It’s the closing of a remarkable chapter for metal music fans. As Udo Dirkschneider and his band wind their way through North America over the next few weeks, it will mark the very last time fans will hear seminal songs from his former band Accept being performed in his unmistakably gravelly voice.
Enduring for nearly two years, the Back to the Roots – Accepted tour sees the band indeed playing an evening full of material by Accept, the legendary German metal band that Dirkschneider helped bring to international prominence throughout the 1980s. And when the last notes ring out in Philadelphia on April 8, it will be for the final time in North America. Fortunately, some of the dates on this tour will be through the Great White North for the benefit of Canadian fans.
The veteran metal vocalist and songwriter said he loves playing in Canada and is excited to be hitting cities on this tour that he has never played before, or not for a very long time.
“Over the years we have done some shows in Canada but mostly in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. But now I am really looking forward to going to Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. I have never been to those places with U.D.O. so it will be interesting to go there with this show and see how it goes,” he said during a pre-tour interview conducted while he prepared for his show in New York City.
After two dates in New York State, the tour does indeed hit the aforementioned eastern Canadian cities, starting Feb. 25 in Montreal at the Café Campus moving on to Quebec City on Feb. 27 for a show at Le Cercle and then on to The Mod Club in Toronto on Feb. 28, hitting Mavericks in Ottawa on March 1 before dipping back down south of the border.
Dirkschneider does a western Canadian jaunt beginning March 13 at the Park Theatre in Winnipeg, then on to the Marquee in Calgary March 15, the Starlite Room in Edmonton on March 16 before the final Canadian show in Vancouver at the Rickshaw on March 18.
Starting with the band’s self-titled debut album in 1979, Dirkschneider would record six more albums with Accept before departing in 1987. These included the international hit records Restless and Wild (1982), Balls to the Wall (1983) and Metal Heart which came out in 1985. He returned to the band for three more studio albums in the 1990s, departing again after 1996’s Predator.
Upon leaving Accept the first time, Dirkschneider formed U.D.O. and returned to the band when he left Accept again in 1996. Overall U.D.O. has recorded 15 albums and also released five live albums, making for an impressive pedigree when you also factor in the Accept material.
With all this experience, and dozens of world tours under his belt, Dirkschneider says he still gets very excited and even a little nervous before starting a tour.
“I am definitely always a little bit nervous with making sure everything is in place, choosing the right songs, this and that. But then when everything gets rolling after the first two or three shows and it becomes a little easier. But I am still a little bit nervous before I go out on stage each night and I think it’s important that you still have that feeling, you know? It means there is still energy and passion for the music,” Dirkschneider
And in case there is any doubt as to the veracity of Dirkschneider’s claim that once the Back to the Roots – Accepted tour wraps up later this year that he will never perform those songs again, he could not be more definitive.
“We do this until October of this year and then we are already finished with the new U.D.O. album, we are just mixing it now and the album is coming out at the end of August in Europe and the beginning of September in the U.S. and Canada. I am already booking a tour with U.D.O. beginning early next year. So that will be my focus from now on,” he said.
“After this tour is over, the only chance I will play Accept songs again will be if Accept splits up and stops touring. Then I will want to play some Accept stuff. But as long as they are touring and recording and playing, I don’t want to play the songs any more. I always say to people if you want to hear Accept songs, go hear Accept play.”
If you don’t get a chance to see Dirkschneider doing the Accept material, a live concert of an earlier incarnation of the Back to the Roots – Accepted tour was released in late 2016, followed by a companion DVD/Blu Ray last August. Fans who do get out to see some of the shows during this current North American run, will experience a significantly revamped set list from the last version of the tour, but one that will undoubtedly please both casual and die-hard Accept and Udo Dirkschneider fans.
“I always try to give the people what they want, especially with what we are doing on this tour. I am playing some songs I never played before with Accept, or ones that I have only played maybe once or twice back in the 1980s. And of course, there will be all the classic stuff in the set list.”
As a songwriter, topicality has always been Dirkschneider’s approach, as he interprets the world around him, and uses his voice and his music as a clarion call to awareness as he dissects the corruption, selfishness, greed and narcissism of the world as he sees it today. The last U.D.O. album was a sledgehammer blow in the regard, as it’s title track, Decadent, and much of the supporting songs were caustic indictments of those same dark aspects of humanity.
“It’s almost too easy to be inspired to write lyrics with what you see going on in the news. All I have to do is sit down and watch the news for a couple of days and I definitely can get tons of lyrics. There’s so much going on that needs to be talked about. And I have never wanted to write about dragons and witches and things like that. And also, we never did that when I was in Accept either. We were always trying to say something. We don’t want to be teachers or preachers but if the people are interested in the things we are saying, they can read the lyrics and that’s great. If they just like to listen to the music, that’s also okay,” he said.
Turning 66 on April 6, the third last date on the tour, Dirkschneider shows little sign of slowing down as either a songwriter or performing artist.
“For me, as long as I am having fun, as long as my voice hold out, and as long as there are people coming to the shows, I don’t know why I would stop. There’s certainly no thinking about retirement. So, we will see how long I can do this for,” he said.
To keep tabs on the Back to the Roots Tour, and the progress of the new U.D.O. album and other ventures by Dirkschneider, visit www.udo-online.de.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
