Some old metal masters came to the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Sunday evening for a rocking journey back to metal’s roots. Saxon brought all the tools in their toolbox to show the crowd why metal has stood the test of time, as have they.
Opening the show was WWE superstar Chris Jericho’s heavy metal band, Fozzy. Jericho is no stranger to being part of over the top entertainment spectacles and for the most part, that was the gist of Fozzy’s performance. The music was heavy, in your face and pounding. The band was fully engaged, moving about the stage and pulling off all the requisite metal traits that have been in style since the the genre was born. Jericho worked the crowd like he worked the wrestling ring, leaving everything he had on the stage. From high jumps off the monitors, to higher jumps off the drum kit, Jericho and his bandmates put their all into it.
The 8-song setlist was heavily laced with new material, having 6 new songs from the band’s 2012 release “Sin and Bones.” The other tracks were “God Pounds His Nails,” from 2009’s “Chasing The Grail” and “Enemy” from the 2005 album “All That Remains.” Make no mistake, Jericho has surrounded himself with a stellar band, and he is an accomplished frontman. But part of me thinks that the “entertainment” aspect of the show might be getting in the way of relevant and engaging songwriting.
After a short stage reset, Saxon took the stage. This is a band that has been in business since the mid 70’s and last year played their 7th Wacken festival to over 80,000 hard-core metal fans chanting their name. While the venue for this show was considerably smaller, they still rocked a stadium filling sonic assault. Listening to them, one can get all the flavours bouncing around the room from the early days of Iron Maiden, Dio, and countless other British metal bands.
They opened the show with two new songs, the title track from their latest release and 20th studio album, 2013’s “Sacrifice” and followed up with “Wheels Of Terror.” The rest of the show was filled with gems from as far back as their 2nd album, “Wheels Of Steel.”
Arguably, two of the main driving forces in any band are the singer and the guitarist. We have the 2 originals still kicking it in Saxon. Frontman Biff Byford, with his long silver mane and almost fully intact journeyman metal vocals, along with guitarist Paul Quinn shredding up a storm, meant the new and old catalog of hits sounded amazing. Next up was the 1983 title track from “Power And The Glory” and that got the veteran Saxon fans rocking. To say the other band members are not “original” is almost moot, as the newest one has been in the band for 17 years. Doug Scarratt offered a perfect channelling of all that is good in a dueling metal guitar sound and nailed it with Quinn. Bassist Nibbs Carter worked the down low duties along with drummer Nigel Glockler. At one point Carter tripped and fell right off the stage into the crowd during the three-axe solo in “Denim and Leather.” He barely missed a note as he was hoisted back onto the stage by the fans.
Byford let the crowd know that “The Eagle Has Landed” hadn’t been played for a long time, and not at all on this tour as they tore into the classic. The fans obliged Byford with a singalong during “747 (Strangers In The Night).” Crowd favourite “Denim and Leather” was the last song in the main set. After a short break Scarratt returned with a smoking solo to start the title track off of “Wheels Of Steel” from one of their two album releases in 1980. “Strong Arm Of The Law” and “Princess Of The Night” rounded out the encore.
The venue wasn’t sold out, which was unfortunate for such a storied and talented band who aren’t just mailing it in like some touring bands these days, but the lucky fans that came out witnessed a killer metal show.
Fozzy Setlist:
Spider In My Mouth
Sandpaper
She’s My Addiction
God Pounds His Nails
Shine Forever
Sin And Bones
Enemy
Blood Happens
Saxon Setlist:
Sacrifice
Wheels of Terror
Power and the Glory
Made in Belfast
Dogs of War
To Hell and Back Again
Guardians of the Tomb
Motorcycle Man
Rock ‘n’ Roll Gypsy
The Eagle Has Landed
Dallas 1 PM
747 (Strangers in the Night)
Denim and Leather
Encore:
Wheels of Steel
Strong Arm of the Law
Princess of the Night
We would like to thank Paul Gargano from Century Media for allowing BackstageAxxess to review the show.
