This was my first time seeing and hearing the classic NWOBHM band Diamond Head with guitarist Brian Tatler. They delivered a set filled with older songs from early in their career. The singer sounded really good and most of the set came from their Lightning To The Nations album which has been re-released recently. The audience who was mostly men in their 50+ years cheered between the songs but were clearly there for Saxon. Diamond Head played for about 40 minutes and the last song was of course the brilliant “Am I Evil“. By then, the crowd sang along loud and clear.
Saxon
Next up was the mighty Saxon and my 19th time seeing them live since 1985. Most of the shows I have seen since 1997 have been club shows and eight times at Sweden Rock Festival. I always enjoy them on stage. Now it has been some years since the last time in 2019 at SRF. Biff has had some health issues along the way, so I wondered how he would appear and sing.
The lights went out in the club and the intro to their new, epic song “Carpe Diem” blasted out over the crowd. Then the band came out on stage and the crowd went crazy. The new album would be the foundation of their setlist on this tour and what a great bunch of songs we got to hear from it.
Six songs in total, as you can see on the setlist below. Biff‘s voice was a bit low in the mix at the start. For the first time ever I thought he sounded a little tired and rough in his voice. But halfway through the set something happened and he was back on form, sounding brilliant. The rest of the band had fun on stage and the crowd was fantastic even on this Sunday evening. They were loud and sang along with the band on every song, even the new ones. I must give Nigel Glockler on drums an extra credit. He was awesome tonight. The stage at Kulturbolaget is quite small so we could not see the entire backdrop behind Nigel.
Eagle or Heroes?
In the middle of the set, the crowd got to choose if Saxon should play “The Eagle Has Landed” or “Broken Heroes“. We shouted for “Broken Heroes“. That song was “almost” a hit for Saxon in Sweden when the album Innocence Is No Excuse was released in 1985. Again the crowd sang loud and strong with Biff and the band all smiling and giving “thumbs up”. The last song in the set before the encore was their classic “Wheels Of Steel“. You can’t do wrong with that and we all went crazy loud once again.
After a short break, they came back on stage and belted out (in my opinion) their new “Crusader“, the song “The Pilgrimmage“. Wow! What a fantastic song to hear live. It was epic! The next one up was “747 Strangers In The Night” and Biff said to us: “This is your song in Scandinavia as it is about a Scandinavian flight that disappears from the radars.” Absolutely crazy singing from the crowd on this one. After this, we got to choose again. “Strong Arm Of The Law” or “Solid Ball Of Rock“. We all shouted so loud, they played both! Saxon left the stage again, but returned really quickly for the last two classics “Denim & Leather” and “Princess Of The Night“.
A really great show once again from Saxon. It is a big difference to see them in a club on one of their own tours instead of a festival. They always play different songs in the clubs.
Approximate attendance: 600
Setlist:
“Carpe Diem”
“Age Of Steam”
“You Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)”
“Dambusters”
“The Thin Red Line”
“Living In The Limit”
“Dallas 1pm”
“Heavy Metal Thunder”
“Metalhead”
“Broken Heroes”
“Black Is The Night”
“The Bands Played On”
“Wheels Of Steel”
Encore:
“The Pilgrimage”
“747 (Strangers In The Night)”
“Strong Arm Of The Law”
“Solid Ball Of Rock”
Encore 2:
“Denim & Leather”
“Princess Of The Night”
