Performing: U.D.O., Tailgunner
Date: Friday, 22 March 2024
Location: Brno / Sono Centrum / Czech Republic
U.D.O., the long-running German champions of Teutonic metal, rolled through Brno on 22 March 2024 as part of the European leg of their “Touchdown” tour — the second of three sold-out Czech dates (Prague–Brno–Ostrava). Brno is, of course, where we caught the legendary Udo Dirkschneider and his crew on 9 December 2016, when they were playing under the Dirkschneider name (which is essentially the U.D.O. lineup rebranded for tours on which they perform exclusively Accept material).
This new tour, then, is dedicated entirely to U.D.O. material — primarily the highlights of their latest album “Touchdown” (2023, Rockline review). U.D.O., whom we had already caught on this same tour just two days earlier when they tore through Prague’s Roxy on 20 March 2024, are touring in their now-established lineup: Udo Dirkschneider, Andrey Smirnov (guitar, backing vocals), Dee Dammers (guitar, backing vocals), Peter Baltes (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Sven Dirkschneider (drums, backing vocals). But before the legends took the stage, there was a little waiting to do — the opening slot belonged to the hot and hungry British youngsters Tailgunner.
The razor-sharp quintet — four potent stallions plus guitarist Rhee Thompson — impressed once again, delivering a ferocious forty-five-minute charge through the N.W.O.B.H.M. legacy. These revivalists bring nothing to the table that you haven’t heard before, yet they win you over completely with their stage fire, their passion for everything they put their hands on, and a genuine, hard-won perfectionism — both in their showmanship and in the filigree precision of their playing. Commanding use of the stage, more than decent sound for an opening act, and the kind of raw energy you can only burn at full throttle when you’re young — all of this confirmed once more that Tailgunner are a seriously sharp band with the potential to headline their own tour before long. The look is lifted wholesale from Iron Maiden circa the first half of the eighties, right down to the white hi-tops and spandex. Since the band’s album catalogue is still thin, they pad the runtime with an extended dual guitar solo battle and a pair of covers. The first is a particularly striking choice — a surprise take on Beast in the Night, originally by cult Danish act Randy — and they close out by whipping the crowd into a frenzy with a cover of the Judas Priest classic Painkiller. A band firing on all cylinders at full-octane intensity, Tailgunner once again made the most of their slot and delivered another outstanding set.
After a half-hour break, U.D.O. delivered an hour and fifty minutes of precision-engineered performance — essentially identical to what they’d done in Prague two days before. Sono Centrum, as noted, was sold out, but it’s a considerably larger venue than Prague’s Roxy, so even with a packed house you could still breathe — even a few metres from the stage. The ventilation held up well too. The venue has two balconies above the floor, and the crowd spread out perfectly across all of them. A genuinely beautiful room that needs nothing added to it — and certainly nothing taken away.
Throughout the show the band reaffirmed not just their razor-sharp form but also their remarkably upbeat spirits — and that starts with the iconic Udo Dirkschneider himself, who once again, well, killed it vocally. What’s fascinating about this frontman is that he never pushes himself to the fore, never chases the spotlight. He does everything he needs to the moment he opens his mouth. The charisma is one thing, the presence is another, but ultimately it all comes down to the voice. The front line repeatedly puts both guitarists Smirnov and Dammers at centre stage, and they delivered again with scorching solos, while the legendary Accept-era Baltes works the back of the stage in his own way — regularly moving all the way from his spot on the left across to the far right side and back again.
Anthem after anthem. Assault after assault. One relentless hammer blow after another. No fuss. Just rolling forward. No brakes, no let-up, full tilt. Excellent sound, tight execution. The band once again showed their class in the vocal harmony department too. When the whole remaining four don’t join Udo on the choruses, it’s his son Sven and the seasoned Peter Baltes who (flanking Udo at the centre) lock in perfect three-part harmonies on the brilliant Steelfactory anthem One Heart One Soul — and it’s worth noting that Sven steps up to carry direct lead vocal parts on certain sections, further reinforcing his father’s presence. Sven has developed into an exceptional drumming powerhouse over recent years, holding the whole unit together with a top-tier performance. Working in the background like a hockey goalkeeper — nothing gets past those four limbs. He attacks the double bass pedal like a man possessed.
U.D.O. are one of those bands rooted in the classic days of heavy metal where, watching them live, you realise they function better on stage than they do on their original studio recordings. And that, really, is the whole point. It’s a goal this band hits with room to spare. To keep it brief: the set was identical to the one in Prague two days prior (personal favourites of the author: Independence Day, Heart Of Gold, In The Darkness, and the cheeky Holy and the ballad I Give As Good As I Get), with some tracks having long since become crowd anthems among Czech fans — Man and Machine above all. It’s worth noting again that U.D.O. build their concert intensity as the show goes on. That’s down, first and foremost, to one man and one man alone — the incredible Udo Dirkschneider, who still screams like he did more than 30 years ago. It must also be said that we once again missed material from the criminally overlooked album “No Limits” — throw in a track from “Timebomb” as well and even the most spoiled U.D.O. faithful would have had every wish granted.
The encore runs to a massive five songs: from the ballad — the exceptional ballad I Give As Good As I Get — through the mid-paced pounding anthem Holy, into two Animal House favourites — They Want War and the title track — and on to the grand final detonation with a cover of We Will Rock You, executed strictly to the U.D.O. recipe. All in all, a bomb that only bands like this can set off — bands whose members belong to the generation that built metal from the ground up. Udo Dirkschneider and Peter Baltes absolutely belong in that company. Udo — the man, the myth, the legend — once again rolled over and flattened Brno alongside his unyielding, razor-honed company of four.
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Edita Klemen
Tailgunner setlist:
1. Zorba The Greek (recorded intro)
2. Guns for Hire
3. White Death
4. Beast in the Night (orig. Randy)
5. Warhead
6. Guitar Battle
7. In the Hall of the Mountain King (orig. Edvard Grieg)
8. Revolution Scream
9. Crashdive
10. Painkiller (orig. Judas Priest)
U.D.O. setlist:
1. Isolation Man
2. Break the Rules
3. Forever Free
4. Metal Machine
5. Never Cross My Way
6. Independence Day
7. The Wrong Side of Midnight
8. Fight for the Right (intro: guitar solo – Andrey Smirnov)
9. Heart of Gold
10. In the Darkness (intro: guitar solo – Dee Dammers)
11. Man and Machine
12. Pain
13. Metal Never Dies
14. One Heart One Soul
15. Touchdown
—encore—
16. I Give as Good as I Get
17. Holy
18. They Want War
19. Animal House
20. We Will Rock You (orig. Queen)
