A week night, temperature somewhere around -20 celsius degrees, not a lot of advertising... that might be a recipe for a turnout disaster, but not when it comes to U.D.O.! The Klubi venue was packed with fans of old-school metal who didn't mind the weather or the fact that they had to go to work the next morning.

I haven't really followed U.D.O. the band after the first three albums, so I was a bit worried that the set might full of unknown songs. Well, there were quite a few songs I hadn't heard before, but that really didn't matter. The U.D.O. formula makes the songs really easy to get into - most of the songs have a steady, pounding beat, straightforward riffs and shout-along choruses. Simple, no-frills metal that's made to be played live and played LOUD.

Mr. Udo himself is a true Metal Icon, and doesn't really seem to have aged at all since the early eighties. His voice isn't for everyone, but it's quite unique, whatever you think of it. As you may know, there's another familiar face from Accept in the band as well, Stefan Kauffmann on guitar. He used to play drums in Accept, but due to his back problems he had to switch back to his original instrument. He did play a bit of drums during the drum solo, "dueting" with Francesco Jovino. Kauffmann and Udo were the less hairy gentlemen of the band, usually on the left side of the stage, while the more hairy gentlemen Igor Gianola (gt) and Fitty Wienhold (bs) occupied the right side of the stage. Drummer Jovino was "trapped" in his futuristic cage, which looked quite cool. Despite the rather limited stage, the band had a very decent light show, with four impressive "light towers" next to the marshall stacks.

The set consisted of U.D.O. material from most of their albums I believe, and naturally a selection of Accept classics. "Princess Of The Dawn", "Midnight Mover", "Metal Heart" and the immortal "Balls To The Wall" got the biggest cheers, but each one of the songs was quite warmly welcomed. A special mention must go to the guitarist Igor Gianola, who played a part of his solo among the audience!

The gig was a long one, and I must admit that I actually missed the three last songs! As it had been a long day, I left right after "Balls To The Wall", the second encore song, thinking that it was the obvious last track. Well it wasn't, and the band played three additional Accept songs in the second encore section! Oh well...

U.D.O:

Udo Dirkschneider: vocals
Igor Gianola: guitar
Stefan Kauffmann: guitar
Fitty Wienhold: bass
Francesco Jovino: drums

SETLIST:

1. The Bogeyman
2. Dominator
3. Independence Day
4. The Bullet and The Bomb
5. Flash Rockin´ Man
6. Thunderball
7. Vendetta
8. In The Darkness
9. Princess Of The Dawn
10. Guitar Solo
11. Midnight Mover
12. Infected

13. Living On A Frontline
14. Drum Solo
15. Man And Machine
16. Mastercutor
17. Animal House
18. Metal Heart

19. Holy
20. Balls To The Wall

21 .Burning
22. I´m A Rebel
23. Fast As A Shark