SAXON

SWEET SAVAGE

Sweet Savage opened the St. George’s Day proceedings with a dosage of old school heavy metal. They quartet are probably best know as ‘that band that Metallica covered’ but the song ‘Killing Time’ which the aforementioned highly successful band covered was not on the setlist this time, despite frequent requests. The closing song was a cover though - Thin Lizzy’s ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ which went down sublimely with those unfamiliar with the band. Despite getting along in their lives, Sweet Savage showed that rocking out apparently bears no age limit.

DATE:

VENUE:

Thursday 23rd April 2009

The Forum in London, UK

DORO

Next up was the metal queen Doro. Celebrating her 25th anniversary, the German starlet and her band put on quite the celebration. Her stage presence was charismatic, instantly gaining a great rapport with the crowd, and it is not surprising to see why she has lasted as long as she has in the business. Classics including ‘True As Steel’, ‘I Rule the Ruins’ and ‘You Are My Family’ rocked the venue alongside new numbers ‘The Night of the Warlock’ and ‘Celebrate’, the latter seeing Enid, the frontwoman of Girlschool, joining in for guest vocals. Surprisingly, Doro performed her own rendition of Judas Priest’s ‘Breaking the Law’, which bizarrely began as a ballad before erupting into its full-on metal assault, coercing the audience to sing along. Impressive!

DORO; SWEET SAVAGE

Reviews by Elena Francis

SAXON

What better way to celebrate St. George’s Day than with Saxon? Opening with ‘Battalions of Steel’ from the band’s new album ‘Into the Labyrinth’, it was clear that this night was going to be yet another show to remember. Their two hour setlist was bulging with a first-rate selection of songs, including the usual Saxon fan favourites like ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’, ‘Never Surrender’ and ‘And the Bands Played On’ in between some rarer numbers like the rough ‘n’ ready ‘Machine Gun’ and melodious ‘Ride Like the Wind’, the latter somehow being its first performance in the UK! There were plenty of opportunities for the fans to sing with, particularly the simplistic yet fun ‘Wheels of Steel’ and the commanding ‘Strong Arm of the Law’. Of course more songs off the band’s latest opus hit the stage, including ‘Demon Sweeny Todd’ and ‘Hellcat’. These new anthems were certainly well-digested by the audience, who seemed as happy to hear them as some of the classics. Saxon were as mobile as usual on their stage with two levels joined together by ramps. Vocalist Biff Byford unable to stand stationary for long singing like it was 1984 when he was not decorating the stage with the English flags that rained on to the stage. Continuing the theme of Doro and Judas Priest (someone’s obviously a big fan), Doro Pesch joined the lads on stage for a cover of Judas Priest’s ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’, with the fans singing along. After a handful of encores, Saxon returned to an empty stage and thunderous audience with their signature ‘747 (Strangers in the Night)’ and ‘Denim and Leather’ performances before concluding the show with an elongated version of ‘Princess of the Night’, one of the strongest songs Saxon have in their entire inventory.