There may be The Rise of Chaos outside these walls, but euphoria inside The Rose in Pasadena, California with the boys of Accept on Sept. 30.
Stepping back a couple months to Aug. 3, 2017 at Wacken Open Air festival, Accept was celebrating their recent release The Rise of Chaos via Nuclear Blast Records in front of 85,000 + fans. A month later, Accept kicked off The Rise of Chaos world tour at The Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, California on Sept. 7. This is where I come in, finally seeing Accept for the first time, then surprised, I’ll meet the band, being a nervous wreck shaking their hands. I never introduced myself (oops). Their warmth and sincerity stole my heart right then and there. As quickly as they arrived they were off to Japan, Australia then back to North America hitting New York, Illinois and ending the month of September where they started in Southern California – this time at The Rose in Pasadena, California. And I have the pleasure of telling their story one more time.
Two hours of classic metal, Accept has risen from the ashes to be at the top of their game. Founding members guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and bassist Peter Baltes stuck it out through thick and thin, adding vocalist Mark Tornillo (T.T. Quick) in 2009 releasing the albums Blood of the Nations (2010), Stalingrad (2012) and Blind Rage (2014). Then to complete this phenomenal lineup in 2015 adding guitarist Uwe Lulis (Rebellion/Grave Digger) and the timekeeper Christopher Williams on drums, setting the bar high, releasing one of the best metal albums in 2017, The Rise of Chaos.
Drummer Christopher Williams appears standing on his drum throne, arms raised hitting the drums sticks together as the fans cheers rise, guitarist Uwe Lulis, bassist Peter Baltes, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, frontman Mark Tornillo hit the stage opening with Die By The Sword off their recent release The Rise of Chaos. Perfect opening as the adrenaline is pumping, followed by Stalingrad, the title track off their 2012 album, then rounding out the first three songs with Restless and Wild, the title track off their 1982 album celebrating 35 years of this release.
Up next London Leatherboys off Balls to the Wall, then one of my favorite songs, a theme of life in general, “Looking just for fun” Living for Tonite off their 1985 release Metal Heart. This is exactly what the packed house was doing, stepping out of their everyday lives and having fun.
The Rise of Chaos was released in August, any one of the ten songs on this album could be added to the set. Besides the opening track Die by the Sword other songs added The Rise of Chaos, Koolaid which is in reference to the iconic Jonestown massacre, No Regrets, and Analog Man. There’s nothing like seeing a band live, I’m also a little old school, I love having the hard copy reading the book really getting in depth of what the songs are about this album has a deeper meaning its phenomenal.
Each band member has their own persona on stage powerhouse drummer Christopher Williams is very animated behind the skins, guitarist Uwe Lulis silently plays his part until he’s in the spotlight and shows you how it’s done, bassist Peter Baltes is everywhere, the deep tone of the bass vibrates your soul, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, his facial expressions are classic and guitar solos….respect, frontman Mark Tornillo I’ll say it again damn, he’s good, brings new life to the classic Accept songs and rocks the new material, can’t get any better than this, their musicianship works to Perfection!! The fans eat it up!
Accept accomplishments is worthy to take note of playing a big role in the development of German metal, thrash metal, and speed metal. Three live albums with the latest release Restless & Live – Blind Rage Live in Europe 2015, songs in films, video games, even the TV show Beavis and Butthead. Fifteen studio albums to date there’s plenty of classic Accept songs to choose from, which included Final Journey off Blind Rage, Princess of the Dawn off Restless and Wild, Objection Overruled off the song titled album, Pandemic off Blood of the Nations to name a few. Closing out the first portion of the set with Fast as a Shark – speed metal at its finest off Restless and Wild.
Closing this show with a three-song encore, Metal Heart from the title track album, Teutonic Terror from Blood to the Nation and no-show is complete without the classic Accept song Balls to the Wall – the title track off their 1983 album.
While the boys are on a brief break recharging, they will be heading out for the South American portion of the worldwide The Rise of Chaos tour from November 2 – 27, then a brief break to spend time with loved ones over the holidays. Beginning the year in Europe for the last leg of the tour from January 12 to February 18, 2018. Hopefully, in the next year, we’ll see a full North American tour.
Before the show Accept had a special meet and greet, a radio station based in Sweden ran a contest, flew in sixteen winners to the Pasadena show to meet the boys of Accept. It was an honor to be part of this, to see the interaction between the fans and the band. Some brought gifts and memorabilia to be signed. The smiles say it all!
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Setlist:
Die by The Sword
Stalingrad
Restless and Wild
London Leatherboys
Living for Tonite
The Rise of Chaos
Koolaid
No Regrets
Analog Man
Final Journey
Shadow Soldier
Neon Nights
Princess of the Dawn
Midnight Mover
Up to the Limit
Objection Overruled
Pandemic
Fast as a Shark
Encore:
Metal Heart
Teutonic Terror
Balls to the Wall
All photos by Tammy Greene
©2017. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
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