Saxon + Diamond Head @ Amager Bio, Copenhagen 19/10/22
"They came, they saw, they conquered"
To an event like this, with bands who've existed for as many years as both tonight's headliners and the supporting act, there will be people whose initial opinion, more than anything else, will pretty much amount to playing the age card, as it were.
And yes, even in a crowd that seems to consist of more bald and thinning coiffures than headbanger manes, the average attendee still couldn't possibly be more than 20 years younger than the average age of the guys in Saxon.
... Which is 63, by the way. So perhaps, then, this could point to some hope for the future of metal shows.
Diamond Head
One might be forgiven for considering Diamond Head a band on a bit of artificial life support, with guitarist Brian Tatler being the only original member and having largely gotten their recognition from being covered by Metallica back in the day.
But to be fair, the relatively recent inclusion of my fellow Dane Rasmus Bom Andersen on vocals seems to have given the band a welcome reinvigoration, newer tracks "Bones" and "The Messenger" fully being up to par with those of the band's classic 1980 debut, "Lightning to the Nations".
Andersen does have a couple of technical mishaps. Last week, in Aarhus, it happened during the title track from that aforementioned debut. Tonight, it's mostly prevalent during its 2-year younger sibling "In the Heat of the Night". But he still does a great job of enticing the crowd – probably spurred on by being on home turf and able to communicate in our native tongue.
To be honest, it's impossible for me to properly assess exactly how original of a band Diamond Head is – much less was. But perhaps mine and Andersen's fellow Dane Lars Ulrich might be a safer authority on that topic.
Indeed, while DH's material is solid through-and-through, there's an all-pervasive reason that DH choose to close with that triumvirate of "It's Electric", "Helpless", and "Am I Evil?" that Metallica chose to immortalize. The latter is as close to monumental as this band gets – not just in terms of legacy, but in terms of purely compositional creativity. Dammit, that is a fucking beast of a song.
But, y'know, the whole thing rocks. DH might live and die as a band that never got what they could've, but it's kinda life-affirming that they're still touring, and all the more so with fellow NWoBHM veterans Saxon.
Rating: 4 out of 6
Saxon
And speaking of life-affirming, this is it.
Coming back to that initially mentioned age card, there are people in this world – metalheads included – who would question things like relevancy here.
The answer to that silly question (however it might be phrased) is that proper heavy metal is as ever-relevant as the very energy that has created and ended life since the dawn of time, and that Saxon are some of the genre's all-time finest purveyors of said energy.
That's as clear tonight as it's ever been. And it has a lot to do with the fact that Saxon Anno Domini 2022 are standing by their new material more than they ever did in this century.
Having just released a splendid 22nd studio effort, February's "Carpe Diem", Barnsley's finest grace us with no less than six songs from that album on this tour. Hell, they even scrap classics like "Crusader" and "The Power and the Glory" entirely in favor of new bangers like "Age of Steam", thrashing album-closer "Living on the Limit", and first encore-opener, the epic "The Pilgrimage".
Yeah, that's right: First
encore. Playing for a full +2 hours, the band are in tremendous shape.
Apart from going an octave lower to spare his pipes on a couple of occasions, 71-year-old Biff Byford sings as well as ever. And sure, his occasional jumping jacks might not exactly suit his rotund stature, but, I mean... There are people who die before reaching his age!
And not the least his 15 years younger bass player Nibbs Carter remains the ace up the band's collective sleeve, constantly headbanging, jump-kicking, and monitor-mounting his way through this veritable showcase of just how it's fucking DONE. In terms of all the genre's cool 4-string-wielders, there's him and Steve Harris – and then there's everyone else.
Those aforementioned encores are, of course, virtually only those classics that we know and adore. Apart from the newer songs, the interesting features further up the setlist, then, include 2013's "Sacrifice", 2007's "I've Got to Rock (To Stay Alive)", 1999's "Metalhead", 1997's "The Thin Red Line", and, grandest of all, 1985's "Broken Heroes".
And sure, while it's the oldies like "Strong Arm of the Law", "Denim and Leather", and "747 (Strangers in the Night)" that have us singing and shouting, it's those deep cuts that remind us just how awesome of a metal machine Saxon are. How many other metal bands have put out one Solid Ball of Rock after the other throughout +40 years with never more than 3 years passing in between?!
Yes, life-affirming is exactly what this is. "Is it Friday night?", Byford chuckles as our collective hollering and applause refuse to end even after only a few songs. "It MUST be Friday night!" And this Wednesday sure does feel like it.
At this point, I've lost count of how many times I've seen Saxon. Shit, like I hinted at earlier, I also saw them in my old hometown last week. And if there were any doubt, there are many a good reason to keep coming back to a true institution of true heavy metal.
Tonight was yet another such fine reason.
Rating: 5 out of 6
Genre: Heavy metal
Date: October 19th, 2022
Venue: Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark
Organizer: Down the Drain