Antwerp: Hof Ter Lo

[Lange_666]

Attended my 4th Saxon concert in 25 years, the first 3 way back in the 80's, the 4th just a few hours ago.
Place: Hof Ter Lo concerthall, Antwerp, Belgium

This is a rather small concert hall but i like to go there, the overall accoustic is more then above average so i was looking forward to this concert. We (?) got to choose from 2 setlists, either an 80's list or the Lionheart setlist. In the end, Biff said it would be a mix but it was all 80's (and one 90's sidestep), no Lionheart stuff at all.

2 drawbacks:
- 1 (and most important): A big bummer was the soundman. Was he deaf or something? A few db's less would have made such a difference in soundquality. Now it was often a big wall of noise, the only thing coming through 100% were Biff's voice and the drums. Both guitars and the bass were often pure fog. A shame. I would fire the dude behind the mixing table right away.
- 2: To Biff. Don't try to speak french when you're performing in the Flemisch part of Belgium. We speak dutch so stick to english next time, you then won't make a fool of yourself when "trying" to talk (and count) in french...

On a positive note:
The overall setlist was quite good although i would love to have heared a few other songs but hey...who am i? The vibes were there (and they were hugh) and they gave themselves 100%. And what's more, just as the crowd, the Saxon dudes enjoyed themselves. What more do you need? Perhaps just a soundman who knows his job. Overall, it still and what more do you need?

 

[the_eagle_has_landed]

no Lionheart stuff at all.

euh you left before the encores or what?
They played Lionheart and Withfinder General

 

[Lange_666]

I know, i remember now. Guess my brain had suffered way to much from noise overload ...

 

[Paxoman]

Cheers for the review 666. I am seeing Saxon Monday and Tuesday and I hope they do some Lionheart stuff.

 

[heavycelli]

- 2: To Biff. Don't try to speak french when you're performing in the Flemisch part of Belgium. We speak dutch so stick to english next time, you then won't make a fool of yourself when "trying" to talk (and count) in french...

Zo is het precies! I had the same during the concert I went to. Biff came on stage and he said: "Hello Groningen!" And Saxon was in Friesland! Some of the guests were already installing the guillotine for him for that As you now there is still rivalery between the provinz Groningen and Provinz Fryslan, we felt like being raped by the beginning of that concert But the concert was great, but the soundman could have been better

 

[Janneman666]

I absolutely loved the concert

I saw them last year at St. Lievens Houtem, and the year before on graspop. This was in my humble opinion the best one.

I admit the sound was a bit loud sometimes, but after some time I didnt notice that anymore. Great setlist, great atmosphere.

They played almost all the songs I wanted to hear so I am a happy fan.

One last thing : It was frickin' hot in there, I lost a few kilo's just by sweating

anyway, it was fun, looking forward to seeing them again.

Have a very nice day, Jan.

 

[Saxonette]

We travelled from London to see Biff and the boys and they never let us down! They gave us 2 hours of solid pumping Saxon rock! Biff's voice was on form as usual. It was mainly a 'greatest hits' show - fantastic, even if Dallas 1pm and Broken Heroes - which haven't made it into the setlist recently - were missing. Too many good songs and not enough time. I thought the crowd were very forgiving of the attempt to speak French - but that doesnt mean there were no French speaking Begiums in the audience - after all, Saxon fans do travel!

.....and my god was it hot!!!

A good crowd atmosphere and a great evening "SAXON, SAXON,SAXON"

 

[Karsten]

1 (and most important): A big bummer was the soundman. Was he deaf or something? A few db's less would have made such a difference in soundquality. Now it was often a big wall of noise, the only thing coming through 100% were Biff's voice and the drums. Both guitars and the bass were often pure fog. A shame. I would fire the dude behind the mixing table right away.

Well, Uli mixes Saxon for as long as I can think...and he usually does a brilliant job although I must admit that at times he doesn`t meet the high standard but this sometimes has to do with the poor PA Saxon rents sometimes..The PA they put on in Ludwigsburg was also nothing above average but Uli managed to get the most out of it...

Judging from what you felt and heard you must have been close to one of the speakers...since Biff and Nigel don`t have their own amps and speakers, Uli (and every soundman in the world) puts in his hall/speaker mix more mic and drums than bass and guitar...most of the guitar and bass comes from the amps to the left and right of the drumkit..

My guess would be to stay somewhere close to the soundboard..I tape all Saxon shows I go to from inside the sbd area and most of the time I cannot complain about sound, wished it would be a bit louder at times..