First a rant, tonight’s gig followed the current trend to start gigs earlier and earlier so they can tag on a club night after. This means that people finishing work at normal times miss out or have to make arrangements so they can make the gig on time.

Tonight for us it meant that we missed Redline totally and missed the first few songs of the Quireboys, why can’t we go back to proper gig times where bands are still playing upto midnight?

Indeed Biff Byford made mention of this saying ‘we’ve got to finish on time as there is a disco on afterwards, why can’t they have the disco first and the bands afterwards’  which was met by a huge cheer of agreement from the crowd.

So onto the night, Redline,  I’ve heard good things about these guys and wanted to see them live, pity we missed them entirely but check them out on the rest of the Saxon tour.

The Quireboys must be the hardest working band around as they never seem to stop touring. Over the past 3 years we have seen them numerous times at festivals and gigs and they never fail to disappoint.

Their rock and roll style always ensures a great atmosphere, this and their undoubted musical abilities means a good show. We missed the first few songs but what we got for the rest of the set was classic Quireboys and most of the songs were from the 1990 ‘A Bit of what you fancy’ with the addition of a new track ‘Too much of a bad thing’ which continues their style forward.

They missed out on one big thing as the gig kicked off at 7pm and they have got the perfect song, ’7 O’clock (it’s time to party)’ but this was kept for the encore.  Spike was on form as usual and his voice sounded as good as ever and he was keeping it nicely lubricated with the odd tipple. Another great set by great band.

Setlist. Tramps and Thieves, There She Goes Again, Misled, Too Much Of A Good Thing, Mona Lisa Smiled, This Is Rock’n'Roll, Hey You, Mother Mary, 7 O’clock

We last saw Saxon at the same venue about a year ago and were blown away then so tonight we were expecting an equally excellent set, we weren’t disappointed.

This is the ‘Sacrifice’ tour following the release of the same titled album earlier this year and I make it their 20th over the years.  Saxon came on stage at 8pm ish to a roar from the crowd.

The crowd was made up of all ages; from fans from the 70′s/80′s to new fans  and it’s was good to see the tradition of ‘cut-off’ denim jackets filled with band patches still going as I saw a few nice new ones rather than the usual old faded ones.

They kicked off with ‘Sacrifice’, this track along with the others from the new album are classic Saxon and have a great sound and feel to them. This is not an album for the sake of it but rather one they wanted to write and it comes through in the quality if the material.

The set continues until we get a chance to choose the next song, amongst the shouts there were calls for ‘Crusader’, ‘Motorcycle Man’ and ‘And the Bands Played On’, the latter won out and the band played on. Nibbs Carter apart from playing excellent bass spent most of the night windmilling and would put some of the metal bands to shame.

We even had time for a sing off where Biff split the crowd and away we went, great fun and
participation and a throwback to the fun we used to have a gigs before they all started to get a bit serious.

With such a back catalogue to call on the night was full of the hits and we even had time for a great drum solo by Nigel Glockler to which Biff commented ‘he’s not done a drum solo for 2 years now’.  ‘Dallas 1pm’ was also a great addition to the night.

So to the end of the main set with ‘Wheels of Steel’ and the entire crowd were singing their heads off.  A night like this could not end without an encore and we were given four songs, amongst them the anthem ‘Denim and Leather’ and ‘Princess Of The Night’ to finish.

What we have seen tonight is a band that is still very much at the top of their game in both writing capabilities and live shows and they look to be having a great time doing it.

Setlist:
Sacrifice, Wheels of Terror, Power and the Glory, Made in Belfast, Rock ‘n’ Roll Gypsy, And the Bands Played On,  I’ve Got to Rock, Night of the Wolf, Conquistador, Drum Solo, Requiem (Acoustic), Guardians of the Tomb, Never Surrender , Ride Like the Wind, Stand Up and Fight, Dallas 1 PM, Motorcycle Man, 747, Wheels of Steel.  Encore: Strong Arm of the Law, Warriors of the Road, Denim and Leather, Princess of the Night

Review and photos by Simon Dunkerley

More from the Sacrifice tour:

Gig review (Oxford Academy, 5 May 2013)
Gig review (Glasgow ABC, 21 April 2013)
Gig review (Leamington Assembly, 18 April 2013)

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