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U.D.O., MIDNITE HELLION, POWER THEORY In New Bedford, MA With Photos! By Jay Roberts, Massachusetts Contributor Tuesday, September 10, 2024 @ 12:12 AM
"We will be forever free. Live your life, be who you are" - from the U.D.O. song "Forever Free".
For those in attendance at the U.D.O. concert at The Vault in New Bedford, MA on Saturday September 7th, what we were was a bunch of heavy metal maniacs bearing witness to a long delayed but incredibly satisfying night of blazing music that had fists pumping in the air all night long.
And yes it was a long time coming as the 2024 Touchdown Tour was actually supposed to be done in 2023. But 10 months after U.D.O. was supposed to originally play the venue, the band attacked the stage with a furious and mighty roar that left no doubt that the band remains at the top of their game.
Hitting the stage to the taped intro from the soundtrack of the movie Where Eagles Dare, it should be noted that this was just the second show new singer Brian David had played as a member of the band. Standing 6-foot-8, he cut a striking visual as he belted out his vocals on the opening track "Force of Will". The band had to deal with some minor audio feedback squeaks during the song but that small hiccup (which disappeared after the opening song) didn't take away from my enjoyment of the song and what would follow.
Normally I like to stay aways back from the stage to take everything in but for POWER THEORY's set, I found myself right up at the barrier when the band broke out the song "Draugr". It's a killer song in its studio version but as guitarists Robert Ballinger, Jr. and London Fowler, bassist Alan D'Angelo and drummer Dan Prestup blazed through their performances, I found myself unable to resist singing along and yelling out my screamed approval at the end of the song.
I knew that I had hopes for which songs I wanted to hear in the band's set and one of them was "Mountain of Death". So hearing it played gave me momentary chills at the start and the title track of the Driven By Fear album was a great way to follow that up.
"Spitting Fire" (video clip below) and "Truth Shall Set You Free" closed out POWER THEORY's all-too-brief set in a rousing fashion! While I'm normally loathe to do much smiling, I loved their performance so much that I had a huge grin on my face as they left the stage.
With a powerful presentation and superb stage presence combining with an incredible set list that was pretty much the perfect way to introduce anyone who might not have heard the band before this show, POWER THEORY kicked off the night's triple bill in an explosively entertaining way. I can't wait to see what they do next!
Set List
CONCERT FUN FACT: When I first arrived to the show, I went over to the merch tables where I was warmly greeted by POWER THEORY guitarist Robert Ballinger, Jr., who I'd been keeping in touch with leading up to the concert. He introduced me to the other members of the band as they made their way over to the table. I ended up chatting with the band throughout the night's breaks in the musical action. Both Robert and bassist Alan D'Angelo signed my copies of their albums as well. Top notch experience to see the band in action and get to chat with them for a good bit. There is a photo of me with the band floating around on KNAC.COM's Twitter page by the time you read this article.
After a short intermission, it was time for MIDNITE HELLION to take the stage and boy did they ever conquer it! Playing a seven-song set that was a rhythmically brutal pummeling from start to finish, I was a bit taken aback by just how much I liked their set. Normally I'm from more of the melodic side of things but man, this just worked for me so well. With bassist/singer Rich Kubik's vocals drawing you in, drummer Drew Rizzo's relentless pounding behind the kit and new guitarist Matt O'Donnell providing plenty of six string fire, I found myself unable to resist the band's siren-like call to order.
The same could be said for "Phantomland" (check out a clip below), once a small technical snafu was attended to, but somehow MIDNITE HELLION managed to up the ante (for me at least) with the song "Cross The Line". Kubik provided that full throated ripping vocal and combined with Rizzo for the bottom end of the musical soundtrack. It was quite a sight to watch and I almost forgot to pay attention to the guitarist O'Donnell at one point because I was enjoying the way the bass and drums were so in alignment with each other.
In all honesty, there wasn't much I could say that I didn't like about the entire MIDNITE HELLION set. The song "Rapscallion" was incredible and I have to go back and listen to the studio version of "Army of The Dead" because in its live setting, I was blown away by that song. By the time the band closed out their slightly shortened set with the song "In Sickness And In Hell", I may have felt like I'd been in a battle with how heavy they sounded, but it was the kind of battle that left me with a fantastic feeling of satisfaction. Heavy, brutal and powerful, MIDNITE HELLION put forth a show that will not only be hard to forget but will be sure to bring me back for more!
Set List
CONCERT FUN FACT #2 - When I first arrived to the venue, I also had time to meet up with drummer Drew Rizzo, who I'd been in contact with leading up to the show. It was great to be able to talk with him face-to-face and I also spent some time talking to Rich Kubik, Drew and a small bit with Matt O'Donnell at the end of the night too. There's a photo of me with the band floating around on Twitter flying the KNAC.COM flag with my T-shirt! I'm looking forward to continuing onward with my fandom for MIDNITE HELLION going forward!
