Saxon Returns!

TheAssMaster · January 27th, 2007, 05:33 AM

Not a gig review as such, so I'll post it here, rather than there!

"Saxon Returns", indeedy-doody, and in fine form too. At the risk of sounding blase, the thing about a band like Saxon is that you know exactly what you are going to get, and they deliver every single time. Guaranteed. So, no great surprises, just another blinding show (and the blinding Eagle).
Kicked off with Lionheart, can't really recall what the order was after that but included Never Surrender, Backs To The Wall, If I Was You, 747, Dogs of War, Motorcycle Man, I've Got To Rock, Eagle Has Landed, Solid Ball of Rock, Strong Arm of The Law, Need For Speed, Metal Head, Princess of the Night, Denim & Leather, HM Thunder, To Hell & Back Again, And the Bands Played On, Crusader, and of course, Wheels of Steel.

It would be stupid to whinge about the classics left out, because it's not as if they replaced them with shit numbers. Every one was a winner. A 100% excellent Saxon show.

Loved the Macs and those LED motorised colour changers, technology has certainly leapt forwards - no more bars and bars of nasty heavy Par64 cans. Probably get the whole rig into one truck!

The negatives - Weeeeeell, there were a few, and in the interests of a balanced look at things I'll put them in.
Not really that well attended, and the space between the front stalls and the middle section had a distinct whiff of being filled with either production crew or heaven forbid, bods off the street, just to fill it out a bit. Biff didn't help things by inviting everyone down the front. There wasn't a pit, all seated, so he only succeeded in getting everyone packed into a couple of aisles, I'm sure the cameras got some great views of rows of empty seats recently vacated, whereas when they came on there was a good coverage of punters, no vast empties. Never mind though, it was a Saxon gig, the filming was secondary!

Also, according to the people sitting around me - " Who the fuck is that twat holding up his jacket all night?" Hmm, yes, I thought so too. Wouldn't have been so bad if the painting on the back had been fantastic, it was pretty average, certainly not worth holding up for half the show. Maybe that's why the band judiciously avoided it!

Special mention to a certain Scottish member here, you thought you were cool jumping onstage and loitering. The people sitting near me (inc myself) thought you were a tosser and a camera slag! Next time, take a tip from the youngster who jumped up, and get off again PDQ. We paid to see the band, not you drunkenly hanging off Biff like a lovelorn schoolgirl, trying to have a little chat with him, and having to be prised off by a roadie.

Villain of the Evening. - Most definitely the FOH engineer. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, he is shite. Maybe it's not the same guy I have criticised in the past, but the sound was appalling, still suffering the same faults - too much kick and bass, vocals fine, guitar too low in mix.
This time there were friends with me who ventured the opinions unheeded - YOU CAN'T HEAR THE FUCKING GUITARS!!!! It's not good when you have to "hear" solos in your head from memory and watching Paul & Doug's fingers rather than hearing them through the PA. It sounded like they were relying on backline. And when Paul lost his guitar a couple of numbers in........well, it turned into a drum & bass night.
I listened to a crowd of lads outside afterwards saying the guitars were non-existent too, so it's not just my ears!
Somebody, please sack the FOH engineer!!!!!!

Anyway, well worth the trip, Saxon, you returned in style!!!!! Bring on the tour! (Just change the engineer)

PS. Why was Paul Quinn dressed like Ali G????

Mad Dan McCafferty · January 27th, 2007, 06:07 AM

Ta for the info, good and bad. when ever someone gets thier pics downloaded lets see a few. how did the new tunes sound live?

timothy sykes · January 27th, 2007, 06:31 AM

assmaster you have the gig summed up exactly
i thought the missing gutar sound may have been due to me been on row bb near the front so thanks for informing me that it was the same for you too.... i agree the sound engineer has his mixes all wrong and ill bow to your superior knowledge of such matters ..... that said the boys looked to be enjoying themselves and i just hope that saxon do indeed play at donington this year as stated by harvey goldsmith because that really is the springboard to massive crowds again....
ps great to see goss ,fingers and the rest of the crew nice to put faces to the messages on here
see yer all in manchester in a few weeks time

CreepingDave · January 27th, 2007, 06:48 AM

It was my first ever Saxon show, and it was great. I was in Row F at the end on the aisle, and also caught Biffs towel when he threw it too the crowd during Denim & Leather.

