In a new interview with Mark Kadzielawa of 69 Faces Of Rock, legendary German singer Udo Dirkschneider spoke about being able to perform classic ACCEPT songs with his DIRKSCHNEIDER project while still continuing to make new albums and tour with his long-running band U.D.O. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “That’s, in a way, a good thing to have this. A lot of people always ask, ‘Can you [play ACCEPT songs] again?’ and blah, blah, blah. So, but, yeah, then I said, ‘Okay.’ But now it’s more important for me at the moment [to play in North America] with U.D.O. So after the American and Canada tour [in September/October], we [DIRKSCHNEIDER] start in South America for the 40 years of ‘Balls To The Wall’ anniversary. And that will be also a long tour. I play the whole ‘Balls To The Wall’ album. And there are songs on that I never played with ACCEPT, and I think also ACCEPT never played these songs. And then, of course, we play the most classic stuff. And that will be a very interesting tour. Definitely.”
He continued: “It’s also good that we [will] have a break with U.D.O. We had a lot of touring and festivals behind us, and now America and Canada. And that was already planned for a long time — normally it was planned to go on tour already [with DIRKSCHNEIDER] this year, but then, of course, ACCEPT is also on a world tour. Then we said, ‘Okay, we start then later.’ And so far it looks already really, really good. The [ticket] pre-sales already for [DIRKSCHNEIDER‘s European tour] next year are unbelievable. So, what can I say? I’m happy I can do both. And, of course, another thing, now two members of ACCEPT are also on stage,” he added, referencing the fact that former ACCEPT bassist Peter Baltes is also a member of both U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER.
Udo went on to say that fans can go see both ACCEPT and DIRKSCHNEIDER perform the classic material live. “Let’s say ACCEPT is doing their own thing, and now I do the DIRKSCHNEIDER thing,” he explained. “And so far the people like it and they were always asking for that. And so next year there will be a lot of [shows]. And already in November [of this year], we start in South America. And then we will see, That will be definitely next year until September, October, we are on tour with the ‘Balls To The Wall’ 40-year anniversary. And then the new album will come with U.D.O. In between [tours], we are working on the new album. And then another U.D.O. tour starts. So, here we go.”
DIRKSCHNEIDER, which is completed by drummer Sven Dirkschneider (Udo‘s son) and the talented guitar duo of Andrey Smirnov and Fabian “Dee” Dammers, will celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Balls To The Wall”, which was originally released in late 1983 and is the most commercially successful and best-known album by ACCEPT, by embarking on a full European tour in the spring of 2025.
Nine years ago — in 2015 — Udo announced that he would embark on a special tour during which he would perform ACCEPT songs one last time under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner before closing that chapter for good. Since then, the former ACCEPT frontman has continued to play ACCEPT material at select shows, including at the September 18, 2020 U.D.O. concert in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray.
When he first announced the original DIRKSCHNEIDER tour in 2015, Udo said that had “to make a clear break for myself — close the book and this is it. And I have the problem that people come to me and ask me to play more ACCEPT songs,” he explained. “Other people ask me why I play ACCEPT songs at all, because there are [more than] fifteen U.D.O. records. I want to avoid such things and avoid the repeating questions concerning ACCEPT. I just can’t stand that anymore. There is nothing more to be said. U.D.O. exists longer than ACCEPT. We have more records than ACCEPT.”
While acknowledging that some ACCEPT fans want to hear the band’s classic songs performed by the group’s original singer, Dirkschneider explained that “you always have these comparisons [between how these songs are played by ACCEPT and U.D.O.]. I don’t want this anymore either. [The current lineup of ACCEPT] also play ‘Metal Heart’, they play ‘Balls To The Wall’ and ‘Princess Of The Dawn’. And then some people tell me, ‘Oh, [current ACCEPT singer Mark Tornillo] is doing it better than you.’ And I go, ‘That’s fine. Enjoy yourself.’ But I don’t want this anymore. And to avoid all of this in the future, I said, ‘We are doing this one more time.'”
Dirkschneider said that his vow to never play ACCEPT material again came with one caveat. “If the band ACCEPT dissolves one day in the near future and I am still around with U.D.O., then there is a chance that I put ACCEPT songs back in the setlist,” he said. “But currently there is ACCEPT, so go see them [if you want to see those songs performed live]. They are playing these songs.”
Udo previously said the original plan was for DIRKSCHNEIDER to only “a few shows,” and “then [the tour] got bigger and bigger [due to demand].” But, he added, “I don’t want to complain about that.”
Back in 2018, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann declined to comment on Dirkschneider‘s decision to embark on one final tour during which the singer would perform nothing but ACCEPT songs. “I have lots of thoughts about that, but I’m not gonna share ’em with you,” he told SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”. “I’d rather not comment on that, because that seems so much ‘back and forth,’ and I think I should stay away from it… You can draw your own conclusions all day long, but I’m not gonna get into it; it’s just not worth it.
“I get asked [about Udo] so many times, and, man, it’s been so many years — it’s such an old story by now,” Wolf continued. “We’ve moved on way past that, and we’ve had [15] brilliant years [with Mark Tornillo], we’re making cool albums; I think we’re doing fine. So I don’t spend any time thinking about it.
“I’m very proud of the history we have together and all that, but I’m just not gonna get into the current ‘he said, she said’ whatever — it’s not worth it,” Hoffmann concluded.