Of course, soon it was time for the main event and in theming what I'm about to write here, U.D.O. hit the stage for the 2nd stop on their 'Touchdown Tour' 2024 and absolutely spiked the ball with a celebratory set list that left those assembled fully rocked, rattled and perhaps a bit shaken as well!
Taking the stage just after 9pm, singer Udo Dirkschneider, guitarists Andrey Smirnov and Dee Dammers, bassist Peter Baltes and drummer Sven Dirkschneider left no doubt that this was a world tour for the Touchdown album itself, kicking the night off with the album's opening track "Isolation Man". It was the first of four songs from the album in the set list that covered 9 of the band's albums as well as three ACCEPT covers.
Following that up with the song "Break The Rules", I really enjoyed how Dee Dammers played the solo on that track.
Encouraging the crowd sing-a-long portions of the show began with "Forever Free", the third song of the band's set list. It was the wordless chant thing in the intro to the song but the crowd was definitely eager to follow along.
The next three songs were particularly memorable. After an excellent performance of "Metal Machine", U.D.O. broke out the first ACCEPT cover with the song "Midnight Mover" which is the kind of song that should light a fire under your butt when you hear it. Now, while I knew the song was going to be played because I cheat and look up the set lists ahead of time, I was so happy to hear the Mastercutor album represented in the show with the song "The Wrong Side of Midnight". I love the song a lot and as U.D.O. performed it, I was once again moved to sing along (hopeful that no one nearby was recording audio at the time since I'm sure I was off-key I'm sure).
On "Fight For The Right", the song was split into two parts. Andrey Smirnov played the song's solo but then got a solo spotlight all of his own. While it may have been relatively unnecessary, his playing certainly put forth a ton of manic and frenzied energy before the band came back in to finish out the song in full.
Having seen the band when it was touring under the Dirkschneider banner playing a full ACCEPT set of material, I of course liked to hear Udo Dirkschneider singing a few of those songs this night at The Vault, but you know what was my favorite song on the night? It was the title track from the Man And Machine album. I don't know what others may think but in terms of me getting into the U.D.O. band, it was that album that kicked things off for me and while I've gone back for the earlier material and continued forward as well, it is that album that I'm always returning back to the most. And hearing the song's recorded intro start to play over the speakers, I got all tingly with excitement because of the foot-stomping heaviness that U.D.O. was about to bring to bear with their performance. And it lived up to all my expectations too!
When the title track from the Touchdown album was unfurled, the band was going full throttle, sweeping over the crowd in a sonic wave. I chuckled to myself a bit when Udo told the crowd "Good night" at the end of the song. As I said, I had the set list so as I thought to myself, "it better not be Good Night", it was because I knew they had five more songs to play.
After a killer rendition of "Animal House", U.D.O. closed out the concert with a double shot of ACCEPT songs. Now that Peter Baltes is part of the U.D.O. lineup after all those years playing bass with ACCEPT, hearing the fiery and thrashy "Fast As A Shark" (check out a clip below) has even more of a charge to it for me. And you can't top hearing Udo Dirkschneider singing the one of the greatest metal anthems ever in "Balls to the Wall". As the set closing number on the night, many a fist was pumping in the air, including mine, as both the band and the crowd shouted out "Balls to the Wall" again and again.
As the show ended, the fans in attendance had to know the long wait to finally see U.D.O. grace The Vault stage had been well worth the delayed gratification. A monstrously powerful performance was given, lapped up by the crowd with feverish delight...U.D.O. scored many a touchdown on this night in New Bedford!
For more on U.D.O. check out https://www.udo-online.com or https://www.facebook.com/udoonline
Set List
Check out some more photos from the show!
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Opening the show was the band POWER THEORY. When I was first going to see the show, I made sure to check out both opening bands on the bill. Well, I was pretty blown away by POWER THEORY's Force of Will album. I wrote a mini-review of it and sent it to the band. That led me to their previous album Driven By Fear and with that double shot of heavy and melodic metal, I was a confirmed fan. In the week leading up to the show, I stayed in touch with the band and was really looking forward to their set, especially since they'd had only recently hired their new singer.
Playing songs off their Condemned To Hell and Kingdom Immortal albums, MIDNITE HELLION opened with the song "H.M.O.", which even if I hadn't already been into the band, I would've been after hearing that song. There's a heavy and thrashy sound to their music and I gotta say that on that first song I kind of got an OVERKILL vibe. I don't know why since in talking to the band, I was WAY off in that assessment but still...loved the song.
I was listening to the Touchdown album earlier in the day and while I did rather like the album, I got a renewed appreciation for it as it got closer to show time. And the way the U.D.O. hit you with their performance of "Isolation Man" drove home to me just how much I enjoy that song in particular.
The return to the stage for the encore started with the song "I Give As Good As I Get". While you can't accuse U.D.O. of slowing down to play a true out-and-out ballad on the night, this song is the closest to it you will probably get. But it seemed to get amped up in the performance. Unless my mind is playing tricks on me because when they did a video for the song, I remember there being much more of a dramatic and methodic performance to the studio version. Still, this version was a crackling bit of energy that kept my attention riveted.