The seating organisation was poor, I could overhear people talking to the security guy/staff who had tickets for the section where the huge camera was too the left, but of course was not available to the public...

midnightrider · January 27th, 2007, 07:04 AM

Just posted some short videos from gig on you tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFhTZQMaHuY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv4NQbjg9VE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-9_c0Jdzxk

timothy sykes · January 27th, 2007, 07:33 AM

cheers midright rider quality videos mate

heavycelli · January 27th, 2007, 07:40 AM

Thx for this info The AssMaster...yes the FOH engineer, i had the same thing in '91 concert, At some songs the guitar parts werent hearable, mainly the right box (Paul), the left-side box sound from Graham always sounded clear. That has got nothing to do with Paul, the support act that night the right box wasnt hearable at all too, so it has got to be the mixing stuff..The engineer in that concert had a tail in the hair and he was swinging all the time, its better that such a bloke concentrates on his work.. for the rest nice to read that they played couple new songs and thanx for posting some vids on You Tube Midnightrider!!

midnightrider · January 27th, 2007, 07:40 AM

Here's Some Pics too.

Bosnian Witchfinder · January 27th, 2007, 07:44 AM

quality vids mate.

what are the event t shirts like?

midnightrider · January 27th, 2007, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bosnian Witchfinder

quality vids mate.

what are the event t shirts like?

Bosnian Witchfinder · January 27th, 2007, 08:01 AM

awesome, celtic style

midnightrider · January 27th, 2007, 09:40 AM

Had a great night in Sheffield,great to meet so many of the forum members.Saxon were brilliant as usual,really impressed by the new songs.Nibbs came for a chat in the pub before the gig.A load of us headed off to the aftershow party which kept us rockin' till 3am.Needless to say i had a very sore head this morning.

Sammi951 · January 27th, 2007, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midnightrider

Had a great night in Sheffield,great to meet so many of the forum members

Yeah, was great to meet up with some old friends (Fingers, Wilks, Saxonmckenz and Goss), and meet up with some new ones off here

Quote:

Originally Posted by midnightrider

A load of us headed off to the aftershow party which kept us rockin' till 3am.Needless to say i had a very sore head this morning.

Do you mean at the Kasbah? That wasn't the aftershow party - they just put that in the window in the hope of getting Saxon fans in there! The DJ didn't even have ONE Saxon record!! We did go, as you know - but Paxoman, me, Wilks and Lionheart 747 left at about midnight...we went back to our Hotel with the intention of going to bed (what party animals eh?

) The boys then decided they fancied another drink...only to find a notice up saying that the bar was shut for a private meeting, but we could have a drink in Reception...which we did. Then, as they were just deciding what to have, the film crew from the gig walked in, and it turned out that the bar was closed so they could have exclusive use!

Anyway, after a bit of banter with them, they said we could join them in the bar...would have been rude not to, so we went up...ten minutes later, who should walk in but Biff, Doug, Nigel, Paul and Thomas Jensen!! Nibbs had gone home to Germany. Needless to say, the early night went out of the window, and me and Paxoman ended up going to bed at 4am this morning!! That was great - a room full of people, and only four Saxon fans amongst them!! Paxoman had a "polite word" (ahem

) with Thomas about us getting new info first instead of Blabbermouth - and he said he is working on it

To be honest, he was actually a nice bloke...Thomas, not Paxoman!

Sammi951 · January 27th, 2007, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAssMaster

Biff didn't help things by inviting everyone down the front.

Well, I for one, am very glad that he did! I didn't fancy being restricted by seating for the whole gig, I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much as I did, if I'd had to stay where I was.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAssMaster

Villain of the Evening. - Most definitely the FOH engineer.
Somebody, please sack the FOH engineer!!!!!!

