Udo, you've already played 4 cities on this mini-tour: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Krasnodar and Rostov. You've visited all these places before, back in 2004 and earlier. Can you compare those shows to these ones — which do you remember more fondly?
It's hard to say. Every concert is special in its own way, and comparing them doesn't quite feel right — the connection with the audience is unique every single time. Overall, the reception has been great everywhere, just like last time.
Was there any free time in the cities? Did you manage to get out and see anything?
Well, this is my 10th time in your country and my 10th time in Moscow, and it was my fourth visit to Rostov and Krasnodar, so I mostly just rested. I saw the sights on previous trips.
Do you have favourite spots in Moscow?
I really love the city centre — Red Square, the Kremlin and the surrounding streets. Gorky Park also left a strong impression.
You have a big European tour coming up with PRIMAL FEAR. What happens after that?
Yes, we're going out with them, then we'll do a few shows on our own before rejoining them for the rest of the tour. After that, around Christmas, we'll take a break, and in the new year we'll continue in Canada, the US, and other countries.
You play a significant number of shows every year, and yet there's still no proper live DVD. Are there any plans for one?
(laughs) Yes, we're actually working on it — recording songs at shows throughout the tour and beyond. This guy's footage (laughs again and nods toward the band's cameraman, filming everything with a professional camera) will definitely make it onto the DVD.
The lineup hasn't changed since Mission No. X. Was recording Mastercutor easier or harder than before?
You could actually say the lineup hasn't changed since Thunderball. Whether it was easier — I can't really say. There are always challenges when writing and recording, but overall we worked very cohesively and harmoniously. I think Mastercutor is our best album to date.
Tell us about the russian-language version of "Cry Soldier Cry".
The idea was to do the entire song in russian. I can't say it was easy — the lyricists spent quite a long time trying to fit the rhythm to the translation, and when I saw the finished version there were still some issues at first, because… russian is a very complicated language (laughs).
Tell us about your upcoming Best Of album.
It's coming out next year. We ran a vote on our website where fans chose which songs they want on the compilation — that's now finished. There will also be a few previously unreleased recordings included.
One last question — Udo, why is it that for so many years we haven't heard anything from such great albums as Mean Machine, Timebomb and No Limits?
(laughs along with the cameraman) What can I say — you're right, that's true. But understand, we also play ACCEPT songs at our shows. We have too many albums to cover tracks from all of them. We'd have to play for more than two hours, which is simply very demanding. That's why many songs — and even entire albums — end up not being represented in our setlists.
A couple of hours later he was on stage — completely transformed, electrifying a crowd of well over a thousand people. He played, as it happened, a full two hours minus ten minutes, treating the audience to U.D.O. classics alongside timeless ACCEPT hits. He remains, as does his band as a whole, in brilliant live form: releasing studio albums every year and a half to two years, embarking on massive tours, and standing as a genuine living legend of heavy metal.
With thanks to CD-Maximum and Spika Concert Agency for arranging the interview.
