Saxon
- Rock Metal Machine
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Artists: Saxon, Dirkschneider
Venue: Bacon (Bristol)
Date: 13 November 2025
Who knows how much longer the band will play on, but I have to thank them for making me feel like a teenager again, if only for one night.
Time flies, doubly so the older you get, it seems. I can remember my first ever gig, which was Saxon (on the ‘Crusader’ tour) in 1984 at this very venue, then known as the Colston Hall. A year later I saw Accept promoting their ‘Russian Roulette’ album just round the corner at the Hippodrome. I may not remember people’s names these days, but great concerts seem to be lodged forever, and that first gig was a doozy.
Tonight it’s all about anniversaries, and first on stage we get Dirkschneider, and main man Udo is giving us Accept’s 1985 Metal classic ‘Balls To the Wall’ in its entirety. Throughout the set, four big black balloons are bounced round the audience, with the lack of smoking these days meaning they stay inflated. On stage, Udo looks like he’s been dragged from the local Workingmen’s Club to do the gig, but then he always looks like someone’s grumpy Grandad. Vocally, he sounds pretty impressive, and it’s a shame those vocals are too far back in the mix, with the backing mics having more power. It certainly lessens the impact of the likes of ‘London Leatherboys’ and ‘Turn Me On’, more’s the pity, and coupled with the fact that Accept material can be a bit samey I’m not as thrilled as I hoped I’d be. Salvation is at hand when the set is closed with ‘Fast As A Shark’, but again the poor mix robs it of the real power that I know it should have. Udo’s band are brilliant, it must be said, and whilst the set is enjoyable enough it is never more than a taster for the main event.
The black curtain the support played in front of is dropped, the balloons gathered, and Saxon immediately show why they are still headlining forty-five years after ‘Wheels Of Steel’ was released. Never mind reminiscing for now, though, as the title track from their most recent album, ‘Hell, Fire & Damnation’ blasts out at the packed venue. Straight off, it’s clear that frontman Biff Byford has defied age and recent health issues, sounding (dare I say it) as good as he did all those years ago, his unique voice clear and in tune, a true Metal messiah if ever there was one. There’s a screen behind the band which shows variations on the band’s logo throughout, plus a few AI images and such for certain songs. The set itself is quite simple, with a drum riser area accessed by three sets of stairs, giving plenty of stage area to move about on. There’s thirty spotlights on it, too, and they are used to excellent effect all night, with the lights above the stage just giving colour effect. Put together it all works extremely well.
The band play twenty-one songs, a solid hour and three quarters, with ‘Power & The Glory’, ‘Never Surrender’, Madam Guillotine’, ‘Dallas 1pm’ and more wetting the audience’s appetite nicely before the band launch into the ‘Wheels Of Steel’ album, from ‘Motorcycle Man’ through to ‘Machine Gun’. It’s great to see, and for me a real treat to hear songs like ‘Stand Up & Be Counted’ and ‘Suzie Hold On’ live for the first time. There’s no “left v right” type singalong during the title track, which feels a little odd, but every track is nailed, one hundred per cent. I have to say that, along with Biff, drummer Nigel Glockler is simply superb, retaining the power and, indeed, glory of his younger days. Bassist Nibs Carter jumps around like he’s at a rave, whilst guitarists Doug Scarratt and Brian Tatler also don’t put a note out of place.
The encore is a four song masterpiece, with ‘Denim & Leather’, ‘And The Bands Played On’, ‘Strong Arm Of The Law’ and ‘Princess Of The Night’ keeping smiles plastered on faces and heads banging merrily away. Throughout it all, the band of shall we say mature gents never flag, never weaken, and never fail to give their all for every single song.
Part of me is glad Saxon never got as huge as Iron Maiden (who I also saw here in the eighties), as I can see them in this perfect size concert hall. Who knows how much longer the band will play on, but I have to thank them for making me feel like a teenager again, if only for one night.
Review: Alan Holloway
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