Apparently, he is a new fella, and is not yet fully used to how Saxon should sound

Bosnian Witchfinder · January 27th, 2007, 10:40 AM

how empty/full was it?

Sammi951 · January 27th, 2007, 10:41 AM

Some great pics there, Midnightrider (well, ok, not the one with me on! lol)

Sammi951 · January 27th, 2007, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bosnian Witchfinder

how empty/full was it?

It seemed pretty full downstairs, but plenty of empty seats on the Balcony...but, as I said to Paxoman only this morning - once I'm at the front of the stage, I never, ever look behind me to see what's going on, or how packed it is! World War 3 could be going on, and I wouldn't notice!

Bosnian Witchfinder · January 27th, 2007, 10:46 AM

Quote:

It seemed pretty full downstairs, but plenty of empyt seats on the Balcony...but, as I said to Paxoman only this morning - once I'm at the front of the stage, I never, ever look behind me to see what's going on, or how packed it is! World War 3 could be going on, and I wouldn't notice!

fair enough, shame about this supposedly bad sound quality, when i saw them at the astoria it was by far the best sound quality id ever heard

Sammi951 · January 27th, 2007, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bosnian Witchfinder

fair enough, shame about this supposedly bad sound quality, when i saw them at the astoria it was by far the best sound quality id ever heard

I have to admit (and I know jack shit about these matters!), at times, the sound quality did sound a bit ropey - but didn't spoil my enjoyment one iota

Changes 74 · January 27th, 2007, 11:25 AM

Spot on with the Review.Sound mix was poor like you said but did seem to get better later on,my ears weren't ringing when I came out so that says it wasn't loud enough but maybe there was noise level restrictions in the refurbed City Hall. One gripe about the limited edition T-shirt ,do they think that Saxon fans are all anorexic ,what about some decent sizes for us ageing fat bastards........

SAXONATOR · January 27th, 2007, 11:40 AM

great pix

you must have had lots of fun

it´s

i can recognise saxonmckenz sammy and fingers

who´s the guy without hair ?

and wtf is the long haired guy with the painful shirt in your middle ?

Sammi951 · January 27th, 2007, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAXONATOR

but wtf is the long haired guy with the painful shirt in your middle ?

Oh him?? He was just some fella we met in the pub!

He must follow us around, 'cos it's the same bloke on the pic with me in my avatar!!

The baldy chap is Wilks

SAXONATOR · January 27th, 2007, 12:00 PM

wilks ? ok so i got a new face for recognising...

does he also come to bearlin ?

and what about goss ? was he there also ?

AND:

how long did they play ?

i guess 4 or 5 hours at least ???

Paxoman · January 27th, 2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAXONATOR

how long did they play ?

i guess 4 or 5 hours at least ???

They played for just under 2 hours.

SAXONATOR · January 27th, 2007, 12:09 PM

well i think even that´s enuff for heavy neck-ache

did you ask someone in your rottweiler-interviews

if they bring the eagle often on this tour ?

(i know matjes hates this huge piece of fire-spitting monster-metal-wind-up-toy but i hope he has to assemble this very often on this tour. sorry to matjes for my last sentence

)

but most people love the eagle somehow

(me included)

