Legendary frontman, Udo Dirkschneider lays down a dominating performance for enthusiastic Louisville metallers with Elm Street, Gotcha, Wyld Ryde and Blood Curse.
It’s not often that you have an opportunity to see a ‘metal god’ perform in a small club in your own backyard. Despite torrential rains and tornado warnings throughout the Louisville area, a frenetic crowd didn’t miss the opportunity. ‘Dirkschneider’ has been out on a giant run of shows, the “Back to the Roots” tour has covered more than 90 shows going all the way back to October 1st in the Ukraine. This tour is both a celebration and a goodbye to his former band, Accept, as U.D.O. has a new album due out in August of this year.
As the house lights drop “Fire” by Arthur Brown blasts from the overhead speakers as everyone crushes the stage. A huge roar greets Udo as they immediately drop into their opening song, “The Beast Inside” and the evening is off to a fast start.
Over the next almost 2 hours Udo and his bandmates, youngest son Sven Dirkschneider behind the drums, bassist Fitty Weinhold and guitarists Andrey Smirnov and Bill Hudson perform one blazing Accept song after another. It’s almost as if we are transported back in time, with the classic Udo vocals booming overhead, the alternating signature guitar riffs coming center stage from Andrey and Bill and of course the legendary songs.
Not much for onstage banter, Dirkscnheider is all business. The performance on stage is tight and precise as expected and the fans are giving all of the energy they have back to the band. As the evening rolls on it is clear that we are all part of a ‘magical’ evening and it is clearly being appreciated by the Louisville fans.
Tonight’s set list: “The Beast Inside,” “Aiming High,” “Bulletproof,“ “Midnight Mover,” “Living for Tonite,” “Another Second to Be,” “Fight It 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,” with “Russian Roulette” closing the main set. A four-song encore set starting with “Princess of the Dawn,” “Metal Heart,” “Fast as a Shark,” closing the evening with “Balls to the Wall”
Melbourne, Australia based rockers Elm Street provide the main support for the evening. Touring for the first time in the United States, Elm Street’s nearly hour-long set rages with plenty of heavy bass lines and tons of screaming guitar riffs. After opening with original songs “Face the Reaper, “Kiss the Canvas” “Heart Racer” and “Heavy Mental” from their latest Knock ‘Em Out… With A Metal Fist! album, Elm Street drops into a hard-driving cover of Quiet Riot’s “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)” much to everyone’s headbanging delight.
Elm Street closes with their performance by dedicating their anthem song, “Metal is The Way” to Ronnie James Dio. Elm Street is Ben Batres – vocals/rhythm guitar, Aaron Adie – lead guitar, Tomislav Perkovic – drums and Nick Ivkovic – bass.
Local show promoter Terry Harper always seems to find outstanding local groups to support his shows and tonight is no exception. Lexington Kentucky based metallers Gotcha, Wyld Ryde and Caneyville, Kentucky’s Blood Curse all deliver hard rocking sets of original music further showcasing the outstanding Kentucky metal music scene.
