Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
November 14th 2015, M15, Corona CA: Los Angeles classic metal veterans Armored Saint have been more active in 2015 than ever before, with the Metal Blade Records release of their stellar seventh full-length studio album ‘Win Hands Down’, a string of nationwide tour dates supporting Saxon, and a couple of European festival appearances. Saint played their last US show of the year, a rare headline gig, and an even rarer appearance last Saturday November 14th at M15 in Corona, California, and of course, never to miss an Armored Saint headline show anywhere near Los Angeles, I made the trip from LA to Corona to attend this event.
There were as many as six local openers at this show, but melodic/power metal trio Ninth Circle were the best of the lot by quite a huge margin, and it was a travesty that they had to play at 6:15 even though they hugely deserved to be main support. More than four hours after the end of Ninth Circle’s set, Armored Saint took the stage at 11, and for a crowd of patiently waiting diehards that had come from the Inland Empire, Orange County, Los Angeles, and some even from San Diego and Phoenix, it was all-systems-go. A lot has been said about Armored Saint on this website this year already, and not much can be added, other than pointing out that Armored Saint headline shows are vastly different from seeing them opening for other bands. For Saint fans, it’s a far more enjoyable experience to see the band and be part of an entire crowd of fellow Saint fans. All five members of the band brought their best to this stage and gave the audience a night to remember with a comprehensive 15-song set list that featured songs off of each and every studio album, including rarities such as ‘Aftermath’, After Me, The Flood’, the ‘Symbol Of Salvation’ title track, and ‘Stricken By Fate’, a very rarely performed gem off of one of the most definitive classic metal albums of all time, ‘March Of The Saint’. John Bush’s son joined the band for an encore performance of ‘Can U Deliver’, and the show ended with a typically high-octane rendition of ‘Mad House’. Also worth mentioning is that they had two shirt designs at their merch table, the ‘Win Hands Down’ and ‘Raising Fear’ album covers, both with the band’s entire 2015 tour itinerary on the back, for the punk rock price of $15. Autographed copies of the ‘Win Hands Down’ CD were also being sold for $15. With their efforts in 2015, this band fully justified the longstanding support of their diehard fans, and has won many new ones in the process. In simple words, Armored Saint are at a point where they can do no wrong.
Photos:
Set List:
01. Win Hands Down
02. March Of The Saint
03. Long Before I Die
04. An Exercise In Debauchery
05. Stricken By Fate
06. Muscle Memory
07. Symbol Of Salvation
08. Raising Fear
09. After Me, The Flood
10. Chemical Euphoria
11. Aftermath
12. Left Hook From Right Field
13. Reign Of Fire
Encore:
14. Can U Deliver
15. Mad House
If you like what you’ve read, support Metal Assault and buy us a drink: