Venue: Salzburg (Austria), Rockhouse
Concert date: 03.04.2003
Attendance: 650
Ticket price: €24.00 (€24.00)
I’m at the scene of the action, I no longer know what time it is, or where exactly I am, and in front of me is the support act Tanqueray. Salzburgers, young lads and a young lady. Let me deal with the representative of the gentler sex right away. Besides wielding the bass with great skill and finesse, she of course drew just enough attention to herself on stage with her femininity that us old tomcats, endlessly unreasonable about new trends, didn’t doze off, and instead happily purred and drooled over the great view. Not to come across as biased. True, crossover folk elements with classic metal “eighties opened riffing” are not at all my cup of tea, but Tanqueray are a band that surprised me extremely positively. That night they surely won over another Skyclad or Fiddler’s Green fan or two in the hall, not to mention the roaring support from the locals in the front rows, with the exception of a few confused Slovenians waiting for the brain storm and the legendary Saxon warriors to come. They won my sympathy right away too, and I hadn’t even had a beer beforehand. The guy with the violin and bow (the violinist) and the other guy, the band leader (singer and folk guitarist in one), showed up on stage in Scottish kilts, while the lead guitarist with the axe was dressed in ťlooseŤ gear (more thrasher-style), so the band’s image alone testified to a head-on collision of metal and ethno. Double harmonies from the violinist and the lead guitarist? Respectable. Sound? Enviable for a support act. We were spared absolutely any sonic screeching. A Gibson Flyin’ V took care of tastefully blending acoustic and electric. The singer deliberately twisted his accent in the verses, as is typical of someone like Ian Anderson in Jethro Tull (probably still the unbeatable humorist of the world rock scene). The vocals will still need a bit of polishing, though he already knows how to lay down the verses successfully. For the most part the band weaves Irish and Scottish folk elements into its music (or Anglo-Saxon ones, you’ll find your own way from here). In short, it has to sound Celtic and they’re happy. The band is already extremely tight and the music they write is no easy bite. Within their songs they often deftly turn the rhythm upside down, all of it carefully seasoned with a palette of Celtic three-part melodies, which are invariably woven into the intros and outros of songs. The electric guitar and violin shared that duty. And of course the main engine is an excellent drummer, who proved to be by far the hardest worker in the band and floored me with his wide repertoire of varied fills and the use of the double bass pedal in the music. The highlight was the song Johnny I Hardley Even Knew Ya, which they gave a slight breeze of country. And they weren’t ashamed of polka rhythms either, like some typical Austrian yodeling. In short, Tanqueray are worth your attention and surely have great potential in the future if they stick to the path they’ve set.
Brainstorm are already a fairly well-known name on the scene, thanks to the success of their latest record “Metus Mortis”, which they promoted this time as well. Thrash. But Andy B. Frank on vocals takes the classic thrasher semitone-based riffing into a new dimension. The vocals aren’t brutal. Just melodic. That doesn’t mean there’s no anger and aggression in them. Andy literally exploded on stage. Together with the razor-sharp snarling of the guitars he tore through the air of the electrified hall, and many soon found themselves in the whirl of that Friday-night fever (I was still waiting for my moments). The audience gave the band a roaring welcome and breathed along with it, singing the verses from start to finish. Most of the repertoire was made up of songs from their latest record. But they didn’t forget Maharaja Palace either, which the folks especially lost it to. So there’s not much more to add. The performance was incredibly tight, the guys jumped around the stage as if they had just taken,…. no, it wasn’t viagra…, they were wound up and furious to the very end. A friend simply turned to stone from the boundless joy that overcame him in the front row at the sounds of Brainstorm’s music scratching at his ears, while Andy deliberately headbanged his mane right above him and covered him with it. Guitar solos split into several ťlead breaksŤ were executed perfectly tight and without a single mistake. Perfect headbanging. Strange that I didn’t get splashed this time with even a single drop of hoppy liquor. And after the show, Milan from the front row showed Milan on stage his passport: “Look, my name’s Milan too!” And the two found out they were practically blood brothers from Croatia (read: “You guys are from Croatia!”), and no joke, they fell into each other’s warm embrace, with Lončaričev’s Milan nailing it: “I thought you guys had to be Slovenians!”, which almost sounded like: “I thought you were one of ours!” Ah, well, Saxon are still coming…I’m sure to get splashed with beer, grrrrrrr…ah, those habits, I’m getting old and grumpy.
