[ATTENDED: March 20, 2018] Saxon
Back in high school, I loved Saxon. I may have loved them more for their logo than their music (that battle-axe S is still awesome). But I know I listened to their records enough that their songs were often familiar (and cool).
“Denim and Leather” was my introduction and favorite song, although hearing it now, it’s not as good as many of their other classics.
I bought their first eight albums on vinyl. And then I kind of forgot about them. Or at least assumed they had broken up or something.
But, unlike most bands that started in the 70s, Saxon appears to have never stopped.
Indeed, since that last album I bought in 1988, they have put out fourteen (!) more (not including ten live albums and countless compilations).
And, amazingly, two of the original members are still with the band. The ageless and amazingly-voiced Biff Byford and guitarist Paul Quinn. Of course, it wouldn’t be music if there wasn’t some legal nonsense and hard feelings. Two of the other original guys, Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson (the origins for Spinal Tap’s Derek Smalls) sued to use the name Saxon. They lost.
But the current lineup has deep roots with the band. Oliver left in 1996 and his replacement Doug Scarratt (on the right, right) has been with them ever since. They went through a couple of bassists around when I stopped listening, but Nibbs Carter (on the left, right) has been with them since 1988. Drummer Nigel Glocker joined in 1988 and has been out of the band briefly twice but has been steady with them since 2006. So there’s no new guys in this band.
I was excited to see this band from my childhood but didn’t know what kind of set list they’d create from 22 albums. And geez how good could Byford sound after all of these years?
Well, the great news is that Byford at 67 sounded fantastic. His voice was still really powerful. And he had great stage presence.
I don’t know that it gets more metal than this: lightning striking drums, long hair, guitar poses and a fan waving devil horns.
They came out to a recording of “Olympus Rising” the leadoff track from their new album Thunderbolt and then launched into the title track. It was heavy and solid and really good. Byford’s voice sounded great and the band was in good metal form.
Then he talked to us a bit (and I love his Yorkshire accent). Lots of cursing (he throws around the f-bomb with amusing frequency) and told us the next song was from nine-teen eh-tee threeee. They played “The Power and the Glory” one of their classic anthems.
So it turns out that they played 5 songs from their new album (and they were all really good). And the rest were oldies from my era. I suppose if you were a fan of their last thirty years of music you might have been bummed, but if you were like me, this was awesome.
“Nosferatu” was ponderous and over the top (as Saxon tend to be) with spooky keyboards and a “choir” to open, but it soon reverts to the heaviness that “Nosferatu, creature of the night,” deserves.
Then there was a song from nine-teen eh-tee, and the engines roared for “Motorcycle Man,” a song I loved and had pretty much forgotten about. It sounded fantastic.
“The Secret of Flight” has a pretty classic metal riff, the likes I haven’t heard in ages. There were twin guitar solos as the guys played off of each other.
He introduced “Dallas 1PM” as a song that was about our history. The first time I heard this song back in high school I was blown away by its power (it’s about the Kennedy assassination). And it sounded great live.
He told us that back in the 1980s, their second ever tour was opening for Judas Priest (wow). This new song, “They Played Rock n Roll” was about his friends in Motorhead who were up there drinking Jack Daniels. The song is suitably Motorhead with the double time swing drums that they did so well. They followed it up with a suitably epic song “Sons of Odin.” It had the bass line from a 80s metal song but it did what it was supposed to do with a soaring chorus about Valhalla.
And then it was all classic songs for the end. “Crusader” from one of the last albums of theirs that I bought brought back great memories. But nothing was as great as hearing “Princess of the Night” one of my favorite metal sing-alongs which I had more or less forgotten about but which all cam flooding back to me.
I was genuinely surprised that they played “Denim and Leather” just because I assumed it was out of their rotation. But maybe it is perfect for when they are an opening act since just about everyone there knew it.
They had recently (September) played in NJ opening for UFO and did not play it. The setlist from that show was quite different–it was before the newest album but it was not as old song dependent, presumably because more hardcore fans were at that show? But it’s great that Saxon is not just playing the same 12 songs every night. Glad to see they are keeping everything fresh.
Biff said they had time for one more and their set ended with a roaring “Heavy Metal Thunder.” It was a terrific way to end their set. And I’m really glad I finally got to see them live.
Setlist
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