{"id":7599,"date":"2015-08-21T14:02:39","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T21:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/?p=7599"},"modified":"2015-08-21T14:02:39","modified_gmt":"2015-08-21T21:02:39","slug":"saxon-armored-saint-play-sold-out-show-in-san-diego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/2015\/08\/21\/saxon-armored-saint-play-sold-out-show-in-san-diego\/","title":{"rendered":"Saxon & Armored Saint Play Sold-Out Show In San Diego"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review by Andrew Bansal, photos by Chad Alexander<\/strong><\/p>\n

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August 20th 2015, Brick By Brick, San Diego CA: <\/strong>Currently on a US tour with Mot\u00f6rhead 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.<\/p>\n

Doors opened at 7, and the show was completely sold out before Armored Saint<\/a><\/strong> 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!’<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Set List:<\/strong>
\n01. Win Hands Down
\n02. March Of The Saint
\n03. Nervous Man
\n04. An Exercise In Debauchery
\n05. Raising Fear
\n06. Last Train Home
\n07. Mess
\n08. Left Hook From Right Field
\n09. Reign Of Fire
\n10. Can U Deliver
\n11. Mad House<\/p>\n

Photos:<\/strong><\/p>\n