At The Arcada Theater, St. Charles, IL, March 5, 2016

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Photos By Shelly Harris

There's no doubt we were psyched about the ACCEPT performance on this evening, coming as it did only a short time after my KNAC.COM interview with the band's stalwart, virtuoso guitarist, Wolf Hoffmann. Wolf had talked about how things were in the groove not only with singer Mark Tornillo, who's been in the band's second incarnation since its inception in 2009, but also with new drummer Christopher Williams and second guitarist Uwe Lulis, who both came on board following the release of the most recent ACCEPT album, 2014's Blind Rage.

Then, too, this was the second of only two ACCEPT tour dates in the United States this year (to be followed by European and South American dates, and work on a new album), and at one of the better venues to see a live band in the Chicago area, the far west-suburban Arcada Theater in St. Charles. Vintage and revamped for concerts, the Arcada is intimate and quaint, and there's not a bad seat in the house ... That is, if you were actually sitting, and most weren't even though it was a set that started after 10:30 PM.

Even at the late hour (the promoter stated prior to the show that he had to get special permission from city police to put the show on so late), the demographic was undoubtedly similar to the UFO audience that had been there shortly before in a separately ticketed show. The crowd was more toward the upper end of that "16 - 60" age spectrum Wolf Hoffman had mentioned earlier, but definitely not there to snooze, as the front seats were crammed up in a pit-like fashion, while the ones who remained in their seats mostly stood, and yelled along to many of the songs, reminding that the Chicago area had been huge on ACCEPT since it's introduction to the U.S. metal scene in the mid-80s.

The first thing noticeable, as the band charged out onstage, was that - not unlike his esteemed predecessor, Udo Dirkschneider - frontman Mark Tornillo seems an astonishingly custom made to fit that classic ACCEPT sound, with the high soaring, sneering vocals - throwing back to Bon Scott, Klaus Meine, and Rob Halford, -- and also an on point amalgam of such stage presence too. No wonder running into Tornillo and an ensuing "chance" jam session had been the impetus for an ACCEPT reincarnation!

Wolf Hoffmann vied with Tornillo for showmanship, as per usual, sporting his new signature series Framus Flying V, throughout a long set list that included a cross-section of songs off of nearly every album ACCEPT has ever made, and included the classic synchronized moves from all the band members (sans drummer Christopher, who was truly impressive), and all the industrial, Morlock drones and chants that have come to be part of the classic ACCEPT experience.

ACCEPT still have all the right stuff, but, though the show ended at around 12:30 AM, the crowd, evidently realizing the rarity of the appearance, seemed to mirror back the 110 percent of effort that the band was giving them, with stamina until the end. Even if it was just for one evening, the ACCEPT faithful at the Arcada were back, in spirit, to the time when they were Restless and Wild.

Among the songs included in the set, in no particular order:

• "Starlight"
• "Bulletproof"
• "London Leather Boys"
• "Son Of A Bitch"
• "Objection Overruled"
• "Metal Heart"
• "Take Him In My Heart"
• "Teutonic Terror"
• "Pandemic"
• "Blood Of Nations"
• "Dark Side Of My Heart"
• "Get Ready"
• "Dying Breed"
• "No Shelter"
• "Restless And Wild"
• "Balls To The Wall"