Accept & Sabaton At The Galaxy: A Glorious Night

By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal

My rating:

May 1st 2011, Galaxy Theatre, Santa Ana CA: German metal legends Accept reintroduced themselves to the North American fans last year as a rejuvenated line-up fronted by new singer Mark Tornillo, touring behind their highly successful comeback album 'Blood Of The Nations'. They certainly rocked the Key Club's socks off on that memorable night of October 19th 2010. Tonight they were back in the LA area on another full tour, this time supported by Swedish power metal warriors Sabaton who were on their first ever North American trek. So for fans of both bands, there was a lot to look forward to.

Sabaton hit the stage at around 9.45 PM amongst chants of "Sabaton! Sabaton!" Apparently, their entire LA area fan base was present at this show. Sabaton shirts could be seen in plenty, some fans even going all out with complete military outfits. This didn't surprise me because after all, it was their first ever show here. Judging from the response they got tonight, it won't be the last either. Each one of the six songs they played tonight was enjoyed in plenty by the fans. It was great to see the crowd getting so involved in the music, and the band responded by willing to interact with them. They managed to really get the crowd excited by mentioning the supposed execution of Osama Bin Laden. Chants of 'Fuck Bin Laden!' and USA! USA!' broke out instantly. Frontman Joakim Broden got the crowd off their feet during the band's final song for the night "Metal Crue". With that they showed their appreciation for this great crowd and bid goodbye with a promise to return this October, as support for Evergrey. An auspicious beginning indeed.

Thankfully for this incredibly excitable crowd, the wait for Accept was far from long. The German heroes hit the stage in grand style with "Teutonic Terror", a song that's fast becoming a quintessential Accept tune despite being a relatively new release. I couldn't have predicted or hoped for a better start to the set myself. Another new tune, the dark and heavy "Bucket Full Of Hate" completed the one-two punch. The rest of the set consisted of two other songs from the new album, "New World Comin'" and "Pandemic". I was a little surprised that they did only four from this album considering how excellent it is as a whole.

They went back to their old catalog and pulled out immensely delightful classics such as "Starlight", "Breaker", "Restless And Wild", and many, many others. In fact, each and every one of the 19 songs played tonight was a classic in itself. But besides the music, it's the on-stage presentation that's the most crucial aspect of a live show. Bands should really learn that from Accept. The stage presence of all five members was absolutely electrifying. Their energy was so infectious that it passed on to the crowd in no time at all and by the end of the first song, everyone was into it. It was quite evident that the musicians up on that stage were having a blast performing their music and putting their 200 per cent effort into it. Mark Tornillo led the charge by delivering a flawlessly powerful performance on the vocals, squashing the minds of the doubters and detractors, if any. Wolf and Herman were brilliant and extremely expressive on guitar, along with Peter Baltes' terrific bass. Drummer Stephan wasn't about to be left lurking in the background either, as he stood up on a couple of occasions, while playing the drums.

Besides the songs, there was plenty of on-stage banter and duels going on, as Wolf paired up with Peter, Herman and Mark on separate occasions. This added a lot to the entertainment and provided fans with something extra. Their encore was just about as strong of an encore as I have ever seen, consisting of the songs "Fast As A Shark", "Pandemic" and the much celebrated metal anthem "Balls To The Wall". Overall, it was a truly mind blowing performance by the Teutonic veterans, as they emphatically proved that they have the same passion and intensity as they had in the early 80s. There couldn't be a better representation of fun-filled heavy music. If you're a fan of such music and still haven't seen Accept in their new incarnation, you have no idea what you're missing.

Together, Accept & Sabaton treated us with a glorious night of good ol' metal the way it should sound. Thanks a million, and please return soon \m/

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