Yes, Saxon. This time there was something in the air. Something that testified that this performance by the band would be something completely different from that half-heartedness in Munich. Spring is here, the days are longer, warmer, the dinosaur warmed up its lazy bones, came stomping out of its lair and sharpened its teeth and claws good and proper. The beast called Saxon was thirsty for new battles and new victories. And that’s how they came thundering onto the stage. They hit us “square in the forehead” with Heavy Metal Thunder, and right after it the first shock I didn’t expect, Killing Ground. And there we were. The stitches in my skull started popping right away. The sound was pure fantastic. And the guys really hit with full force this time. Biff was “in it”, in the feeling, he sang with full run-up, the complete opposite of the dulled Biff from a month and a half ago in Germany. Both guitarists were much more active on stage than in unfortunate Munich. After Still Fit To Boogie, Saxon calmed things down. With which track? With a cover of King Crimson (Court of the Crimson King). Biff got so into it that he wanted to stretch the passage where those “ah-I” bits come by one more round and repeat a new “girone” of his “ahs”. At the last moment the old boy managed to hold back right before the spot where Fritz carves up the song with a roll on the drums and the guitarists later dive into their solos. Biff then wondered whether the audience would guess what Saxon were going to fire off. And of course quite a few heads demanded Crusader, and that request was repeated several times during the show, some zealot even hurled a flag onto the stage with a hand-drawn cover of the record “Crusasder”, which Biff successfully hung up on the stage where the drums were set up, and there it waited untouched until the end of the concert. Saxon always have such a wide repertoire ready that the guessing could go on for quite a while, and Biff would always pull some shocking surprise out of mothballs. Yes, a new shock was here. The Thin Red Line. Nobody guessed it. It was truly interesting to watch the youngster who had recently gone nuts for Brainstorm and now only politely wiggled his hair in the front row. And what did he think of me? Probably this: “Look at this old man, how he’s throwing himself around to these old fossils, there’s no real aggression here at all, no speed,…,wow, how can he even be going off???” And yes, I really lost it at this track. Fritz was truly wound up and angry tonight! How expressive that clattering of the double bass pedal was, especially in the classics. And then when the fuckin’ Motorcycle Man came roaring over us. Man, that was pure mayhem and the people all started mixing it up with their heads in the hall. Oh right, Rockhouse was packed, though not sold out. The guys reined in the horses a bit with Broken Heroes. And then came that so-called bald head (Metalhead). A new surprise, replacing Song of Evil, which they played on the winter leg of the Heavy Metal Thunder tour 2003 in the repertoire from the record “Metalhead”. And then another tornado from “Unleash the Beast”, Cut Out the Disease, that is. Here Fritz Randow on drums was definitely the center of attention, as the expressiveness of his drumming really overshadowed the rest of the company. But that was only a warm-up. Battle Cry followed, and after the motif from the song Warrior woven in, the now well warmed-up Fritz devoted himself to his drum solo spot. This time Fritz was really having fun. He spun his sticks, juggled three sticks at once, helping himself with his mouth too, and beat his drum kit wildly, up and down and across, to the very end. This was really the Saxon I wanted, because after the incomprehensibly mediocre show in Munich, I could only barely talk myself into heading off to Salzburg. Kid, these concerts are becoming a heavier and heavier financial burden. And it would have been a mistake of a lifetime if I’d fallen into withdrawal. Saxon in such stage form after all these years. Hats off!
During the concert Biff apologized to the audience for there being no eagle on stage, because the stage was too small for the eagle. Biff promised that the eagle would be included in Saxon’s performance as headliners at the festival (24. 8. 2003) at Vienna’s Arena. Obviously the eagle really means a lot to Biff. The main part of the show was closed with Princess of the Night. After roaring chants of “Saxon, Saxon!Ť the band returned to the stage. Into the first encore they pinned Denim And Leather and Wheels of Steel, and into the second Strong Arm of the Law. Immortal classics, in other words.
A slightly shorter repertoire certainly contributed to the band being in such excellent spirits, and probably also the fact that there was no eagle and none of those obligatory steel railings and stairs on stage. So the club scene obviously suits the legends more than perfectly. In all honesty, I didn’t miss the eagle one bit either. Saxon? Aha, we’ll be going to see them again, how could I ever have doubted them. This time Nibbs Carter wasn’t the only one alive on stage. Fantastic sound, an immersive performance and an excellent repertoire. Thanks guys, this was truly one of the best concerts I’ve seen in my life. How to send the crowd into delirium, or how to be part of the general delirium? Go and experience a Saxon concert! A must! I can’t remember the last time I had such a cracked voice after a concert as I did this time. And I felt the aftereffects of the lightning strike for a whole week afterward.
Setlist
Tanqueray:
1. Intro
2. Tanqueray
3. With a Smile
4. Matty Groves
5. The Beggar
6. Keeping ’em Rolling
7. Johnny I Hardley Knew Ya
8. Babylon Burns
9. Sympathy for the Devil (orig. Rolling Stones)
Brainstorm:
1. Metus Mortis (intro)
2. Blind Suffering
3. Crush Depth
4. Shadowland
5. Maharaja Palace
6. Checkmate in Red
7. Hollow Hideaway
8. Under Lights
—encore—
9. Meet Me in the Dark
Saxon:
1. Heavy Metal Thunder
2. Killing Ground
3. Still Fit to Boogie
4. Court of the Crimson King
5. The Thin Red Line
6. Motorcycle Man
7. Broken Heroes
8. Metalhead
9. 20.000 ft
10. Cut out the Disease
11. Battle Cry (includes a motif from Warrior)
12. Drum solo (F. Randow) and Battle Cry finale
14. Solid Ball of Rock
15. Crusader
16. The Eagle Has Landed
17. Requiem (We will Remember)
18. Princess of the Night
—first encore—
19. Denim and Leather
20. Wheels of Steel
—second encore—
21. Strong Arm Of The Law
