U.D.O – Live In Sofia – DVD

December 15th, 2012 by david.wilson

AFM Records ( Release Date – out now)

Udo Dirkschneider has been a name familiar to rock and metal fans for many years whether as frontman of Accept or as a solo artist. What is easy to overlook though is just how long he has been treading the boards and singing in his own unique style, he turned 60 earlier this year and is celebrating 40 years in the business.

This DVD release then is well timed to remind us of the legacy that Udo has built up over his career and features two and a half hours worth of live footage filmed in Sofia in front of 2500 screaming fans. The 22 tracks on offer cover his whole career with many UDO tracks and the odd Accept classic, including a great version of ‘Balls To The Wall’. The man himself looks like an extra from either Mad Max or The Lord Of The Rings and stalks the stage with the menace of someone who lists ‘bare knuckle fighting’ as an interest on their Facebook page.

With Udo though, the voice is always going to split opinion. The description, ‘the dalek of heavy metal’, is actually quite accurate although you may be exterminated if you offered that one up to the man himself. I actually think that his vocal style sits well with the band’s heavy metal and fits in nicely with the excellent guitar work of Stefan Kaufmann and Igor Gianola.

At two plus hours, the DVD proves a bit too much of a good thing and it will take a dedicated fan to sit through the whole show in one go. It is though a good live performance and a fitting record of a man who has dedicated his life to the metal cause.

***1/2

David Wilson

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)