January 27th, 2007, 05:33 AM	#1 (permalink)
TheAssMaster Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: ENGLAND!!!! Posts: 331	Saxon Returns! Not a gig review as such, so I'll post it here, rather than there! "Saxon Returns", indeedy-doody, and in fine form too. At the risk of sounding blase, the thing about a band like Saxon is that you know exactly what you are going to get, and they deliver every single time. Guaranteed. So, no great surprises, just another blinding show (and the blinding Eagle). Kicked off with Lionheart, can't really recall what the order was after that but included Never Surrender, Backs To The Wall, If I Was You, 747, Dogs of War, Motorcycle Man, I've Got To Rock, Eagle Has Landed, Solid Ball of Rock, Strong Arm of The Law, Need For Speed, Metal Head, Princess of the Night, Denim & Leather, HM Thunder, To Hell & Back Again, And the Bands Played On, Crusader, and of course, Wheels of Steel. It would be stupid to whinge about the classics left out, because it's not as if they replaced them with shit numbers. Every one was a winner. A 100% excellent Saxon show. Loved the Macs and those LED motorised colour changers, technology has certainly leapt forwards - no more bars and bars of nasty heavy Par64 cans. Probably get the whole rig into one truck! The negatives - Weeeeeell, there were a few, and in the interests of a balanced look at things I'll put them in. Not really that well attended, and the space between the front stalls and the middle section had a distinct whiff of being filled with either production crew or heaven forbid, bods off the street, just to fill it out a bit. Biff didn't help things by inviting everyone down the front. There wasn't a pit, all seated, so he only succeeded in getting everyone packed into a couple of aisles, I'm sure the cameras got some great views of rows of empty seats recently vacated, whereas when they came on there was a good coverage of punters, no vast empties. Never mind though, it was a Saxon gig, the filming was secondary! Also, according to the people sitting around me - " Who the fuck is that twat holding up his jacket all night?" Hmm, yes, I thought so too. Wouldn't have been so bad if the painting on the back had been fantastic, it was pretty average, certainly not worth holding up for half the show. Maybe that's why the band judiciously avoided it! Special mention to a certain Scottish member here, you thought you were cool jumping onstage and loitering. The people sitting near me (inc myself) thought you were a tosser and a camera slag! Next time, take a tip from the youngster who jumped up, and get off again PDQ. We paid to see the band, not you drunkenly hanging off Biff like a lovelorn schoolgirl, trying to have a little chat with him, and having to be prised off by a roadie. Villain of the Evening. - Most definitely the FOH engineer. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, he is shite. Maybe it's not the same guy I have criticised in the past, but the sound was appalling, still suffering the same faults - too much kick and bass, vocals fine, guitar too low in mix. This time there were friends with me who ventured the opinions unheeded - YOU CAN'T HEAR THE FUCKING GUITARS!!!! It's not good when you have to "hear" solos in your head from memory and watching Paul & Doug's fingers rather than hearing them through the PA. It sounded like they were relying on backline. And when Paul lost his guitar a couple of numbers in........well, it turned into a drum & bass night. I listened to a crowd of lads outside afterwards saying the guitars were non-existent too, so it's not just my ears! Somebody, please sack the FOH engineer!!!!!! Anyway, well worth the trip, Saxon, you returned in style!!!!! Bring on the tour! (Just change the engineer) PS. Why was Paul Quinn dressed like Ali G???? Last edited by TheAssMaster : January 27th, 2007 at 06:06 AM.

January 27th, 2007, 06:07 AM	#2 (permalink)
Mad Dan McCafferty Don't Get Mad,Get Waysted Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: KRAKATOA Posts: 238	Ta for the info, good and bad. when ever someone gets thier pics downloaded lets see a few. how did the new tunes sound live? __________________ In This Life You Got So Many Rivers To Cross, Everyone Against The Tide. But In A Second Lord, We could All Pay The Price......

January 27th, 2007, 10:41 AM	#16 (permalink)
Sammi951 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Hyde, Manchester Posts: 1,145	Some great pics there, Midnightrider (well, ok, not the one with me on! lol) __________________ Sam xxx

January 27th, 2007, 11:40 AM	#21 (permalink)
SAXONATOR Crazy even without Drugs Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Germany - near Dortmund Posts: 390	great pix you must have had lots of fun it´s i can recognise saxonmckenz sammy and fingers who´s the guy without hair ? and wtf is the long haired guy with the painful shirt in your middle ? __________________ - TAKE CARE: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU - WE WILL REMEMBER !!! Last edited by SAXONATOR : January 27th, 2007 at 11:42 AM.

January 27th, 2007, 12:00 PM	#23 (permalink)
SAXONATOR Crazy even without Drugs Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Germany - near Dortmund Posts: 390	wilks ? ok so i got a new face for recognising... does he also come to bearlin ? and what about goss ? was he there also ? AND: how long did they play ? i guess 4 or 5 hours at least ??? __________________ - TAKE CARE: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU - WE WILL REMEMBER !!!

