WOLF HOFFMANN Has 'Lots Of Thoughts' About UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER Performing Only ACCEPT Songs On Tour

ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann says that he has "lots of thoughts" about Udo Dirkschneider's decision to embark on one final tour during which the singer is performing nothing but ACCEPT songs.

The DIRKSCHNEIDER tour, which was launched in early 2016, was originally supposed to conclude with the band's North American run in January/February 2017, has now been extended through the fall of 2018.

Asked by SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation" radio show what his thoughts are about his former bandmate playing a full set of ACCEPT classics while the Mark Tornillo-fronted version of ACCEPT is still actively recording and touring, Wolf said: "Well, I have lots of thoughts about that, but I'm not gonna share 'em with you. I'd rather not comment on that, because that seems so much 'back and forth,' and I think I should stay away from it… You can draw your own conclusions all day long, but I'm not gonna get into it; it's just not worth it.

"I get asked [about Udo] so many times, and, man, it's been so many years — it's such an old story by now," Wolf continued. "We've moved on way past that, and we've had 10 brilliant years [with Mark Tornillo], we're making cool albums; I think we're doing fine. So I don't spend any time thinking about it.

"I'm very proud of the history we have together and all that, but I'm just not gonna get into the current 'he said, she said' whatever — it's not worth it," Hoffmann concluded.

Udo told rock journalist Mitch Lafon that his decision to perform ACCEPT material one last time came about as a result of his desire to "close [the] book, and say, 'Okay, that's it. I read it.'" He explained: "Sometimes you have to come to an end with something. I wanna close up everything with ACCEPT. And this will be the last time."

Dirkschneider added that he didn't want to continue being compared to the current lineup of ACCEPT. He said: "Now ACCEPT is still on tour, and they have a new singer, and they are doing also 'Balls To The Wall' and they are doing also 'Metal Heart', they do 'Princess Of The Dawn'. And I don't wanna be always compared and have to say, 'What do you think about this and this and this?' This is also another reason. I wanna close the ACCEPT chapter."

Dirkschneider confirmed to Greece's Rock Overdose that he will no longer perform any ACCEPT songs live once he has completed his current touring obligations with his DIRKSCHNEIDER project. "I did now the DIRKSCHNEIDER thing for nearly three hundred shows — I played only ACCEPT songs," he said. "If [the fans] wanna hear some ACCEPT classic stuff, what can I say? Then please go to [see] ACCEPT; they're still touring."

Back in 2015, Hoffmann dismissed Dirkschneider's comment that the band's current lineup performs live "without any emotion," "It's just hilarious at this point," Wolf said. "It's just a big joke in our lives. And we just go on about our lives, and we do our thing, and we just… We let these things go by and laugh about it. He's actually sort of our press agent, in a way. He keeps us [in the news]."

ACCEPT in 2005 completed a 25th-anniversary tour with a touring lineup of original members Dirkschneider, Hoffmann and Herman Frank (both on guitar) and Peter Baltes (bass),along with drummer Stefan Schwarzmann.