U.D.O. TOUR 2000 NOTES
(All pics on this page were taken 6/6/00 at Annie's in Cincinnatti. Please do not use these pics, or any others on this website for that matter, without contacting me first! Thank you)
U.D.O. TOUR 2000 NOTES
(All pics on this page were taken 6/6/00 at Annie's in Cincinnatti. Please do not use these pics, or any others on this website for that matter, without contacting me first! Thank you)
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Setlist (for the shows I saw):
Holy
Raiders of Beyond
Midnight Mover
Independence Day
Metal Eater
Drum solo
London Leatherboys
No Limits
Winterdreams
Metal Heart
Living on a Frontline
Restless and Wild
Son of a Bitch
Balls to the Wall
Princess of the Dawn (Lansing and Buffalo only)
I'm a Rebel
Fast as a Shark
Annie's- Cincinnatti Ohio Tuesday June
6, 2000 
My wife and I were at my brother's in Grove City, OH and the three of us tried to time when to leave right so that we'd show up just after the 2 opening bands. Sometimes I like to watch openers...but usually not. On the way to the show we were beginning to get lost in Cincy. I had gotten directions from the Yahoo travel section, and that's the last time I ever do that! Fortunately as we were turning around, and heading back to the point we started getting confused, there were 2 police officers waiting at a light and we got directions from them. Another thing we realized on route is that we had bought the wrong size tapes for our video camera. I had never bought tapes for it before, and my wife (thought) she knew what she was doing... so the blame was on her! HA! But at least we had a regular camera. We made it to the hall in absolute perfect timing, we could hear the end of the last band's final song from the parking lot. We just had to get a pic of the sign for the club... hardly top knotch advertising!
The first thing we asked inside was if the club allowed video taping. They were cool with it if the band was, but since we didn't have the film, we ended up taking a few pictures during the show. We spent just a few minutes getting inside and looking around. I then noticed Frank, the manager, leaving the stage area and walking out to the lobby area. I went over towards him and said "Hey Frank.." He was probably somewhat surprised...the average fan sometimes don't realize who the band members are when they're floating the crowd, let alone the crew! I asked if he remembered who I was...maybe a dumb question, but yet he deals with so many people...you could lose track. He said that he did, and I asked him how the tour was going so far. He seemed very discouraged at the turnout of this show, saying that Accept drew quite a few more people when they played in '96. Also the low turnout despite all the interviews the band had done in the states was disapointing for him. He talked about how the internet is not that strong of a force, at least not yet in trying to get the attention of metal fans here. He said the sales of Holy are doing pretty good here and they have to just treat it as a new band starting out...and over time, hopefully the popularity grows.
Frank had to break away from me because it was getting closer to the start, and my longtime pen pal/e-friend/overall friend (HAHA!) Michael Pataky met me. I hadn't seen him in person in 7 years and didn't recognize him! He had gotten there about 15 minutes before us, and according to him...there was actually close to 50 people there for the openers and some left after the second band, if you can believe that! So when UDO took to the stage, I'd say there was about 20-25 (tops!) on the floor, and maybe 5 people seated around the bar/tables.
The first sight after the lights dimmed was a road guy or someone in a monk outfit doing the dialog at the beginning of "Holy", which was really cool. When the band came out, the first thing I noticed was that it looked as though Fitty and Udo had disgusted looks on their faces.... I thought because of the crowd size. But as you read my notes on the next day's show, you'll see that wasn't the case.
Everything about the show was great! The setlist was awesome. Although I would have preferred more UDO songs, I was still pleased to hear songs such as Midnight Mover, Winterdreams and I'm A Rebel live for the first time. The lighting and stage looked ok I guess, but I've never paid too much attention to those types of things. The crowd, small as we were, were allvery much into the show.
At the close, I was surprised to catch a pic from Stefan! With 20 of the 25 people at the front of the stage, he launched it right to the back towards me? Worked for me! My brother was able to get an Igor pic from a roadie and tried to give the pic to Michael, who wanted me to have it instead.
We chatted with Michael for a few minutes after the show inside the hall. I was going to try to hang around in case the band might have floated around the hall. However, the club forced everyone out rather abruptly only 15 minutes or so after the show.
