom that, after the reunion and four new albums, just keeps going and going. Last August Accept gave birth to their new studio album »The Rise of Chaos«, and before that they did a spring tour opening (yeah, hard to believe) for Sabaton, who must surely seem like wet-behind-the-ears kids to them, but who are red hot among the young, if not the very youngest, generation of metalheads.
This time the Accept tour kicked off in the middle of winter, and once again it skipped Austria. So if you live in Slovenia, the closest option for catching Accept was the Bavarian capital, Munich, and once again the Tonhalle there, housed in the “Bavarian Metelkova” known as Kunstpark Ost.
As always, the German crowd didn’t disappoint. The orderly Germans packed the hall to the last corner by seven o’clock, when the opening act Night Demon was announced. The California heavy metal revival trio from Ventura didn’t actually get going until half past seven, which stirred up a bit of grumpiness among the usually patient and calm Germans, confirmed by a few scattered whistles of disapproval. We caught Night Demon at Bang Your Head two and a half years ago, and even then they put on a brilliant show in the heat of the day. No hiding behind anything with these guys. They play old-school, hand-carved heavy metal, drawing heavily on the legacy of the legendary British acts that broke through around the turn of the seventies into the eighties and shaped the movement everyone knows as NWOBHM.
The trio of Dusty Squiers (bass, vocals), Armand John Anthony (guitar) and Jarvis Leatherby (drums) put out their second album, Darkness Remains, last year, and it got the most spotlight in the forty-minute set. The rest of the material came from the debut »Curse of the Damned (2015). Once again a thoroughly convincing show, and once again a win for Night Demon. Not much talking. The performance and the band’s whole approach to their stage time said it all. The band is slightly handicapped only because Dusty has to make sure he stays close to the mic stand, which means that despite the hugely energetic and likeable stage presence, the band can’t fully let loose with their legs and arms on stage. Maybe the guy should get himself a wireless (headset) mic, like his idol John Gallagher of the legendary Raven does. Speaking of Raven, you can definitely feel some of that band’s gospel in Night Demon too. Night Demon also bowed to the legacy of Motörhead by tackling the classic Overkill. The show wrapped up with two tracks from the EP »Night Demon« (2012), namely The Chalice and then Night Demon, at which point of course the band’s fourth member paid the stage a visit, dressed up as Death with a chalice in hand. Sound great, energy great. Solid and very confident. You can tell the band has racked up serious mileage, and the excellent set was confirmed by the hearty response from the otherwise always demanding German crowd.
Accept played a two-hour set. They stuffed the setlist with far more new songs than anyone expected. The newer songs are the ones recorded on the last four albums, and this time they made up fully half the repertoire. Especially in the first part, Accept weighed down their show with tracks from »The Rise of Chaos«, with an old-school triad of classics in between: Breaker, London Leatherboys and Restless And Wild. Up to Neon Nights Accept went through their new album, i.e. stuck with the newer material, which was closed out by the »Blind Rage« track Final Journey and one of the best songs off the album »Stalingrad«, called Shadow Soldiers. After a guitar solo spot from the band’s charismatic boss Wolf Hoffman, the band switched into the cult Neon Nights. That was the signal that the second half of the show would be even wilder and hotter, delivering a proper celebration with a textbook trip through the classics of the iron repertoire. Accept raced from classic to classic, and of course they had to play Princess of the Dawn, which, to everyone’s great relief, they didn’t stretch out to ten minutes (or more) this time. It was joined by the superior »Metal Heart« classic Midnight Mover and right after it Up to the Limit. Accept surprised with Objection Overruled, and closed out the regular part of the show absolutely raging! With the »Restless And Wild« firestarter Fast as a Shark. The encore you could call by heart. Only two mandatory classics were still missing. Metal Heart and of course Balls to the Wall. In between they cut loose one of the best riffs they’ve written in the modern era, found in the outstanding Teuthonic Terror (»Blood of the Nations«, 2010).
The band isn’t losing its spark. Slightly rejuvenated, that is, with American drummer Christopher Williams and experienced German guitarist Uwe Lulis (ex-Grave Digger) in the lineup, they can’t and won’t disappoint. The stage came with a futuristic backdrop of absolute post-apocalyptic reflections and visions, plus an extra riser holding Williams’s giant drum kit. “Wolfy” everywhere with his guitar and a thousand grimaces, Uwe a little behind him, but still more exposed and livelier than his predecessor, former member Herman Frank. Uwe even got a solo spot in Restless And Wild. Peter Baltes and Wolf Hoffman remain the driving forces and the most dominant, front-and-center “players” of the quintet. Vocalist Mark Tornillo showed some vocal wear and tiredness at moments, which is entirely excusable given his tenure. His years, and handling the demanding vocal style that the actually irreplaceable former frontman, Udo Dirkschneider, instilled into the very essence of this band. Despite the thankless task, namely walking in his predecessor’s shoes, Tornillo, a singer cut from different cloth, confidently pulled off his duties. His vocal color suits the essence of the classics well, and especially the new songs. During the show he had to cool his throat with a few drinks.
Accept are still venomous and razor-jagged on stage. No shortage of destructive power here. Toxic, razor-sharp guitars keep the spirit of the old days alive and carry it over into the character and charisma of the band’s new era. The band’s treasury of signature guitar phrases is a kind of bible of the German school of Teutonic metal, bearing the noble badge of »pioneering« and all the respectable »evergreen« status! Accept remain an uncompromisingly destructive machine of the most authentic Teutonic steel, which knows no rust. This time too, that machine ran over the Bavarian capital with all its fiery force, leaving chaos and devastation in its wake. We can confidently expect something similar when the elder statesmen of metal hit the upcoming Metaldays festival.
Setlist
NIGHT DEMON:
1. Welcome to the Night
2. Full Speed Ahead
3. Maiden Hell
4. Curse of the Damned
5. Hallowed Ground
6. Ritual
7. Heavy Metal Heat
8. Overkill (orig. Motörhead)
9. Dawn Rider
10. Black Widow
11. Screams in the Night
12. The Chalice
13. Night Demon
ACCEPT:
1. Die by the Sword
2. Stalingrad
3. Restless and Wild
4. London Leatherboys
5. Breaker
6. Rise of Chaos
7. Koolaid
8. No Regrets
9. Analog Man
10. Final Journey
11. Shadow Soldiers
12. Guitar Solo
13. Neon Nights
14. Princess of the Dawn
15. Midnight Mover
16. Up to the Limit
17. Objection Overruled
18. Pandemic
19. Fast as a Shark
—encore—
20. Metal Heart
21, Teutonic Terror
22. Balls to the Wall
Photo Gallery
