Armored Saint - Nottingham Review

Given how quiet the last couple of months have been from a gigging perspective, it was great to get away from the South West earlier this week. I had not been away from home since heading up to London at the beginning of July to catch AC/DC at Wembley Stadium, and June had also been very quiet, so Tuesday's trip to Nottingham was certainly welcome. I am very much a 'little and often' person when it comes to breaks - but following an extremely busy March through May a bit of a break from the travelling was welcome. I feel refreshed now, though, and ready to get on the road again - and a night away in Nottingham kicked started what promises to be a busy week. With two nights in Wales coming up this weekend, a trip back to my second home of the East Midlands was a treat - especially I had not been back to Nottingham for over a year. I wish I could get back to the East Midlands more than I do, but the distance from the South West makes it unsustainable on a regular basis - but I like to try and get back at least once a year. I was also planning to head to Nottingham in October to see Journey but, given that their UK tour has just been cancelled, it is likely now that this recent trip will be my only one to the city this year. I made the most of it, then, getting there for around 2pm on Tuesday so as to have a decent amount of time in the afternoon to wander around - before heading to the Rescue Rooms for a 6:30pm start. Rock City will always be the city's most iconic venue, but I have always liked the smaller Rescue Rooms. I have never had a bad night there, with the bands generally sounding excellent - and Nottingham, a famed rock town, always brings it when it comes to turnout and atmosphere. The reason for the near six hour trip to Rescue Rooms this time was the American heavy metal band Armored Saint. One of those pretty straight ahead US metal bands from the 1980s which are hard to categorise (i.e. they are not heavy enough to be thrash and they are not flamboyant enough to be hair metal), I have been into Armored Saint for around a decade at this point - and had previously seen the band live twice back in 2015. In fact, I saw the band twice in two days - opening for Queensrÿche in London and again the following day at that year's iteration of Bloodstock Open Air. I met the band at Bloodstock, too, so those two days were rather Armored Saint-heavy - but since then I had not had the chance to see the band live again. They have returned to the UK since 2015 but I had never been able to make a plan work - so when they announced this latest handful of UK shows last year I snapped up a ticket for the Nottingham show. A Tuesday night is never ideal but sometimes a mid-week break is welcome - and my trains up from the South West were smooth. I had a nice wander around some of the city's shops and had a quick refresh in the hotel - before heading to the venue for what promised to a be a good night.

Before the support act took to the stage, though, I did quickly dash back into town to get some cash as the merch desk was only taking such and Armored Saint were selling shirts for £20 - which is a rarity in 2024 for a named band. After doing so and snapping up a new shirt, it was not long before the evening's sole support act Tailgunner hit the stage - with the five-piece delivering a strong and memorable performance. The UK-based metal band are certainly a throwback to the 1980s, with their spandex, hi tops, and even a perm, but they nail the sounds of that era - at least those coming from the fellow British bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, with perhaps a little dash of thrash thrown in occasionally for heaviness. The band were on stage for around 45 minutes and during that time they managed to generally impress the gathering crowd - which was healthy for a Tuesday night despite it perhaps not quite being up to Nottingham's usual standards. The band have one album, Guns for Hire from 2023, with most of the set being pulled from it. The title track and the fast-paced White Death were used as an early one-two punch to wake the crowd up - with frontman Craig Cairns covering the stage to ensure that everyone was paying attention whilst guitarists Zach Salvini and Rhea Thompson traded riffs and solos back and forth. Perhaps the busiest on the stage, though, was Thomas Hewson (bass guitar/vocals) who threw all the right shapes and poses all night whilst playing some fast-paced and busy basslines. It was hard not to be drawn in by the band's enthusiasm, then, with a cover from lesser-known Danish act Randy thrown in early on - and the amount of time given over to guitar soloing around a version of the old classical piece In the Hall of the Mountain King. Despite these moments, though, it was certainly the band's original material which shined the brightest. I had heard Guns for Hire a couple of times prior to the show but I certainly was not fully familiar with it. This did not matter, though, as the band's songs are generally hooky - with riffs to latch onto a fast-paced choruses to shout along to. Revolution Scream proved this later on, which was also extended somewhat with some more soloing, whilst the punchier Crashdrive was built around a big riff and a more stadium-ready feel - building on some of the rawer nature of the NWOBHM movement which the band clearly love. By this point I think that most of the crowd were on Tailgunner's side, but should anyone have needed any further convincing they drew their set to a close with a barnstorming version of Judas Priest's Painkiller - which really tested Cairns but he delivered in a big way. It certainly got the crowd singing along and I noticed quite a few heading over to the merch after the band had finished. I will actually be seeing the band live again on Sunday in Cardiff, this time with KK's Priest, so I am looking forward to that already - although without Painkiller in the set in imagine! The setlist was:

