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Review: Saxon/Diamond Head, Bath Forum
Back in the early eighties, when Stourbridge’s Diamond Head were being hailed as the next big thing and had MCA’s money to burn, they headlined the Hall Formerly Known as Colston. By my reckoning, these great nearly men of NWOBHM last played round here 12 years ago when they supported Europe at the Academy. Much has changed since then, not least their recruitment of Danish singer Rasmus Bom Andersen. At a time when many bands go for an AC/DC track as their intro music, Diamond Head take a more grandiose old-school approach, opting for Mars, The Bringer of War. And here’s Brian Tatler, the sole remaining original band member, emerging from the smoke clutching his Flying V and playing that familiar opening riff to The Prince.
Tatler knows what we’re here for, which is why so much of the set is drawn from the band’s independently released cult 1980 debut, Lightning to the Nations. Andersen is no Sean Harris, but he’s very much the animated modern metal frontman and sings it all well enough. Perhaps understandably, he seems more comfortable with the recent songs on which he’s had some input, such as the rousing Set My Soul on Fire.
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We all know how their set’s going to end – with the proto-thrash chug of Am I Evil?, which rather too many young people seem to think is a Metallica original. But it’s a safe bet that venue owner the Bath Christian Trust never anticipated that their hall would be filled with quite so many people bellowing “Am I Evil? Yes I am!”
The last time Saxon played the lovely Art Deco Forum – currently the largest indoor venue staging live music in the west country – security failed miserably in their attempts to keep the audience seated and eventually retreated. This time, they’re taking no chances. The entire stalls area has been designated general admission and a makeshift barrier constructed in front of the stage. There are plenty of grizzled metal veterans here, but also a substantial contingent from the younger Bloodstock crowd, who’ve embraced the Barnsley warriors in recent years, plus plenty of civilians who look as though they might have come rocking by mistake.
Current album Carpe Diem has proven a big commercial success around the world, so it’s no surprise that Saxon open with the title track. Indeed, it takes them a remarkably long time to play anything from the last century, so strong is their post-2000 material. Septuagenarian frontman Biff Byford and veteran drummer Nigel Glockler have each faced health challenges in recent years, but both are on excellent form tonight. Former coal miner Biff headbangs and bounces around the stage like a man who’s been told he’ll be sent back down t’pit if he fails to fulfil his rockin’ obligations, while the seemingly tireless Glockler, perched atop a giant drum rise in the centre of the spartan stage, maintains a thunderous barrage throughout. A mere stripling of 56, Nibbs Carter performs with the energy of a man half his age and has perfected the art of simultaneously headbanging and playing bass. Co-founder and guitarist Paul Quinn, meanwhile, remains comparatively impassive.
The Thin Red Line forgoes the bludgeon and stands as a remarkably atmospheric Saxon song, permitting Doug Scarratt an opportunity for some tasteful, unflashy soloing. It’s also a joy to hear the bombastic Metalhead again after all these years. Elsewhere in the strong set, the likes of Age of Steam, Dambusters and oldies Dallas 1pm and The Eagle Has Landed demonstrate that Saxon have always been Iron Maiden’s equals in the boy’s own metal genre. And everybody loves And the Bands Played On – one of the great songs about a music festival. (Fact fans may wish to note that Joni Mitchell wasn’t actually at Woodstock, while Saxon were most definitely present at the first Monsters of Rock festival in 1980.)
An extended Wheels of Steel wraps things up. But they’re back for two epic encores, beginning with Carpe Diem stand-out The Pilgrimage. Strong Arm of the Law remains the only song ever written in which a rock band boasts about not taking drugs. It segues here into the slightly throwaway Sold Ball of Rock, Biff having given us a choice between the two songs and then electing to play both of them consecutively. Then a storming 747 (Strangers in the Night) whisks us back to that breakthrough Wheels of Steel album.
Biff doesn’t bother leading the band off before the second encore, which opens with classic anthem Denim and Leather, capturing perfectly the late ’70s suburban teenage heavy metal experience. “Where were you in ’79, when the dam began to burst?” demands the opening line. Well since you ask, I was a pimply kid in double denim attending my first Saxon show – like a large proportion of this audience, I’ll wager. Finally, Paul Quinn gets his moment in the spotlight for the speed metal-anticipating Princess of the Night – a song that was once denounced by feminists, who presumably never got beyond the title or they’d have discovered that it’s about a steam train.
Despite some setbacks along the way, Saxon have worked hard to inherit the ‘people’s metal band’ mantle enjoyed by their former touring partners Motörhead. Their ongoing success is thoroughly well deserved.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: November 2022
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