Review by Andrew Bansal, photos by Chad Alexander
August 20th 2015, Brick By Brick, San Diego CA: Currently on a US tour with Motörhead and Crobot, British metal veterans Saxon are also doing headline shows on off-dates, and are being joined by Los Angeles cult legends Armored Saint for most of these shows. Last Thursday August 20th 2015, Saxon and Armored Saint graced the stage at Brick By Brick in San Diego CA for a sold-out show, both bands turning back the clock several decades and treating attendees with age-defying performances to make for a concert to remember for a lifetime.
Doors opened at 7, and the show was completely sold out before Armored Saint started their hour-long set at 8 PM. All ticket holders were indoors in time for Saint, and the band could have easily headlined this place on their own. They opened with the title track from their unarguably successful new album ‘Win Hands Down’, then going straight into the classic ‘March Of The Saint’ for a perfect start to their show. They went on to perform an 11-song set comprising other great ‘Win Hands Down’ selections such as ‘Mess’ and ‘An Exercise In Debauchery’, a sprinkling of ‘La Raza’ material, and of course, a healthy dosage of tunes from the early years. Led by the ageless vocal delivery and on-stage exuberance of John Bush, this incarnation of Armored Saint did full justice to the history and legacy of the band, and in a world with absolutely no shortage of old bands ruining their reputations and waging battles against their own past glory, Armored Saint stand tall as a glorious exception, meeting and exceeding expectation on all fronts in a manner more triumphant than ever. The songs ‘Last Train Home’ and ‘Reign Of Fire’ were the highlights of the set and garnered a tremendously vocal response from this lively crowd. John Bush bringing out his son to play guitar and contribute some vocal lines for ‘Can U Deliver’ was a touching moment and an idea well executed, and with ‘Mad House’, they ended the set just as supremely as they began. They took a bow, and said goodbye among deafening chants of ‘Saint! Saint! Saint!’
For the longest time, specially during recent years, Armored Saint have been the kind of band that played the one-off hometown show and the odd European festival here and there, but in 2015 they are finally touring, playing headline shows and supporting the right bands. As John Bush mentioned on stage, this was Saint’s first San Diego show since their 2001 gig with Dio. The band’s renewed active state is great news not only for fans but for the metal community as a whole, because the world needs to experience the greatness of an Armored Saint concert which their Los Angeles fans have been so familiar with and have worshipped them for over the years. Armored Saint are on top of the metal world and continue to be victorious in their mission to win hands down.
Set List:
01. Win Hands Down
02. March Of The Saint
03. Nervous Man
04. An Exercise In Debauchery
05. Raising Fear
06. Last Train Home
07. Mess
08. Left Hook From Right Field
09. Reign Of Fire
10. Can U Deliver
11. Mad House
Photos:
This was Metal Assault’s first visit to Brick By Brick in more than four years, the last time being the Death Angel show in February 2011. Since members of Wovenwar have taken over all operations here, there have certainly been some improvements and they are clearly noticable. There is a new, far superior sound system in place to do justice to the talent on stage, the lighting rig has been heavily upgraded, the air-conditioning is much more powerful, and the overall vibe is infinitely friendlier. This is solid proof of the fact that when people directly involved in the industry i.e. current/ex musicians are handed reigns to such an establishment, as opposed to those that are mere businessmen with no knowledge of the genre, it makes a world of difference, turning a mediocre venue into a home equally welcoming for bands and fans alike. Brick By Brick in its current form is a shining example of a professional D.I.Y. business.
Plus, the success of this Thursday night event also spoke volumes for the strength of the San Diego metal scene, and showed that metal sells more than the supposedly more popular genres of entertainment, because metalheads come out to support their favorite musicians like no other. Also worth mentioning is the assessment that this was perhaps the craziest, liveliest, most vocal 21-plus crowd Metal Assault has ever been part of. It was a pleasantly surprising exception from the norm of 21-plus shows, and proved that 21-plus crowds are capable of showing their excitement if treated to the bands that deserve it.
At 9:50, AC/DC’s “Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N Roll” started being played on the PA, signalling the arrival of Saxon onto the stage. This song is Saxon’s standard pre-show choice, and an appropriate one at that, because this band has taken a long way to the top. The audience gave them a roaring welcome, as they began with the title track of their upcoming 21st studio album ‘Battering Ram’, and began an 18-song set filled to the brim with unmatchably fantastic renditions of some of the finest classic heavy metal known to mankind.
In comparison to the set they are doing as main support to Motörhead, this was obviously longer, but also delved into the Saxon discography as the band put forth an ideal blend of staple hits and deep cuts to enthrall this audience that gave them every ounce of their energy in return, chants of ‘Saxon!’ between songs so loud that they forced frontman Biff Byford to stop and smile in admiration. Saxon have been a band for nearly four decades, but to get this kind of unparalleled response from a San Diego crowd in 2015 was a feeling so great that they could not hide it in their facial expressions and body language. This concert was a classic example of a band reveling in an energetic crowd and heightening their performance song by song as a result.
Besides the staples, tunes like ‘This Town Rocks’, ‘And The Bands Played On’, ‘Dallas 1 PM’, ‘747 (Strangers In The Night)’ and ‘Strong Arm Of The Law’ stood out as the most enjoyable moments of the set, the crowd singing the chorus as well as verse lyrics loud and clear. Visibily blown away by the quality of the singalongs, Biff Byford turned his microphone around during some songs and the volume of the audience rose further. The band showed no signs of tiredness, neither did the fans, and there is no doubt that Brick By Brick would have rocked all night at the same intensity if Byford’s jokes about playing all their songs for the entire night indeed materialized.
Performances of such incredible quality are serving as payback to fans that have remained loyal in their support towards Saxon over so many years. These Saxon shows are absolutely unmissable for fans, and all metalheads on planet earth owe it to themselves to see this band in concert.
Together, Saxon and Armored orchestrated a prime candidate for the best show of the year, and set a standard for metal shows that would be hard to match for anyone other than themselves. This was, in every aspect, 160 minutes of heavy metal in all its pristine glory.
Set List:
01. Battering Ram
02. This Town Rocks
03. Sacrifice
04. Power And The Glory
05. Heavy Metal Thunder
06. I’ve Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)
07. 20,000 Feet
08. And The Bands Played On
09. Motorcycle Man
10. Dallas 1 PM
11. The Eagle Has Landed
12. To Hell And Back Again
13. 747 (Strangers In The Night)
14. Crusader
15. Princess Of The Night
16. Wheels Of Steel
Encore:
17. Strong Arm Of The Law
18. Denim And Leather
Remaining Tour Dates:
8/21 – Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues +
8/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall +
8/23 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades
8/24 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield +
8/27 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex +
8/28 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
9/01 – Austin, TX @ Cedar Park Center +
9/02 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec +
9/03 – El Paso, TX @ Speaking Rock Entertainment Center
9/04 – Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory +
9/05 – Houston, TX @ House Of Blues +
9/08 – St Louis, MO @ Pageant +
9/09 – Indianapolis, IN @ Murat +
9/10 – Atlanta, GA @ Centerstage (ProgPower Festival) %
9/12 – Stafford, CT @ Palace Theater %
9/13 – Portland, ME @ Asylum %
9/15 – Washington, DC @ Howard %
9/16 – Westland, MI @ Token Lounge %
9/17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar %
9/18 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom %
9/20 – St Charles, IL @ Arcada Theater %
+ = w/ Motörhead & Crobot
% = w/ Armored Saint