January 27th, 2007, 06:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
timothy sykes Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 165	assmaster you have the gig summed up exactly i thought the missing gutar sound may have been due to me been on row bb near the front so thanks for informing me that it was the same for you too.... i agree the sound engineer has his mixes all wrong and ill bow to your superior knowledge of such matters ..... that said the boys looked to be enjoying themselves and i just hope that saxon do indeed play at donington this year as stated by harvey goldsmith because that really is the springboard to massive crowds again.... ps great to see goss ,fingers and the rest of the crew nice to put faces to the messages on here see yer all in manchester in a few weeks time

January 27th, 2007, 06:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
CreepingDave Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1	It was my first ever Saxon show, and it was great. I was in Row F at the end on the aisle, and also caught Biffs towel when he threw it too the crowd during Denim & Leather. The seating organisation was poor, I could overhear people talking to the security guy/staff who had tickets for the section where the huge camera was too the left, but of course was not available to the public...

January 27th, 2007, 07:04 AM	#5 (permalink)
midnightrider Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 226	Just posted some short videos from gig on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFhTZQMaHuY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv4NQbjg9VE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-9_c0Jdzxk

January 27th, 2007, 07:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
timothy sykes Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 165	cheers midright rider quality videos mate

January 27th, 2007, 07:40 AM	#7 (permalink)
heavycelli Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 520	Thx for this info The AssMaster...yes the FOH engineer, i had the same thing in '91 concert, At some songs the guitar parts werent hearable, mainly the right box (Paul), the left-side box sound from Graham always sounded clear. That has got nothing to do with Paul, the support act that night the right box wasnt hearable at all too, so it has got to be the mixing stuff..The engineer in that concert had a tail in the hair and he was swinging all the time, its better that such a bloke concentrates on his work.. for the rest nice to read that they played couple new songs and thanx for posting some vids on You Tube Midnightrider!!

January 27th, 2007, 07:40 AM	#8 (permalink)
midnightrider Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 226	Here's Some Pics too.

January 27th, 2007, 07:44 AM	#9 (permalink)
Bosnian Witchfinder Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Reading, UK Posts: 474	quality vids mate. what are the event t shirts like?

January 27th, 2007, 08:01 AM	#11 (permalink)
Bosnian Witchfinder Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Reading, UK Posts: 474	awesome, celtic style

January 27th, 2007, 09:40 AM	#12 (permalink)
midnightrider Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 226	Had a great night in Sheffield,great to meet so many of the forum members.Saxon were brilliant as usual,really impressed by the new songs.Nibbs came for a chat in the pub before the gig.A load of us headed off to the aftershow party which kept us rockin' till 3am.Needless to say i had a very sore head this morning.

January 27th, 2007, 10:40 AM	#15 (permalink)
Bosnian Witchfinder Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Reading, UK Posts: 474	how empty/full was it?

January 27th, 2007, 11:25 AM	#20 (permalink)
Changes 74 Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Somewhere near Barnsley Posts: 45	Spot on with the Review.Sound mix was poor like you said but did seem to get better later on,my ears weren't ringing when I came out so that says it wasn't loud enough but maybe there was noise level restrictions in the refurbed City Hall. One gripe about the limited edition T-shirt ,do they think that Saxon fans are all anorexic ,what about some decent sizes for us ageing fat bastards........

January 27th, 2007, 12:09 PM	#25 (permalink)
SAXONATOR Crazy even without Drugs Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Germany - near Dortmund Posts: 390	well i think even that´s enuff for heavy neck-ache did you ask someone in your rottweiler-interviews if they bring the eagle often on this tour ? (i know matjes hates this huge piece of fire-spitting monster-metal-wind-up-toy but i hope he has to assemble this very often on this tour. sorry to matjes for my last sentence ) but most people love the eagle somehow (me included) __________________ - TAKE CARE: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU - WE WILL REMEMBER !!! Last edited by SAXONATOR : January 27th, 2007 at 12:13 PM.