Post by psychdoc on Apr 27, 2011 15:22:14 GMT -5
Hey everyone. I wanted to share with you my review of the Accept show last night in Seattle. I posted this on the Accept forum as well but thought that some of you here might appreciate it as well.
Easily one of the 3 best shows I've ever seen (Sabbath at Radio City Music Hall still tops this one). But I'll get to the concert itself in a minute.
First, we (my wife and I) arrived at 6:25 pm for the VIP meet and greet which started at 6:35 (doors opening at 7) wearing my Accept "vintage Russia" t-shirt. Everyone seemed to be in great spirits, and the venue staff did a pretty good job of organizing the lines for the meet and greet.
It was a lot of fun. I had my copy of Blood Of The Nations signed by the entire band and Wolf signed my copy of "Classical" (when I told him he did a great job on that album, he immediately extended his hand and gave me a firm handshake). I told the band that my wife wasn't a big metalhead (which is true) and that they had to convert her, to which Herman replied that they would definitely do so. They also all signed a big yellow advertisement for the concert that everyone in the Meet and Greet line got.
Next, it was on to the pictures, which were great. We had two pictures of us taken with the band. I took German in high school but haven't had that much of a chance to use it since then, so it was funny that I understood Wolf when he said during our pictures "Hey, doesn't this seem like one of those mall photo booths?" in German, which got a laugh from the rest of the band.
After the photos, I immediately went to the merchandise booth and bought a BOTN album cover shirt with tour dates. As I was buying the shirt, my wife and I overheard Gabi having a stern talk with one of the club employees (my wife asked, 'who's that woman with the accent and why is she chewing that guy out?')
There were 3 local opening bands before Sabaton, and my wife and I hadn't had dinner yet, so we left to get some food and came back by the time the 2nd opener was done. We hung out in the bar through the last local band.
On to the show....
I'll admit that I wasn't that familiar with Sabaton other than hearing a few of their songs on Youtube to get a sense of what they were like before the show, and I'll admit that I was a little underwhelmed with what I had heard leading up to the show. However, they pretty much blew me away last night. In fact, they may have been the best opening band at a concert that I have seen factoring in the quality of their performance, their songs, and their amazing, enthusiastic energy. Their lead singer is a tremendous frontman and is excellent at getting the crowd involved, which wasn't that difficult because there was a fairly large contingent there who were Sabaton fans (a lot of folks drove down from Vancouver, CA to see Sabaton last night). They played 7 songs in total I think, four of which that I can recall by name: "The Cliffs Of Galipoli", "Screaming Eagles", "Primo Victoria", and "The Metal Machine." The band was incredibly loud and tight with few audible mistakes in their set, and they all looked like they were having a great time. The cool thing is that they won my wife over, who asked me if I had any of their albums and said I should get some.
And now, on to the main course....
The changeover between Sabaton and Accept was 20 minutes at most. Then the might Accept hit the stage to the beginning melodic chord progression of "Shades of Death". Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact set order, but I remember the songs.
1. Teutonic Terror
2. Bucket Full Of Hate
3. Starlight
4. Breaker
5. New World Comin'
6. Restless & Wild
7. Metal Heart (w/ extended Wolf solo)
8. Love Child
9. Bulletproof (w/ Wolf and Peter jam- might cool I might add)
10. Neon Nights
11. Princess Of The Dawn (w/ Peter bass solo)
12. Losers And Winners
13. Aiming High
14. Burning
15. Up To The Limit
Encore:
16. Fast As A Shark
17. Pandemic
18. Balls To The Wall
If I have forgotten any songs, I'm sure Darren can add those.
The band was amazingly tight, and they looked they were all having a great time. Wolf was all smiles and making eye contact frequently with the audience, as was Peter. Even Herman had a huge grin at times. Also, Mark was great; his voice was incredibly powerful and just propelled the songs from BOTN as well as some of the heavier oldies like "Breaker" and "Fast As A Shark". Plus, Mark was engaged with the audience much more so than described of him in other reviews. He dedicated "Bulletproof" to a guy who came down from Vancouver to the show for his birthday. Wolf and Peter's guitar and bass tone were amazing (I would have loved to have the opportunity just to sit and have a chat about gear with them). Stefan was in workman mode, not overly flashy with his drum work, but spot on in timekeeping. The audience was pretty crazy throughout, but in particular during the encores, especially "Fast As A Shark" and "Balls...". Overall, I would say that if the concert wasn't sold out, it was very close to it since the small El Corazon club was pretty much packed full.
I could probably go on and on and wax poetic about the minute details of every note Wolf hit, or Peter's great playing throughout. Herman's solo during "Losers And Winners" was great, although he was far on stage right and so I don't even know how many folks actually knew that it was him playing the solo.
The only complaints I had were with the venue, which I knew I would have since I've been there before and it just leaves a lot to be desired as a concert venue, as well as some obnoxious audience members (the usual drunk idiots trying to start a mosh pit during every song, charging in front of you and then starting to headbang with their greasy, dirty hair smashing into your face) that you always have to deal with at a show.
The concert was extremely loud. As I said, Sabaton was really loud, and Accept were much louder. Much of it is due to the venue which is too small to allow the sound concentration to disperse. I'm glad I brought ear plugs, although during "Up To The Limit", the ear plug in my left ear fell out, so I went through the rest of the concert without one, and today, I am about 45% deaf in my left ear, while my right ear is fine.
