SAXON
Jbs dudley
29-5-00
Line up : Biff Byford (vocals) : Nibbs Carter (bass) : Paul Quinn ( Guitar ) : Doug Scarrat ( Guitar ) : Fritz Randow ( drums )
Set List : Metalhead, Motorcycle man, Dogs of war, Song of evil, Eagle has landed, Travelers in time, 20,000 ft, Thin red line, Conquistador, Crusader, Princess of the night, 747, Strong arm of the law, Denim and leather. Encore 1 And the bands played on, Wheels of steel. Encore 2 Power and the glory.
Saxon, a band that the director of Spinal tap once referred to as 'lifers' have had a rough time these past few years but seem to be re-emerging as a strong contender amongst the various metal acts, this show was a true example of their latest attack, judging by the crowd which was half full of the obligatory die hards but also quite a lot of kids who were really into it. This would never have been a few years ago.
The title track with accompanying intro Metalhead got the crowd suitably warmed up followed swiftly by the rousing classic Motorcycle man. Dogs of war rolled over us like a gilt edged steam train straight into Song of evil and the more mellower bass driven oldie Eagle has landed.
This was apparently the warm up period, I was bloody sweating after the first song! ( I knew I should have hung my leather up!!)
Straight into the oven we go then, gas mark 9 with Travelers in time followed swiftly in quick succession with 20,000ft and Thin red line. Then came Conquistador, crashing riffs and a nice Spanish guitar intro/outro plus a Fritz Randow drum solo at half time shows that a lot went into the work on this song live (you had to be there really, and those who were, you know what I mean)
What followed was a classic run of songs, Princess of the Night, 747 (with great crowd participation), Strong arm of the law and the infamous Denim and leather. This last song made something stand out that had been bugging me from the fourth or fifth song however, the guitar that Doug Scarrat uses had been tuned down for the new songs off Metalhead but there was no replacement guitar on standby to be used for the songs that were not played de-tuned, this was more noticeable on Denim and leather than the others. Was it intentional? who knows.
The set officially ended there but the crowd were not going to go home without a healthy dose of Wheels of Steel and they made it show. Plenty of foot stamping and chanting later, Saxon returned with And the bands played on followed by the anticipated crowd sing a long Wheels of Steel.
One more encore remained with the memorable Power and the glory (plenty of raised fists and hand clapping) and that was that.
Looking back on the night I can't rightly remember Biffs voice sounding as good as that in years, he's still working the crowds like a man half his age, Paul Quinns guitar work has never been so tight and new man Fritz Randow stamped his style on the band with an impressive drum solo. Overall I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I recommend this band to anyone who rocks and wants to rock a bit bloody harder (this time I avoided the dreaded moshers neck by standing at the sides looking like a bloody robot! Well, I AM getting a bit too old for that @#%$ now!)
METALHEADS FOREVER!!
P.S Look out for the interview I did with Biff before the show on www.ukrocknet.com coming soon.