ACCEPT
Bataclan - Paris, France
April 6 2012

April 6 2012, this marked a new era for Accept: The new album, Stalingrad, was released on this day.
It was also the first date of the Stalingrad Tour 2012, and Paris was honoured with the first gig.

Tonight we were celebrating the new album with a gig... can you dream of a better release party?

The Bataclan was almost sold out, more than a thousand soldiers engaged in tonight’s battle.
The evening started with an unusual show from Hell, the band of Andy Sneap, who produced Stalingrad and Blood Of The Nations.

German punctuality is no myth: Accept got on stage exactly at 8:30pm.
As the curtain was lifted, we heard the very first notes of The Number of the Beast from Iron Maiden. It only lasted two seconds, before the intro, but it was enough to make everyone scream.

Accept came on stage with the song Hellfire, a mid-tempo tune from the new record, Stalingrad.
The album was out on the same day, so almost no one in the crowds knew the song, but everyone was excited about seeing the band on stage.

The lights were huge, and that was a pleasant surprise. Usually the lights at the Bataclan aren’t really good, and this was for sure the best light show I’ve ever seen here.
The sound was powerful and this gave the pitch for the rest of the evening, we were in for a no-mercy Metal Night!

The second song was also a new one, but most people knew it, as it was released on the internet as a teaser.

Well, the song Stalingrad was the first hymn of the evening, the kind of song that’s impossible not to sing!

By the way, the Russian hymn is part of the solo!

The crowds were so excited, as were the musicians about being on tour again. There was a wave of classics that made the people go crazy: Breaker, Bulletproof, Monsterman, Losers and Winners, Aiming High... The setlist was brillant!

We had four songs from Blood Of The Nations, that have already become classics. To me it's the best metal record of 2010 and it felt good to hear songs from it.

There were in total 3 songs from Stalingrad and I loved them! It was a bit frustrating not knowing the songs before the show, but it also was a nice surprise to discover them on the very first time these tunes were played live.

Back in 2010, Accept cancelled a concert here at the Bataclan because they caught a flu on tour. Tonight, they also had to deal with bad luck.

As the band was playing Pandemic, the spekers were suddenly shut down. The band had to stop the song until the problems were solved.
Mark Tornillo remained on stage and tried to talk with the audience, but when he realized than no one understood what he was saying, he went backstage with the rest of the boys.
10 minutes later, the sound problems were solved, the band was out again, and played Pandemic again right from the begining.

There was supposed to be a strict curfew at 10:30pm, because there was a party at the Bataclan afterwards.
I was afraid that Accept might skip a song or two because of this.
But Accept decided to overpass the curfew and played their whole set!
Two hours and ten minutes of classic metal, with powerful sound, and a great atmosphere.

For the encores, there was a lion head hanging on the back of the stage. Just to show, if there is any need to, that Accept are back, are strong, and are still the kings of Teutonic Metal!

The Accept gig last year was one of the best of 2011. And up to now, this concert has been the best gig of 2012.

One knows what to expect with Accept: Quality, power and melody. Accept's Stalingrad World Tour has just begun, and you better get there if they play near your town. Believe me, you don't want to miss it!

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Setlist Accept – Le Bataclan – Paris, France – April 6 2012

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