U.D.O. Announces September/October 2024 North American Tour

U.D.O., the German metal band fronted by former ACCEPT singer Udo Dirkschneider, has announced the rescheduled dates for its North American tour. The 22-date trek, which was originally scheduled to kick off on November 3, 2023 in Frenchtown, New Jersey and make stops in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Columbus, Montreal and Toronto, among other cities, before concluding on December 7, 2023 in Manchester, Massachusetts, was postponed "due to an insurmountable combination of logistical, cargo, and rental equipment problems." The journey will now commence on September 6, 2024 in Frenchtown, New Jersey and make its way through two dozen cities, closing on October 12 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Tickets, as well as VIP upgrades which include a meet-and-greet with U.D.O., a photo op, autographs, and more are available at national-acts.com/UDO.

Tickets purchased for the 2023 shows will be honored on their respective rescheduled dates.

U.D.O. "Touchdown" 2024 U.S./Canada tour dates:

Sep. 06 - Artie's - Frenchtown, NJ
Sep. 07 - The Vault - New Bedford, MA
Sep. 08 - Reverb - Reading, PA
Sep. 11 - Southport Music Hall - Jefferson, LA
Sep. 12 - Rise Rooftop - Houston, TX
Sep. 14 - Rolling Oaks Event - San Antonio, TX
Sep. 15 - Trees - Dallas, TX
Sep. 17 - Rockhouse - El Paso, TX
Sep. 18 - The 44 - Glendale, AZ
Sep. 20 - DNA Lounge - San Francisco, CA
Sep. 21 - Stages - Santa Ana, CA
Sep. 22 - Whisky A Go Go - West Hollywood, CA
Sep. 23 - Brick By Brick - San Diego, CA
Sep. 25 - Rickhouse - Denver, CA
Sep. 27 - The Vixen - Mchenry, IL
Sep. 28 - The Forge - Joliet, IL
Oct. 01 - Brass Monkey - Ottawa, ON
Oct. 02 - Foufounes Electriques - Montreal, QC
Oct. 03 - Lee's Palace - Toronto, ON
Oct. 04 - Token Lounge - Westland, MI
Oct. 05 - Q & Z Expo - Ringle, WI
Oct. 06 - Shank Hall - Milwaukee, WI
Oct. 09 - Blue Note - Harrison, OH
Oct. 12 - Angel City Music Hall - Manchester, NH

In a recent interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM, Udo, who turned 71 in April, touched upon the setlist for the upcoming U.D.O. North American tour and whether it will include any of ACCEPT's classic songs. He said: "The promoter said, 'Yeah, we heard Udo said he never, ever will play any ACCEPT songs.' Yeah, of course. I mean, when I did the DIRKSCHNEIDER tour [focusing on ACCEPT material] also here in Europe, the whole DIRKSCHNEIDER thing [lasted] for nearly three years; I mean, it was a never-ending tour. It was nearly 300 shows, and I was really tired. I said, 'Come on. U.D.O. has also enough songs. I don't wanna play any ACCEPT songs anymore.' Okay. [I] was a little bit too quick [to say that]. So the promoter in America, he said, 'Yeah, but when you come on tour, you have to play 'Balls To The Wall'. You cannot be in America without 'Balls To The Wall'.' And then he said, 'Can we put this in the contract?' And I said, 'Don't worry. We don't have to put this in the contract. I know that we have to play 'Balls To The Wall' in America. Of course.' And, yeah. So maybe we play one or two ACCEPT songs; I mean, I know which ones are in America famous enough. But we don't make a mix, like 50 percent of ACCEPT and [50 percent of] U.D.O. Maybe [we'll play] two [ACCEPT] songs, and then give the people what they want."

U.D.O. released a new album, "Touchdown", on August 25 through Atomic Fire Records. The 13-track LP was recorded at various locations with producer Martin "Mattes" Pfeiffer and was mixed at Redhead Studio (Wilhelmshaven, Germany) while the mastering was handled by Stefan Kaufmann at ROXX Studio (Solingen, Germany),The record also includes a guest appearance by violinist Stefan Pintev on the title track, and bass tracks were recorded by former ACCEPT bassist Peter Baltes. Artwork was provided by Martin Häusler who was also responsible for shooting band photos in support of the new album campaign.

In April, Baltes officially joined U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER, the two bands fronted by Udo Dirkschneider. The former ACCEPT bassist had been playing bass for U.D.O. since last September, initially as a temporary replacement for U.D.O.'s then-bassist Tilen Hudrap who was hospitalized after the band's show in Munich, Germany.

DIRKSCHNEIDER is the name of Udo's band which performs ACCEPT material exclusively.

Although Udo announced eight years ago that his initial DIRKSCHNEIDER tour would mark his final time performing ACCEPT songs, he has continued to play select shows under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner.

Three years ago, Baltes and former ACCEPT drummer Stefan Kaufmann were part of the songwriting team for U.D.O.'s album called "We Are One", a collaboration with Das Musikkorps der Bundeswehr, the military band of the German federal armed forces.

Photo by Martin Häusler