Saxon - Cardiff Review

For one night only in Cardiff the clocks were wound back to the early 1980s, as three bands from the fabled NWOBHM movement took to Cardiff University's Student's Union building for a fantastic evening of good, old fashioned British heavy metal. Headlining the night, as part of a short European tour before heading off to America to tour with Judas Priest, were Barnsley's finest Saxon. With their twenty second album Thunderbolt barely a month old, this was the veteran's band first live outing since the album dropped. This gave the band scope to try out some of the new material live, which they did as part of a varied setlist that encompassed much of their near forty year career. The Great Hall in the Student's Union is a good-sized venue, and it great to see bands like Saxon still able to fill venues of this size. While there were limited tickets available to buy on the door, the vast majority had already been sold by the time the evening rolled around. Saxon are regulars on the UK touring circuit, but that does not seem to deter their legions of fans who come out time and time again to support one of their favourite bands. Before this night in Cardiff, I had seen the band live three times previously. My last Saxon concert was back in 2013, at Nottingham's excellent Rock City venue, on their tour supporting the Sacrifice album. That was a fantastic evening, but for various logistical reasons I have not been able to get to a show on either of their last two UK tours. I was not going to let this happen for a third time, so plumped for this Cardiff show as soon as it was announced towards the end of last year. The fact that Diamond Head were also announced as the specials guests for the shows made this show more appealing. I had not seen Diamond Head live for more than ten years, as I last saw the band in Exeter supporting Thin Lizzy, and I had wanted to catch them live again for quite some time. Clearly I was not the only person who was tempted by this double bill, as the place was pretty much full by the time Diamond Head hit the stage.

Before Diamond Head's set however, the growing crowd were treated to half an hour or so of music from Rock Goddess. I was not familiar with Rock Goddess before seeing that they were a part of this bill, but the three-piece's hard hitting heavy metal sound impressed from the off. While their sound was very typical of the NWOBHM sound, the simple riffs and slightly punky choruses were pretty infectious. Jody Turner (vocals/guitar) has a powerful, raspy voice that really carried the band's material well, and her guitar solos were bluesier than your average NWOBHM band's lead guitarist which certainly added something to the overall sound. While the crowd initially seemed to be fairly ambivalent to the girls' on stage antics, this slowly changed over the course of their set and by the end it seemed that a decent portion of the crowd were really enjoying the songs being played. This included myself, and by the end of their set - when their early single Heavy Metal Rock 'n' Roll was played - I was fully on board. I will definitely be checking out Rock Goddess' back catalogue out when I can, as I have a feeling I will be enjoying what I hear.

After a quick changeover it was time for Diamond Head, and as soon as the band hit the stage for their forty minute set they had the crowd eating from their hands. Despite being a guitarist down, as long-time rhythm guitarist Andy Abberley was unfortunately recovering from surgery, the band put on a crowd-pleasing set with songs mostly taken from their early 1980s heyday. There is a parallel universe where Diamond Head got the success they deserved, but this was delivered as if that was indeed the case. Helpless got things off to a good start, before the sole-newer number Bones allowed the band's relatively new frontman Rasmus Bom Andersen to display his immense talent. He is a very active frontman, constantly prowling the stage while belting out the songs' lyrics. The real star of the show however was founding guitarist Brian Tatler, who's place in heavy metal history is well and truly confirmed, who peeled off excellent riffs and solos all night. Songs like Lightning to the Nations and the epic The Prince showed this the most. With the rawer sound due to the lack of the second guitar, Tatler was left alone to shine. Diamond Head were always only a four-piece in their 1980s heyday, so was probably a taste of what they sounded like back then as opposed to the somewhat more polished sound they have adopted more recently. Unsurprisingly, they closed their portion of the night with their most famous song Am I Evil? which received the biggest reception of the night. The crowd sung the chorus back at the band rather loudly, and I am sure even those in attendance who were not that familiar with Diamond Head's output over the years enjoyed it. I certainly did anyway, and I really hope I am able to catch a full length show from the band in the near future. The setlist was:

Helpless
Bones
In the Heat of the Night
Lightning to the Nations
It's Electric
The Prince
Am I Evil?