JJ Kelley's, Lansing, IL- Wednesday June 7, 2000
No problems at all finding this place. It was just my wife and I going to this one. Conveniently located in the same lot as the club was a Best Western motel. We pulled in and started up to the motel door, when I glanced over to a small deck in front of the club. I could just see the top of Udo's head, but still knew it was him! I told my wife I was gonna try to catch up with him. She didn't think it was a good idea, but I said "No it's allright... he'll be cool about it..." Just as he was almost to the bus I called out "Hey Udo!" He turned around and I introduced myself and asked if he remembered me from my page. He did, and I talked with him for a while about the tour. I asked if it was frustrating playing in clubs with so small of turnouts. He said that didn't affect the shows and that they were still planning to come back and do the west coast hopefully in August. My wife was busy checking in the motel so I couldn't get a picture with him. He said he had some work to do on the bus anyway and he'd see me later... and just as he was leaving, he said, "keep up the good work" which I thought was cool. Lorenzo, the drummer, was standing right there and I talked with him for a few minutes asking basically about the same stuff. Then he and a roadie ran off to get a haircut.... it was a kinda funny site :-)
Shortly after we got settled in the room, we decided to check out the club. Right as I walked in I noticed Fitty manning the shirt stand and I introduced myself. Again I asked if he remembered me and he said "of course!"... and joked with the guy next to him that I was the one who e-mailed him all the time (just a joke though!... I've probably e-mailed him 6-7 times total and most of those concerned the interview). I thanked him again for that interview and told him that several people e-mailed me saying they really enjoyed that part of the site. He said he was glad to do it, that he thought it was a good idea and he'd be glad to do it again sometime. I then asked about the former guitarist Jurgen, and how he was doing. Fitty said that even though they live on the same island (Ibiza- near Spain), he doesn't see to much of Jurgen. He said after the car accident, Jurgen had a plate inserted in his face, and if anything hit him in the face the right way, it would have killed him. So the band, and Jurgen, didn't want to take any chances and he left the band. I then bought a couple shirts and asked about video taping the show. Fitty was unsure and looked towards a club worker, who then went into the stage area where Frank, Udo and Stefan were standing... they gave permission.
We took a break up in our motel room and out of boredom, headed down to the club a little early. If I had to guess the attendance for this place, I would say right around 100... with around 30-40 on the floor. This was the only show I caught some of the opening band. Winterkill was the name of the band I believe. They weren't all that bad actually. the singer seemed more concerned about the people outside on the deck more than anything, making statements like "I don't know why you pay for a ticket and then sit outside" several times.
When UDO came on, I quickly got the camera ready
and stood on a barstool to get a better shot. After trading videos for about
8 years now, i finally have a lot of respect for the people that tape them.
It's easy to rate and critique a bootleg (like I've done) when you've never
done it yourself and don't know how difficult it is to tape something and
have it turn out like Brooklyn 93. I had never used the camera much before
so a couple minor problems occurred. I had it on automatic focus and tried
to keep the whole stage in most of the shots.... mistake. The lights kept
causing focusing problems. Also the date and time is at the bottom of the
screen throughout. I thought that was just part of the display and wouldn't
show up on the tape. The battery went dead with 2 1/2 songs left. I had no
idea really how long the battery usually lasted. Overall though, not a bad
video on my first attempt. The show was pretty much the same as Cincy, only
with Princess added into the set, and Igor running out into the crowd during
the show. There were 2 other people filming and we may see the copies floating
around soon. A pair of guys right in front of me. They can be seen in my copy.
However, they had their camera zoomed in only on Udo for the whole show (which
I think is pathetic). The other guy filming was in the front row, which is
risky...the sound may have turned out aweful.
