By Chyrisse Tabone, Rock At Night Tampa
Venue: The Orpheum, Ybor City, Tampa-April 1, 2018–DIRKSCHNEIDER and Elm Street
DIRKSCHNEIDER has been breathing new life into ACCEPT’s hits since 2016 when the band embarked on its “Back to the Roots” Tour. Now, if you missed out on Accept’s hey-day of the 1980s, you can relive your youth. Due to the success of DIRKSCHNEIDER’s tour of the US, Russia, and Europe in 2016 and 2017, the band released a “Live-Back to the Roots” CD in August 2017 as DVD/2CD, BluRay/2CD and Gtf. Triple Vinyl in two different colors.
Rock At Night finally got to see DIRKSCHNEIDER up close and personal at The Orpheum, Ybor City, Tampa, on April 1st, which just happened to be both April Fool’s Day and Easter Sunday! The stars aligned in a weird way!
Ybor City was actually kind of hoppin’ (no pun intended) the evening of Easter as Miguel was playing down the street at The Ritz. The hot spot, of course, was The Orpheum, and when I arrived, there was quite a large crowd of Generation X’ers and Baby Boomers—and mostly men, I might add—all dressed in their black concert t-shirts. Just an observation, but probably half of the crowd had waist-length hair, dyed the color I like to call “construction paper black” due to its flatness. There were even a few young people sporty bushy afros. Hell, yeah! This was a “time travel” crowd! I felt like I was walking back to the 70s and 80s, which is fine by me!
Since I arrived later in the evening, I missed a few of the local bands. I did, however, catch the set of Aussie metal band Elm Street. They were quite animated on the stage, provided plenty of head shaking and hair twirling in unison, and basically put on a very entertaining show. The lead singer’s voice is very growly, even when speaking to the crowd. Think “Satan with a slight Aussie accent”. I really enjoyed their set, which had plenty of speed metal and lead guitar, and a lot of attitude. They played a few original tunes like “Face the Reaper” and my favorite “Metal Is the Way” but the crowd seemed very receptive, with fists in the air, when the band did a cover of Quiet Riot’s “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)”.
An unusual feature for The Orpheum was the barrier set up, which provided a photography pit (most of the time we have to squeeze into a space and fight the crowd).
Finally, the time of night arrived for the main event—DIRKSCHNEIDER. The lights were darkened and green (a nightmare for photographers) as the band members stepped on the stage. The crowd chanted “Udo” and then Udo Dirkschneider, dressed in black with a camouflage jacket. He looks to be very fit for turning 66 years old later this week. His voice can rival a person half his age with texture, clarity, and note-holding strength. Dirkschneider’s voice has always reminded me of Brian Johnson of AC/DC or Axl Rose of Guns ‘N’ Roses—very distinctive and pure rock ‘n’ roll.
The evening started with a slew of favorite Accept hits like “The Beast Inside”, “Midnight Mover”, and “Living for Tonite”. A couple of my favorites of the evening were the ballads “Can’t Stand the Night” and “Amamos la Vida”, which makes one relive those romantic anthems of the 80s. The crowd was very receptive and there was a lot of cheering.
The crowd was totally revved up by this point, singing the lyrics and head bopping to “London Leatherboys”, “Up to the Limit”, and “Love Child”. It’s songs like these that put Accept on the map—great guitar leads, lyrics one can shout, and hard-driving energy. These are the songs you want to turn up loudly in the car and make memories to….
The concert died down after the band left the stage. The crowd was hungry for more, crying “Udo! Udo!” until the band returned and played “Princess of the Dawn.” This might have been the crowd favorite of the evening as the crowd filled-in-the-blank yelling “Princess of the Dawn” and did plenty of woo-wooing “singing” (it made me think of chanting/singing at a rugby tournament). I saw a few people in their 20s singing along (it’s always refreshing to see this) and plenty of fist pounding and head-shaking.
Overall, I truly enjoyed DIRKSCHNEIDER in concert! The music and musicianship was great as the band played like they were in front of an arena-filled stadium at a festival in Europe—with plenty of gusto, energy, and crowd-appeal. It felt like being at an Accept show in the 80s because the musicians are all hot (yes, HOT looking guys) with the 80s hair, “rock star” clothing, and choreographed guitar neck-chopping moves–exactly how I remembered from my youth. I am honestly so glad that I didn’t miss this concert, especially since I have been enjoying the Live-Back to the Roots CD. Seeing the band live, just made me appreciate them even more!
SET LIST-DIRKSCHNEIDER
The Beast Inside, Aiming High, Bulletproof, Midnight Mover, Living for Tonite, Another Second to Be, Fight Back, Can’t Stand the Night, Amamos la Vida, London Leatherboys, Up to the Limit, Breaker, Screaming for a Love-Bite, Love Child, Objection Overruled, Russian Roulette ENCORE: Princess of Dawn, Metal heart, Fast as a Shark, Balls to the Wall
SET LIST-Elm Street
Face the Reaper, Kiss the Canvas, Elm St’s Children, Heavy Metal Power, Heart Racer, Bang Your Head (Metal Health), Metal Is the Way
THE BAND
Udo Dirkschneider-Vocals
Sven Dirkschneider-Drums
Fitty Wienhold-Bass
Bill Hudson-Guitar
Andrey Smirnov-Guitar
Photo Gallery
Tour
- New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
- Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance Theater
- Montreal, QC @ Cafe Campus
- Quebec City, QC @ LeCercle
- Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
- Rochester, NY @ Montage Music Hall
- Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theater
- Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater
- Westland , MI @ Token Lounge
- Joliet, IL @ The Forge
- Milwaukee, WI @ Route 20
- Sioux Falls, SD @ Bigs Bar
- LaCrosse, WI @ Cavalier Theater
- Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze
- Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theater
- Calgary , AB @ Marquee
- Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room
- Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw
- Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
- West Hollywood , CA @ Whisky A Go Go
- San Diego,CA @ Brick By Brick
- Tempe, AZ @ Club Red
- Dallas, TX @ Trees
- San Antonio , TX @ Vibes Event Center
- Houston , TX @ Scout Bar
- Jacksonville, FL @ Mavericks
- Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Kelsey Theater
- Tampa , FL @ Orpheum
- Raleigh, NC @ Cats Cradle
- Louisville , KY @ Trixie’s
- Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
- Asbury Park NJ @ Stone Pony
- Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
- Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
I grew up in a household full of rock music, studied journalism in college, and then became a scientist.Although my science career has served me well, music has always played a major role in my life. I grew up reading "Creem" magazine; I play several musical instruments as a "hobby";and it seems a camera has always been in my hand. Now, I am combining what I love the most--music and photography--serving as editor of Rock At Night. I travel between the US and UK seeking my dream! My motto: life is short...no regrets. Chyrisse
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