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The Teutonic legend Udo Dirkschneider came to the Blue Note in Harrison, Ohio on October 9, 2024. For those of us old enough to remember when MTV played music, he is a bucket list concert. If your only visual exposure to Udo is through video, as was mine, then you may be surprised to learn he actually smiles. A lot. 

I was a little surprised that the sixteen song set was mostly solo material, which was as strong as the Accept material, if perhaps less familiar. Selections from their latest release, Touchdown, bookended the pre-encore portion of the show. The band took the stage first, then Udo made his appearance and jumped into “Isolation Man,” then quickly into “Break The Rules” from “Mean Machine,” and then back to the Touchdown album with “Forever Free,” and then “Metal Machine” off Steelhammer. 

Up this to this point in the show there was very little in between song banter. Not until we got to the first Accept song, “Midnight Mover,” did we hear some commentary from Udo about how old (young) we were when he we first heard the song.

I will point out that U.D.O. is truly a band. The man Udo gives each of the band members plenty of time and space to shine on stage. While Udo the man is the main attraction, U.D.O. is most certainly a band effort. Not only is he gracious to his band members, but he was also interactive with the crowd. The other Accept songs to make the set list were “Metal Heart,” “Fast As A Shark,” and, of course, the essential “Balls To The Wall.” But, I emphasize I was most certainly not disappointed with most of the set being solo material. 

Don’t expect wall to wall Accept, but you won’t feel shortchanged. Based on the participation from the audience during the show, and the comments about what a great show this was in my conversations with fellow metal heads after the show, I’m absolutely happy I made it out on a work night to catch U.D.O. 

Setlist:
“Isolation Man”
“Break The Rules”
“Forever Free”
“Metal Machine”
“Midnight Lover”
“The Wrong Side Of Midnight”
“Fight For The Right”
“Metal Heart”
“One Heart, One Soul”
“Touchdown”
“I Give As Good As I Get”
“They Want War”
“Animal House”
“Fast As A Shark”
“Balls To The Wall”