Drummer Sven Dirkschneider Drops Off U.D.O. North American Tour for “Personal Reasons”

Sven Dirkschneider, son of legendary U.D.O. and Accept frontman Udo Dirkschneider and drummer for U.D.O., has had to drop off the U.D.O. North American tour for “private, personal reasons.” Here’s what the band wrote on their Instagram:

“Whilst the last shows of this amazing US & Canada run will go ahead with full force, unfortunately Sven has been forced to to fly home due to private, personal reasons, and extends sincere apologies to all the fans attending the shows.

“We will play all shows as planned with no one but Sven’s drum tech Matthias Kassner taking the drum duties while Sven takes care of other important factors – Please respect his privacy at this time.

“This is a decision we have made to ensure these dates go ahead, rather than cancel. Rock with us, because we can’t wait to see you all!”

We certainly appreciate the band doing what they can to keep the tour going, and obviously Sven’s personal reasons take precedence over his tour responsibilities. There’s not a huge chunk of the tour left, but there’s still a handful of dates that will go on as originally planned. And Sven’s replacement is no slouch, as Kassner is the drummer for German thrash metal outfit Exumer.

Here’s the rest of the U.D.O. North American tour dates where you can catch the band with Matthias Kassner on drums:

10.03.24 – BRASS MONKEY – OTTAWA, ONT
10.04.24 – TOKEN LOUNGE – WESTLAND, MI
10.05.24 – Q&Z EXPO – RINGLE, WI
10.07.24 – SHANK HALL – MILWAUKEE, WI
10.09.24 – BLUE NOTE – HARRISON, OH
10.10.24 – THE KING OF CLUBS – COLUMBUS, OH