Despite the enthusiastic reception that both of the support bands received, this was clearly Saxon's night and as soon as the lights went down the place erupted. Saxon fans are always very vocal, and the energy never let up throughout the band's set, which lasted just short of two hours. As always when they have a new album out, Saxon took the opportunity to showcase a lot of it live. The title track of the new album proved to be an excellent opener and the crowd shouted the chorus back at frontman Biff Byford passionately. Byford is one of the best metal frontmen of all time and he led his troops through an excellent set that showed Cardiff why they are still held in such high regard. Sacrifice and another new one Nosferatu (The Vampire's Waltz) followed, before the band went back in time for a couple of classics, of which Strong Arm of the Law stood out the most with Nibbs Carter's bass driving everything. The sound, overall, was excellent. Sometimes Paul Quinn's guitar was a little low in the mix, which was a shame, but the sheer power of what was coming from the stage helped to create one of the best atmospheres at a concert that I have been to for a long while. In total, six songs from the new album were debuted at this show, and it is a testament to the band they were all really well received. Saxon fans are thankfully not the kind who sit there quietly until the old classics are wheeled out so songs like the hard-hitting Sniper were just as well received as a groove-laden Dallas 1pm. It is hard to pick highlights from a set that was so strong throughout, but it was probably two of the new songs that stole the show. The heavy Predator was excellent, with Carter handling the harsh vocals - very convincingly - that were performed by Amon Amarth's Johan Hegg on the album version, but it was the band's tribute to Motörhead, They Played Rock and Roll, that really seemed to get everyone excited. Everyone seemed to know the song, and hearing it live took to to a whole new level. Nigel Glockler (drums) in particular put in a shift during the song, which even Byford acknowledged after the song came to a crashing end. The last portion of the set was mostly packed full of old classics, and firm favourites like And the Bands Played On and 747 (Strangers in the Night) went down a storm as they have done countless times in the past. The main set came to a close with another timeless tune, Princess of the Night, which received a huge cheer as the band left the stage for the first time. Not one but two encore sections followed, with three more classics being played for the big crowd. The somewhat thrashy Heavy Metal Thunder got everyone moving, before the band's true anthem Wheels of Steel was warmly received. The big riffs from Quinn and fellow guitarist Doug Scarratt whipped up a power the like rarely seen before, while Byford led the crowd through a lengthy sing-a-long section. The band left the stage once more after the song came to a close, but they came back one last time for a hearty rendition of another classic in the form of Denim and Leather. Despite Byford seemingly forgetting the words, which was a very rare slip up in an otherwise note-perfect evening, the crowd helped him out and belted the chorus out with real pride and joy. This sound brought the evening to a close, and the band took their bows to rapturous cheers. The setlist was:

Olympus Rising
Thunderbolt
Sacrifice
Nosferatu (The Vampire's Waltz)
Motorcycle Man
Strong Arm of the Law
Battering Ram
Power and the Glory
Sniper
The Secret of Flight
Dallas 1pm
Never Surrender
Predator
They Played Rock and Roll
And the Bands Played On
747 (Strangers in the Night)
Crusader
Princess of the Night
-
Heavy Metal Thunder
Wheels of Steel
-
Denim and Leather

It is easy to say that a concert is one of the best you have seen but, excluding 'special event' (e.g. Marillion at the Royal Albert Hall) concerts, this was easily up there with the best shows I have seen for a while. The atmosphere was fantastic throughout, and the band were on fire and seem rearing to go for their large American trek with Judas Priest. The show was also filmed by students from the University, so hopefully that means it will be released on DVD at some point in the future. I hope so, as it would be great to relive this night in Wales with one of the best British metal bands out there.