747 (Strangers In The Night) - Saxon

I went to see Saxon on Weds. They were playing @ Vinyl. I felt I needed some Metal \m/ >_< \m/ in my Life, especially after all that Punk Rock Posing BS. Say what you will about Saxon, but they never turned their back on their audience, like some Punk bands did (nice to see that band boasting on Facebook about selling out all their hotel rooms at PRP), and Saxon never tried to change their music to be something that we weren't, like some Punk bands did, going Alternative and Swing and whatnot, and Saxon actually still record and put out new music, unlike some Punk bands, who haven't done either in years. Yeah, Saxon have stuck to their guns, through thick and thin, through one band member loss after another, and have done so with Integrity intact and with their heads held high. I have more respect for them than I do some so-called legendary Punk bands at this point. Yup. :-)

So Saxon, yeah. They were fucking fantastic! Loud, raucous, intimate. It was pretty much a sold out crowd inside the tiny venue. Metal peeps were thick and deep and everywhere inside the Hard Rock. Biff Byford is a master showman who had the crowd eating out of his hand from the opening song onward. The 2 guitarists were noodling away all night, and soaring and dive bombing and generally abusing the whammy bars on their instruments. Drummer Nigel Glockler is hugely underrated, and watching him play was definitely a treat. They guy's recovering from a brain aneurysm, and a few months later he's back at the helm of the Saxon machine. Ramming speed Mr. Nigel. They played pretty much everything I was expecting to hear, and even played a few songs I didn't think they would. One was a song I forgot they even played! LOL Ahhhhhh, it was a great night, hanging with friends and just having fun. I was gonna take my camera into the place and take photos, but that would mean I would of had to have stopped drinking cider and actually paid attention to shit, that would of made it like a job, and seeing Saxon wasn't about stressing and concentrating, no, it was about drinking and yelling and rocking and feeling the power of Metal thumping you in the chest with every kick drum thump and bass string plunk. Yeah, Saxon were great. I had a sore throat from yelling along to everything. It was fun. Sometimes you just need a Metal fix, ya know?

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