SAXON + DORO + SWEET SAVAGE
THE FORUM, KENTISH TOWN - LONDON 23/04/09
I was really looking forward to this gig, mainly for the two main bands, no flyers or adverts meant I went assuming only two bands were playing. Aha, opening band are none other than Belfast’s SWEET SAVAGE. Alas there was no ‘Killing Time’ the tracks centred on the bands recent and new album that is due out in June. The vocals are extremely powerful from Raymond Haller it was such a shame that when the set started there was only 4 rows of fans due to the slow door process, thankfully by the end of the set the crowd was swelling that was nice to see. Of the newer tracks aired, particular stand out sounds came in the form of ‘Regenerator’ for which the crowd was duly invited to sing along and thankfully followed the band with this. ‘No Guts No Glory’ is a rather heavy tune executed with passion and consistency whilst ‘The Eye of the Storm’ had an issue with starting the guitar solo without switching the guitar pedal on, ah well! The only thing that let this performance down was the sub-standard cover of Thin Lizzy’s version of ‘Whiskey in the Jar’.
Now this should be good, metal queen DORO starts out with chords from the Warlock classic ‘Earthshaker Rock’, it’s not until Doro runs onto the stage that the crowd react. There was a rabid fan club near the front of the stage throwing their arms in the air and singing along to every note (as I was!), by song number three this is when the crowd finally warmed to the DORO live experience. Gigs like this mean that the sad old state of affairs happen where people only want to watch the main headliner, and I was surprised with some seasoned fans of the headliner asking each other who Doro was – philistines! ‘Burning the Witches’ is damn heavy, whilst new track ‘Night of the Warlock’ clearly brings new fans to the band. The bass and guitars are thundering and Johnny Dee on drums is battering the hell out of those skins never missing a beat. ‘Celebrate’ is up next and Doro is joined by Enid Williams from Girlschool to sing along with the chorus, not quite the full metal female version, but good enough for me! An interesting cover version of Judas Priest’s ‘Breaking the Law’ surprises some folk, but is beautifully integrated when the expected tempo ensures. There are classic’s still left to play, ‘Hellbound’, and the massive sing along ‘True As Steel’ are excellent numbers and it is great to see the band reacting with more vigour when the crowd increases its appreciation. No one can deny a classic metal anthem that is ‘All We Are’, this is a perfect closing number and it was a real shame the bands set had to finish. A well rounded history lesson of the music of Doro and Warlock, had there been more time it would have been good to hear some more of the newer tracks, but that’s for the headlining tour!
Sheffield metal warriors SAXON come up with some powerful opening intro music in the form of ‘Jerusalem’ made famous with English Rugby; well it is St George’s day! This sets the mood perfectly before the band power into new track ‘Battalions of Steel’. There is a massive lighting rig on stage, this is more like a headlining Wacken light show and the sound is once again perfect, considering this is essentially an opening night of the tour. ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’ flows into new classic ‘Demon Sweeny Todd’. The band are loving being on stage, much respect to Biff, what a frontman he is, he commands the attention and the respect without even having to try hard, its just natural. A rare tune (if it’s been played at all?) in ‘Ride Like the Wind’ from the Destiny album makes most people sing along whilst ‘Strong Arm of the Law’ and ‘Wheels of Steel’ nearly lifts the roof off the Forum. ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ at over 6 minutes keeps everyone entertained whilst Biff takes stock of all the “things” people are throwing on stage, and comments on the quality of the bootleg shirts being thrown up! The encores bring not two but I think it was four or five tracks, the longest encores in history for me! ‘Live to Rock’ and ‘Motorcycle Man’ are pure classics, I did wonder how long this was going to last cause I was losing my voice singing along. Then Doro Pesch joins the band on stage for another Priest song (Biff Byford admits loving Judas Priest after the tune ?) ‘You Got Another Thing Coming’. It’s always funny when you see singing duets, cause you can just tell its not been rehearsed! As expected ‘747 (Strangers in the Night) raises the roof but then I am shocked when one of my favourite tunes ‘Princess of the Night’ closes the show, it seemed like it was going on forever, man this was British metal at its best. A majestic stage show ridden with classic metal music like they were Killing the Dragon on St Georges day themselves.
Apologies for no photos with this review, alas I was without a photo pass and I did not fancy fighting my way to the front of the packed out venue. The other thing I should mention is the ridiculous price of t–shirts, surely bands this big don’t need to set their prices at £20 for a t-shirt. Apart from that, this was a tremendous night of real heavy metal, high standards of showmanship and crowd interaction. The sound on the night could not have been better, this was a perfect gig, those who were there I am sure would have been as joyful as I was with the whole gig!
Paul Maddison
MTUK HOME
