They say no man is bulletproof, but if anyone is close, it is Udo Dirkschneider. His razorblade vocals are still as strong as ever and he put on a display March 15^th at the Marquee Beer Club in Calgary that would put many artists to shame. To put it simply, the man has lost nothing on his fastball.

In the pantheon of Metal Gods very few can boast the legacy of Dirkschneider. Accept’s brand of heavy metal combines crushing riffs, the seemingly impossible growling vocals of Udo, a hint of classical music and melodic hooks. This tour proves that you can take Udo from Accept, but he will always be the true Metal Heart that beats within these songs.

His backing band is top notch. Twin lead guitarists set the tone, each with a different onstage personality. Andrey Smirnov is the more cool and composed of the two. He steps up to the front of the stage like he owns it and shredding on his guitar with a seeming minimum of effort. Meanwhile Bill Hudson is a whirling dervish on stage. He brings an intense amount of energy to the instrument and has an incredibly fun stage presence.

The drums and bass are ably performed by Udo’s son Sven Dirkschneider and Fitty Wienhold respectively. Both bring a pounding back beat to these amazing Accept songs. One thing I will say is that Fitty has the most incredible hair possible. It’s so long and always in his face and when he flicks it away to the beat of the music it just screams METAL.

At around 2 hours and with 20 songs performed this show is great value. The band always seemed to be having fun and got stronger as the night went on. By the time they played such stalwart tracks as “Love Child” or “London Leatherboys” the crowd was in a devil horn waving frenzy. Then the encore brought the audience participation to the fore with an intensity that would be awesome from onstage.

I have to comment about the merchandise table at the show. Many bands have a table with a few t-shirts or random trinkets but Udo went over and above. Besides the requisite CD’s, blu-rays and guitar picks, there was an incredible selection of autographed materials as well. You could get photos, records and even studded gloves (got myself a pair of those). The fact they took the time to autograph so many items and made them easily available for fans is something that more people could take as a lesson. It was just really cool to see those kinds of things at a merch table.

As an opening act, Elm Street was exactly what they needed to be. They did a fine job setting up the crowd with their pounding drums and growling vocals and their cover of Quiet Riot’s “Metal Health” was a welcome addition to their set. Performing it really helped to engage the audience. Elm Street proved a near perfect opener and I’m sure they converted many fans besides just me. Still, while they were strong and polished on stage once you got Udo up there you realized how much of a difference his experience makes. It’s an awesome sight to see his stage presence and it leaves something for young bands like Elm Street to aspire towards.

One Elm Street song,”Metal Is the Way“, proved the perfect title to the night for the fans who braved the elements to make it to the club in blizzard like conditions. Live music is all about going out and hanging with a bunch of like minded individuals and losing yourself in the music. Perhaps nothing speaks to that more so than the fact after the main show ended members of Elm Street and Udo’s band got on stage together to jam out some covers. So don’t make the mistake we did and leave too early, you never know what you’ll miss.

If this truly is the last time Udo plays these songs on tour then you really do owe it to yourself to go out of your way to not miss it. It’s one of the greatest singers in Metal history playing songs from one of Metal’s best catalogs. I can only imagine how emotional the very last night of the tour will be for Udo Dirkschneider, the band, and the audience lucky enough to be there. I only wish I could join them. In the meantime though Udo’s Back to the Roots 2 Tour will provide a welcome respite from any concerns you may have in your regular life, and also gave you a reason to bring out the Beast Inside.

Any objection? Overruled!

Review by Brett Monro

Edited by and photos by Mo Kristiansen