Accept
BB King’s Club
New York City, New York
September 28, 2010
Tony Pijar
The mighty Accept are back in town after a brief absence. The last time they played in New York City was on May 8, which was their first live show as an entity in close to 20 years. I love Accept and thank God that they’ve reformed with fortuitous help from ex-TT Quick vocalist Mark Tornillo fronting the band. Wolf and Hermann, the Teutonic axe tandem, still rank as one of the best, if not the best, metal guitar duos in the business, and they’re still as sharp as nails.
The band’s set list was a dream come true: “Starlight”, “Living for Tonite”, the totally immense “Breaker”, and the first of several new songs, “Teutonic Terror.” Tornillo is a much better fit than Udo ever was and if there are those narrow-minded metal fans out there who will not give Accept a second chance due to Udo’s much-publicized absence…your loss! “Beat the Bastards Down”, the first song on “Blood of the Nations”, is clearly the best song they’ve penned since the now immortal “Fast as a Shark” slayed the audience with its rock hard riffs. The metal just kept coming at a relentless pace: “Restless and Wild”, “Son of a Bitch”, “Metal Heart”, “Neon Nights”, etc. Truly a night of powerful metal from the masters. A highlight for me was the inclusion of the galloping “Flash Rockin’ Man” with Wolf, Peter Baltes and Hermann headbanging in unison. As an aside, Peter was doing things on that bass that would make Stanley Clarke take notice! The set closed with the thrash anthem that, arguably, started the thrash movement in “Fast as a Shark.” The encores were another newie in “Pandemic”, a slight reprieve with the epic “Princess of the Night”, and band’s greatest hit, “Balls to the Wall.”
Bottom line – Accept is the best metal band ever!