The break up of Udo from Accept looks like it was something good for both camps. Accept are going through a second youth having found a worthy replacement that brought his own personality to the band, but also kept the connection with the past, while Udo on the other side managed to build a respectful solo career and keeping his popularity intact.
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Their separate ways though created a gap which was visible mostly by the older fans. The Accept songs in Udo’s setlist were becoming less and less, just like the older material in Accept’s setlist. So, that’s what “Back To The Roots World Tour” came to fill in. Under the “Dirkschneider” moniker he decided to do and only last tour with the goal to gave to all of us who grew up with the music of the most important (together with the Scorpions) German band. 2 hours of Accept’s older songs performed by the voice that made them popular worldwide.
The night kicked off with the totally unknown to me Palace from Germany. A quick search online revealed to me that these guys have released 7 records since 1996! It’s amazing how they avoided my radar for all those years! They got the look of the old dogs; they seemed to enjoy themselves, even though they were only 100 people watching due to an issue at the venue’s entrance that was allowing punters to get in very slowly. At this point we have to say that Academy 117 is an ideal venue for concerts, both sonically and visually being amphitheatric and allowing a perfect view to the stage from its every corner. Palace’s half an hour went down great, although the band didn’t have more to offer than usual German metal.
The memories from their two last Anvil shows in Athens were the best. Two explosive shows with the crowd and the band sharing the same passion. That had nothing to do with what we experienced on Saturday night at the Academy. Anvil as a trio in a quite typical performance, tired and with no nerve. They played classic and favorite songs, but their performance of them didn’t leave anything to remember at the end of their set. As a fan I have to say that I was disappointed and I am sure that I will forget those 60 minutes quickly. To tell you the truth, even if Anvil’s performance was worthy of their name I’d soon forget it rather soon with what was going to follow…
It’s quite limiting to try and get through you experiences through a few lines of text. To write about feelings, share images and enthusiasm. By the moment Udo stepped on the stage there were shivers down my spine that wouldn’t let go not even the end of this 130 minute Accept majesty. I can still feel them while I am writing these words. With a setlist that came from a dream and with the band’s performance touching perfection the almost full Academy was filled with smiley faces with the only thing capable of bringing on some clouds would be the thought that what we experienced that night we won’t have the chance to experience it again. On the other hand, some promises are meant to be broken…
Kostas Kounadinis
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