Accept – The Canyon Club, Agoura Hills, CA – 9/28/18
Friday night, German Metal Band, Accept, brought their “Rise Of Chaos” tour to The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, CA. “Rise Of Chaos” is the 4th Album from the band to feature singer, Mark Tornillo and it’s safe to say, Accept are well and firmly in a groove.
Accept, credited with being one of the originators of Thrash Metal, are a band that really have to be experienced live. That’s not to say that their catalog is weak; to the contrary, they’ve written some of metal’s most loved songs. But hearing these songs in the flesh is where the real power is at.
After a lengthy search that saw them dabble with a few new singers and a brief reunion with Udo, they landed on Mark Tornillo. He is THE singer that Accept needed and boy does he deliver. How he can last an entire set hitting those screeching high notes, is beyond me. He reproduces his album’s vocals with precision and handles all the classics from the early days with ease.
The other part of the Accept sound are those low chanted background vocals that are littered through their songs. Hearing those reproduced live on songs like “Balls To The Wall” and “Metal Heart” are enough to send tingles up the spine.
Accept are still a beast of a band. The only original members of the band these days are lead guitarist, Wolf Hoffmann and bassist, Peter Baltes. They, along with Mark, guitarist, Uwe Lulis and drummer, Christopher Williams, take a trip through every nook and cranny of the Accept catalog.
I’m not sure if there’s a happier person on an Accept stage or any stage for that matter, than Wolf Hoffmann. The man is a photographer’s dream. He mugs for the camera and is full of smiles and charm all night long. He along with Peter and Uwe would often stand together and rock from side to side in choreographed, rock guitarist unison.
Most of the first part of their set included newer songs, like “Die By The Sword“, “Stalingrad“, “Pandemic“, “Kool Aid” and “Analog Man” with a few interludes to the early material such as 1982’s, “Restless And Wild” and “TV War” from 1986’s, “Russian Roulette“. The second half of the set is littered with the classics: “Neon Nights“, “Princess Of The Dawn“, “Up To The Limit“, “Metal Heart” complete with Wolf’s extended, classically infused guitar solo, and main set closer, the blistering, “Fast As A Shark“. The crowd sang along and chanted in unison with the band.
After a short interlude the band returned to the stage for a four song encore that kicked off with “Demon Night“, “Midnight Mover“, the incredible, “Balls To The Wall” and finished with the earliest inclusion of the set, from 1980’s album of the same name, “I’m A Rebel“.
The little dinner theater in Agoura was well and truly rocked. At the end of the night the tables that littered the front of the stage were shifted all over the place as the crowd filed through the aisles to get closer to the legendary band. It’s still jarring to see people seated, eating their dinner when a metal band takes the stage. It was odd enough of a site for Mark Tornillo to make a comment. But regardless, the band powered through and left the crowd wanting more.
Well worth the price of admission, the band are touring for the next few months and if you want some bang for your buck, go see Accept.
Link To Full Accept Gallery: Here
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