It was just under five years ago when I saw Saxon for the first time – changed days indeed as in that time they have gone from the shoebox that is King Tuts to the far more sizeable ABC. Attitudes have been changing in recent times and, going by the amount of fresh faces in the crowd, traditional metal seems to be back in favour to at least some extent with the youth of today.

This change in fortunes has lured a lot of the less successful New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands that once shared the club stages with Saxon and the like out of retirement for one last shot at glory. Among them is tonight's opening band, Belfast's Sweet Savage, back for another crack at it after an ultimately unsuccessful reunion in the 90s.

Having been blown away by their performance at last year's Sweden Rock Festival, I was looking forward to them almost as much as the headliners, so it came as a bit of a disappointment to enter the venue five minutes after the official opening time to hear frontman Raymond Hailer announce that the two songs they had just finished playing were from their upcoming third album. Thanks a lot, ABC!

They played another new song next (called Regenerator, if memory serves), which on the first listen sounded very promising indeed. They sadly had time for only two more after this, the first being their most well-known song Killing Time, a timeless NWOBHM classic, and a cover of Thin Lizzy’s take on Whiskey in the Jar. Much as I love the song, it was amazingly the second time I had heard it in as many nights after seeing Týr have a go at the previous evening's Alestorm gig, and would have much preferred another unheralded Savage cracker like Queen's Vengeance. As was the case the night before though, they received their biggest cheer for this one, and closed to an enthusiastic response from the fairly sparse crowd that had resulted from the early opening time.

Doro, eponymous solo band of the legendary Warlock frontwoman Doro Pesch, were a welcome surprise announcement as the support act for this tour and no doubt a total mystery to some of the younger members of the audience. Culling a large portion of their set from the Warlock catalogue with some of Doro's more recent back-in-form material thrown in as well, they breezed through a performance of anthemic 80s metal, with Ms Pesch and her multinational band in fine form.

The Warlock songs were the real highlights, with the usual oldies I Rule the Ruins and Burning the Witches getting an airing along with the agreeable new song Night of the Warlock. Their strange cover of Judas Priest's Breaking the Law was also given a run out - they play most of the song as a ballad, before starting again at normal speed – and left the audience looking a little puzzled until it eventually kicked in and got the whole crowd singing along.

The closing song, of course, was the mandatory Warlock masterpiece All We Are, and was no less enjoyable for it's predictability and a slight equipment malfunction. It's a brilliant song tailored perfectly for the live environment, and by the final chorus the number of people singing along had, as usual, at least doubled, ensuring a thunderous send off for Doro and her crew.

Saxon are one of those bands I could watch every night of the week. At least the seventh time I've seen them, they never cease to impress with their varied set lists and easygoing performances, and age has no chance of slowing them down.

The classic Motorcycle Man has been opening the set most of the time for the last few years, but tonight it was bumped in favour of the stunning Battalions of Steel from the new Into the Labyrinth album. Saxon at their most epic, the incredible chorus ensured the night opened with considerable exuberance, and when they bounded straight into the rampaging Heavy Metal Thunder they made sure no one was left disappointed with the slightly slower than usual opening song.

One of Saxon's best attributes has always been their ability to mix blazing speed metal with old-fashioned boogie rock so impossibly well, and when watching them live one can only wonder what older fans make of some of the crushingly heavy newer material, or indeed what the newest generation think of swinging rock 'n' roll like Strong Arm of the Law.

As if to ram home the point early in the night, the impressive new song Demon Sweeney Todd was followed up by the biggest surprise of the night, when they dusted down their oft-derided cover of the Christopher Cross song Ride Like the Wind. Recorded during their ill-advised spell of chasing the pop rock bandwagon in the late 80s, it nonetheless remains a decent tune and definitely sounds better in the live environment. Completing the heavy/mellow/heavy sandwich was the thunderous Witchfinder General, a slab of molten Germanic power metal in the vein of Grave Digger, easily one of the heaviest Saxon songs to date, and without doubt one of the best of their modern period.

Another of their generally forgotten melodic rock songs, Requiem (We Will Remember) - from the Solid Ball of Rock album – was also given a rare outing, tonight dedicated to the late Alex Harvey, and made for a surprising moment of tranquillity. This was followed again by something just a tad more lively – after rhyming off the songs that had been played at this point in the set on the other dates of the tour, they launched into a typically fantastic rendition of the hyperactive 20,000 Feet.

The inimitable Biff Byford was on top form as always, his loveably daft stage banter a constant source of amusement, and his ageless "Yorkshire Foghorn" vocals blaring strong as ever. His carefree stage presence, along with the rest of the band, is something not often seen among bands that have been going as long as Saxon, and their enthusiasm makes it hard to believe that Byford and Paul Quinn have been playing songs like the set-closing old faithful Wheels of Steel for close to thirty years. Quinn and his guitar partner Doug Scarrett were also in as good form as ever, turning out their usual mix of bluesy and shredding metal solos with exquisite ease.

After the usual ultra-long crowd participation section in Wheels of Steel, they left the stage only to return for a double encore that, after the decent yet unspectacular newbie Live to Rock read like a veritable who's who of metal classics. Motorcycle Man - better late than never – kicked things off at top speed before the epic Crusader brought things back down a little. Considering how uninspired the rest of the album of the same name is, it is amazing how perfectly pitched this song is, with not a note wasted in the pursuit of atmospheric perfection.

After another brief break it was time for the final salvo, with the crowd favourite 747 (Strangers in the Night) finally given to the expectant audience - and from the ecstatic reaction it's probably fair to say some had been waiting impatiently for it all night.

The ubiquitous Denim and Leather kept the feelgood singalong factor going (we were informed that it was in fact Scotland that set the spirit free – oh Biff, I bet you tell that to all the girls...) before a brilliant night was finally brought to a close with the underrated marvel Princess of the Night, it's staccato main riff and joyous chorus a perfect way to send the crowd away humming the last notes to themselves on the road home.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that walks away from every time I see Saxon realising I'd forgotten just how good they actually are, and tonight proved to be no exception. A superb mix of old and new held together by the performance of a band that still look like they’re loving every minute of it, it's unlikely the ABC will see a better gig all year. Hopefully Saxon's revitalised status will survive any further shifts in trends and taste and they'll be able to keep filling venues of this size for years to come.

- Posted By: Craig at 20:28 on 11/08/09

Saxon

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