Riley's, Aurora, IL- Monday June 12, 2000
This show I actually did not go to, but had planned on it. After Lansing, my wife and I went back home to work the weekend. Originally there was no show schedualed in Aurora. It was supposed to be Buffalo on Tuesday, and Allentown, PA on Wednesday. At that time we bought out airline tickets. When they changed the dates, things got screwed up and we couldn't cancel or modify the flights. Plan B was to fly to Columbus, OH as planned (passing thru Chicago along the way), then turn around and drive right back to the Chicago area for the show. We arrived in Columbus and I called the club for more info. I asked if i could film and Frank was just getting into the club when I was on the phone. The lady asked him, and he said no. That kinda got me mad when he just allowed it 5 days before. Any of a number of reasons were probably possible. I don't know and I don't really care now. Maybe if he knew I was the one calling it would have been a different story... who knows. We were also tired from not getting much sleep the night before. Also we figured on saving at least $150 by not going.... so we decided to skip that show. It actually turned out to be a good decision, because I would later find out that the club was not that nice and there were quite a few brutish/drunken/rough people there...the type of people I like to avoid. Just as a sidenote here I'll go into my feelings about the whole video taping thing. There really should never be a problem with videotaping as long as the shows aren't sold...but they are. BUT, I've been trading videos for a long time though now and I can say that video selling is on the decline. Most people won't pay for shows anymore when they know they can trade with someone else. Also Accept/UDO videos are hardly sold anymore. You might catch a few here and there on ebay... but elsewhere it's on the decline. My opinion about the show I taped for one is that finally I have a video that I can say I was a part of and actually see myself at a show. And also it benifits the many people who did not get a chance to go to the shows. Enough said.
The Funhouse, Buffalo, NY- Wednesday June 14, 2000
My brother and I drove up to this one. My wife I think was already tired of UDO shows and decided to stay home :-) The drive took close to 5 hours through heavy traffic in some places and 3 monsoons. We found the club easily. I was surprised how nice this place was. It was actually a combination bar/club and banquet hall.... pretty big place. There were bars on two floors. Attendence wise there was at least 120 or so, but in a place as big as that it's hard to tell. As we paid, I asked about taping the show. The guy said I'd need to find the band/manager. I really wasn't in the mood to search the club for Frank, and i figured the one show I was able to get on video was good enough. So I decided to skip trying to record this show. After paying, and turning the corner, there was Fitty manning the shirt stand. He looked super tired or something... I almost laughed! He said he was just hot. It was a real stormy/muggy night outside. I really didn't have much else to say! The only other thing I asked him about was if it was true about UDO on the UFO tribute....and he said he knew nothing about it. I bought 4 shirts and we left the club.
We returned while the opening band was playing. I'm not sure who the band was and I didn't pay too much attention :-) The break between bands seemed rather long at this one. I noticed they did have a problem with one of the lights above the stage that took quite a few minutes of work. Sometime during that time I noticed Frank leave the stage area and on his way back to the "control area" or whatever the heck it's called, he patted me on the back and I said hi to him. At the very end of the soundcheck I thought it was cool as hell..... the roadie flashed a light a few times at Frank, I looked back, Frank gave a final wave to the roadie... the show started! Cool as hell! Something that I noticed for the first time on the tour on the monk's lines, was that after he said them, he lifted up his robe a little bit to show the stockings he was wearing (like the Holy cover). I'm telling you the sound at this show right from the very start was THUNDEROUS!!! Two songs in particular where Stefan and Fitty really stood out in my opinion were Metal Eater and Metal Heart. The crowd went nuts on all the Accept songs. Obviously they didn't know the UDO songs too well, although they really got into Metal Eater! i think the band really had a good time at this one versus the other two I saw. They were a lot more energetic and into the show. Igor stayed out in the crowd longer on his solo off the stage for example. Towards the end, Udo told the crowd they were going to play an old Accept song. Some dude yelled out Fast as a Shark. Udo laughed and said "No, not that one. (laugh) This is a much older song..." and they played I'm a Rebel. If I would have been thinking, I would have yelled out TIRED OF ME!!!!! Before the show started, my brother was thinking we should have got in the front row. But I didn't want to simply because I didn't want to take the chance of some brutish drunken fuck head pushing me around from the back (Cleveland 93). It turned out to be a mistake because Lorenzo gave a drum stick to a front row fan at the end. The first Accept/UDO show I've been at where a stick has been given out DAMN IT!!!
After the show I decided to talk to Frank for a couple minutes. I told him about how great the sound was, and he said without their own equipment, they just have to take what they can get at these places. He said if they had their own stuff, the sound would have been unbelievable. I'm glad they didn't have their own stuff because my ears rang for almost a whole day after this show as it was! He also talked about how much the band enjoyed the Aurora show and the rough crowd there.
And so ended my UDO Tour 2000 experience........maybe! Hopefully more chapters to be added soon if they come back!!!!