Guns for Hire

White Death

Beast in the Night [Randy cover]

Warhead

In the Hall of the Mountain King [Edvard Grieg cover]

New Horizons

Revolution Scream

Crashdrive

Painkiller [Judas Priest cover]

Half an hour so later, and following some more Judas Priest being played over the PA, the lights went down and Armored Saint took to the stage - launching into End of the Attention Span from their most recent album. I had enjoyed both of the 2015 shows, but I was really looking forward to seeing the band as a headline act for the first time - and they did not disappoint, playing for over 90 minutes and including at least one song from each of their eight albums in a 15-song setlist. The setlist mostly featured old favourites, but some newer cuts were also played - with the aforementioned newer song getting the evening off to a fine start. From the off, too, it was clear that the band were really up for the show. Frontman John Bush was really animated, often joking with the crowd and the rest of the band, whilst the sterner Joey Vera (bass guitar/vocals) prowled the stage whilst looking every inch the veteran rock star. Despite Bush interacting well with the crowd, though, it was generally left to the music to do the talking. The shout-along Raising Fear was an early highlight, with the crowd getting stuck into the chorus nicely, before the funkier Tribal Dance saw Gonzo Sandoval (drums/vocals) laying into his drums to create a strong groove which the band really fed off. There were some deeper cuts included, such as the mid-paced and heavy The Pillar, but the set was generally made up songs that the fans would expect to hear. Jeff Duncan (guitar/vocals) filled Last Train Home with plenty of soloing, whilst the crowd again helped out during the chorus, with March of the Saint later feeling like a real anthem - with plenty more singing. The band mostly played it straight, but there were some moments which saw them stretch out somewhat. The mid-paced chugger Over the Edge featured a lengthy, bluesy intro which saw Duncan and fellow guitarist Phil Sandoval solo back and forth - and later in the set the longer Standing on the Shoulders of Giants naturally allowed the band to showcase their collective abilities with the slightly bigger arrangement and plenty more soloing. The latter part of the set also featured one of the evening's more memorable moments as, during the ballad Aftermath, Bush went for a wander into the crowd - singing much of the song from the balcony surrounded by those watching the show from that vantage point. One more newer number in Win Hands Down followed, but by this point the set was very much into classics territory. Dispensing with the encore tradition, too, the band just played straight through - with hit after hit coming late on. The riffy Can U Deliver and the anthemic Reign of Fire were really lapped up by the crowd during this final portion - before a brief break to address the crowd was followed up by the shout-along Chemical Euphoria, which particularly seemed to go down well, before the slightly thrashy Mad House brought an excellent evening to a powerful and up-tempo close. The setlist was:

End of the Attention Span

Raising Fear

Tribal Dance

The Pillar

Last Train Home

March of the Saint

Over the Edge

Left Hook from Right Field

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Aftermath

Win Hands Down
Can U Deliver

Reign of Fire

Chemical Euphoria

Mad House

It was great to finally catch Armored Saint at one of their own shows after having been a fan for so long - and the band did not disappoint. They showed how to put on a no-nonsense night of heavy metal the old-school way, with the crowd seemingly enjoying every minute. Given that it has been four years since their last album, I am hoping that we will be hearing something new from the band in the not too distant future - and I will certainly hope to see them again next time they return to the UK.