The definition of the word musician is always here. This man belongs to the healthiest kind of musicians, those who are committed to dying singing on a stage. He is one of the most consistent ones as far as his discography concerns, releasing new and pretty decent material every two years. At no time in his life does he seem tired and the word “break” is completely unknown to him. At the age of 63 he is constantly working and doesn’t hesitate to try new things.
This time, U.D.O Dirkshneider with his personal band (his son Sven is behind the drums now), goes on stage with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the German Navy. The outcome is quite satisfying both musically and visually despite the rather dark shots, especially the long ones which is the only drawback of this DVD. The entire performance, which took place at the Standhhalle of Tuttlingen in Germany on 20th February 2014, consists exclusively of U.D.O’s material. Nothing from his time with Accept was selected and personally that didn’t bother me at all. He has got such a big repertoire himself that he covers one and a half hour with the backing of the Philharmonic with a really filling set. The bonding of the band with the orchestra seems ideal and the whole project seems very well rehearsed. “Independence Day”, “Heart Of Gold”, “Animal House” and of course my favorite “Train Ride In Russia” along with all the other songs he chose, utterly cover what I wanted to hear. One of the top moments of this show is the presence of the great Doro Pesch in a moving performance of “Dancing With An Angel” which she gave in the arms of her dear friend Udo.
“Navy Metal Night” is not another live release of the band like all the others that have been on the shelves the last decade. It is something special which you should really invest on. It’s a good reason to be on alert for the next studio album of the legendary short man. Don’t worry, it won’t take long…
