Saxon with special guest Armored Saint

Saturday September 12th, 2015 -The Palace Stafford Springs, CT

By: Brett Tully

The small town of Stafford Springs, CT (just over the MA boarder) would play host to two legendary heavy metals acts, Saxon and Armored Saint. The show would take place at Main Street’s The Palace. With a capacity of 400 this is a nice venue to check out a show. Built around 1900 it still has a historical feel to it complete with a balcony, there isn’t a bad spot in the house as the stage is elevated for perfect viewing all the way around. One thing to be prepared for is the heat, there is no A/C so the temperature can climb. Parking is easy to find and the drinks are cold. Definitely recommend The Palace to check out a show.

With the warm up bands packed up Armored Saint would hit the stage. Consisting of Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan on guitar, Gonzo Sandoval on drums, Joey Vera on bass and John Bush covering vocals these guys have a long history. They hit the L.A. scene in the early 80’s as part of the thrash movement with other heavy metal veterans Slayer, Testament, Megadeth and Metallica. In the early 90’s John Bush would be offered the lead vocalist position with Anthrax which he would accept and with that Armored Saint would disband. In 1999, with Anthrax on hiatus, Bush would rejoin Armored Saint only to return to Anthrax putting Armored Saint to sleep once again. Then in 2005 with the classic Anthrax line-up reuniting Armored Saint would come back together. Since then they have put out 2010’s La Raza and their latest, released in June of this year, Win Hands Down. Equipped with a catalog of old school metal and their latest works Armored Saint would take us through an eleven song setlist of true thrash metal. With these guys north of 50 you would never know it as they would deliver a punch reminiscent of the early days. Simply put they kicked ass! Check out Armored Saint tour dates and pick up their latest album at http://www.armoredsaint.com/.

Closing out the night would be New Wave of British Heavy Metal icons Saxon. Formed in 1976 in the UK Saxon has had a major influence in the U.S. metal scene with bands such as Metallica, Motley Crue, Pantera and Megadeth. Consisting of Doug Scarratt on guitar, Nigel Glockler on drums, Nibbs Carter on bass and original members Paul Quinn, guitar and lead vocalist Biff Byford. With over 20 albums Saxon would give the fans an eighteen song setlist spanning their career including music from their yet to be released record Battering Ram, due out Oct. 2nd. If I was impressed with Armored Saint then I was blown away by Saxon. The group of sixty-something year-olds gave us a show filled with more energy than most 20-something year-olds deliver these days. I asked Biff about retirement earlier in the evening in which he said wasn’t even a thought and after watching Byford and company on stage I can see why. Saxon is a band I have not giving a lot of attention to and on this evening I can see that I’ve been missing out. Definitely glad I made the two plus hour trip to take in this show. I wouldn’t hesitate to take in a Saxon show in the future and I look forward to picking up their latest album Battering Ram Oct. 2nd and I suggest you do that same, check out all things Saxon at http://www.saxon747.com/en/.