So, all in all, an amazing concert. Truly an example of a band at the apex of their musical power. I only wish that I was on my way right now to Portland, OR to see Accept again tonight.
Easily one of the 3 best shows I've ever seen (Sabbath at Radio City Music Hall still tops this one). But I'll get to the concert itself in a minute.
First, we (my wife and I) arrived at 6:25 pm for the VIP meet and greet which started at 6:35 (doors opening at 7) wearing my Accept "vintage Russia" t-shirt. Everyone seemed to be in great spirits, and the venue staff did a pretty good job of organizing the lines for the meet and greet.
It was a lot of fun. I had my copy of Blood Of The Nations signed by the entire band and Wolf signed my copy of "Classical" (when I told him he did a great job on that album, he immediately extended his hand and gave me a firm handshake). I told the band that my wife wasn't a big metalhead (which is true) and that they had to convert her, to which Herman replied that they would definitely do so. They also all signed a big yellow advertisement for the concert that everyone in the Meet and Greet line got.
Next, it was on to the pictures, which were great. We had two pictures of us taken with the band. I took German in high school but haven't had that much of a chance to use it since then, so it was funny that I understood Wolf when he said during our pictures "Hey, doesn't this seem like one of those mall photo booths?" in German, which got a laugh from the rest of the band.
After the photos, I immediately went to the merchandise booth and bought a BOTN album cover shirt with tour dates. As I was buying the shirt, my wife and I overheard Gabi having a stern talk with one of the club employees (my wife asked, 'who's that woman with the accent and why is she chewing that guy out?')
There were 3 local opening bands before Sabaton, and my wife and I hadn't had dinner yet, so we left to get some food and came back by the time the 2nd opener was done. We hung out in the bar through the last local band.
On to the show....
I'll admit that I wasn't that familiar with Sabaton other than hearing a few of their songs on Youtube to get a sense of what they were like before the show, and I'll admit that I was a little underwhelmed with what I had heard leading up to the show. However, they pretty much blew me away last night. In fact, they may have been the best opening band at a concert that I have seen factoring in the quality of their performance, their songs, and their amazing, enthusiastic energy. Their lead singer is a tremendous frontman and is excellent at getting the crowd involved, which wasn't that difficult because there was a fairly large contingent there who were Sabaton fans (a lot of folks drove down from Vancouver, CA to see Sabaton last night). They played 7 songs in total I think, four of which that I can recall by name: "The Cliffs Of Galipoli", "Screaming Eagles", "Primo Victoria", and "The Metal Machine." The band was incredibly loud and tight with few audible mistakes in their set, and they all looked like they were having a great time. The cool thing is that they won my wife over, who asked me if I had any of their albums and said I should get some.
And now, on to the main course....
The changeover between Sabaton and Accept was 20 minutes at most. Then the might Accept hit the stage to the beginning melodic chord progression of "Shades of Death". Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact set order, but I remember the songs.
1. Teutonic Terror
2. Bucket Full Of Hate
3. Starlight
4. Breaker
5. New World Comin'
6. Restless & Wild
7. Metal Heart (w/ extended Wolf solo)
8. Love Child
9. Bulletproof (w/ Wolf and Peter jam- might cool I might add)
10. Neon Nights
11. Princess Of The Dawn (w/ Peter bass solo)
12. Losers And Winners
13. Aiming High
14. Burning
15. Up To The Limit
Encore:
16. Fast As A Shark
17. Pandemic
18. Balls To The Wall
If I have forgotten any songs, I'm sure Darren can add those.
The band was amazingly tight, and they looked they were all having a great time. Wolf was all smiles and making eye contact frequently with the audience, as was Peter. Even Herman had a huge grin at times. Also, Mark was great; his voice was incredibly powerful and just propelled the songs from BOTN as well as some of the heavier oldies like "Breaker" and "Fast As A Shark". Plus, Mark was engaged with the audience much more so than described of him in other reviews. He dedicated "Bulletproof" to a guy who came down from Vancouver to the show for his birthday. Wolf and Peter's guitar and bass tone were amazing (I would have loved to have the opportunity just to sit and have a chat about gear with them). Stefan was in workman mode, not overly flashy with his drum work, but spot on in timekeeping. The audience was pretty crazy throughout, but in particular during the encores, especially "Fast As A Shark" and "Balls...". Overall, I would say that if the concert wasn't sold out, it was very close to it since the small El Corazon club was pretty much packed full.
I could probably go on and on and wax poetic about the minute details of every note Wolf hit, or Peter's great playing throughout. Herman's solo during "Losers And Winners" was great, although he was far on stage right and so I don't even know how many folks actually knew that it was him playing the solo.
The only complaints I had were with the venue, which I knew I would have since I've been there before and it just leaves a lot to be desired as a concert venue, as well as some obnoxious audience members (the usual drunk idiots trying to start a mosh pit during every song, charging in front of you and then starting to headbang with their greasy, dirty hair smashing into your face) that you always have to deal with at a show.
The concert was extremely loud. As I said, Sabaton was really loud, and Accept were much louder. Much of it is due to the venue which is too small to allow the sound concentration to disperse. I'm glad I brought ear plugs, although during "Up To The Limit", the ear plug in my left ear fell out, so I went through the rest of the concert without one, and today, I am about 45% deaf in my left ear, while my right ear is fine.
So, all in all, an amazing concert. Truly an example of a band at the apex of their musical power. I only wish that I was on my way right now to Portland, OR to see Accept again tonight.