ACCEPT U . D . O .
Metallica
F
ormer Accept and current U . D . O . vocalist Udo Dirkschneider is saying farewell to his former band ’ s material with his Dirkschneider band ’ s live album , LIVE — Back To The Roots Tour . The album features 25 classic Accept tracks performed by his U . D . O . band in their native Deutschland on April 2nd , 2016 . The live album and current Farewell To Accept North American Tour is Udo ’ s way of closing the book on the Accept chapter in his career , as his full time band U . D . O . will stop performing Accept songs in his live set as long as the current Accept exists . It ’ s Udo ’ s musical statement to go out in style by giving these songs – in which he had a hand in writing and performing – a proper send-off . The tour
By Kelley Simms
makes a stop in Chicago at Concord Music Hall on January 13 , will be Dirkschneider ’ s swan song of his days of singing Accept songs .
Mosh : Going by your surname Dirkschneider and playing strictly Accept tunes , are you trying to distinguish between it and your U . D . O . band ? Udo Dirkschneider : Yes , definitely . It can be a little bit of a misunderstanding if you do all the Accept songs under U . D . O . That ’ s why we use the name Dirkschneider , it ’ s the same band but it ’ s different and has nothing to do with U . D . O .
IE I think no matter which band name go with , fans will always associate you with
Accept . But is this new album and upcoming tour is your way of saying goodbye to that era of your life ? Udo Dirkschneider : Yeah , I always say in a way I want to close the book . So Accept is still existing at the moment and are doing quite well , but I ’ m also a little bit tired of always being compared of [ sic ] who ’ s better , or who ’ s playing “ Metal Heart ” better , who ’ s playing “ Balls to the Wall ” better and on and on . I do it for the last time . Then after this , the U . D . O . set will be without any Accept songs .
IE : The album was recorded in Germany – what was that night like ? Why did you pick that venue and did you feel the recording captured the energy of the show ? Udo Dirkschneider : We played in this place very often and we knew that there ’ s a really good audience and a really good atmosphere . That ’ s why we chose this place to do the recording . We knew that they were really into it and they were singing along even when we played there with U . D . O . So we knew that it would be the right place to do it .
IE : I like what Accept has done on its last three albums , but the way you pull off these Accept songs on the new live CD is pretty spot-on . How did you go about picking the setlist ? Udo Dirkschneider : It wasn ’ t so easy to pick the songs for the setlist . In a way , I knew which songs the people like , but I also put some songs on it that I like very much , such as “ Neon Nights ,” “ Wrong is Right ,” “ Up to the Limit ,” Son of a Bitch ” and “ Flash Rockin ’ Man .” I think there ’ s a good mix , but already there are people asking how come we ’ re not playing this song or this song or this song ! There are so many great Accept songs , but we already are playing for over two hours . So it was not easy to pick out all
the songs , but I think in the end everybody is satisfied .
IE : The album sounds so crisp and clear , almost flawless . Were there any overdubs or extra mixing in the studio ? Udo Dirkschneider : Believe it or not , there are no overdubs . Nothing . I hate doing overdubs . When we were recording this show , we had already done nearly two months on tour , and it shows that the band is really tight . They play really good and my voice is still going ! The guy who did the mixing is also our producer , Martin Pfeifer , and he did a brilliant job .
IE : The band does sound tight , including your son on the drums . Was there extensive rehearsal time before the night of the show ? I assume the guys already knew the classic Accept songs as well ? Udo Dirkschneider : Yeah , they knew the songs and we did a very long rehearsal before we started the tour . Also , Stephan Kaufman ( former Accept drummer ) came to the studio . He was also in U . D . O . as a very brilliant rhythm guitar player , and he was talking to my guitar players about how to play exactly the Accept songs ; little tricks here and there .
IE : Your voice sounds in fine form on the record , and I assume you must have been really satisfied by your performance ? Udo Dirkschneider : Yeah , I ’ m really happy . It was also a good night . My voice is still doing well and there was nothing really special for me to rehearse or warm up . I just go on stage and do it . So I ’ ve been really lucky with my voice .
IE : For this North American Farewell to Accept Tour , you ’ ve stated that this is your
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34 illinoisentertainer . com january 2017