| SAXON + CHINCHILLA |
November 7, 2004 |
MADRID |
I have to say this was a great weekend. On Saturday I saw legendary Swedish hardrockers EUROPE on their comeback tour and they put on a stunningly good show for a sold out crowd. I am really, really happy that I had a chance to finally hear songs like "Cherokee", "Rock The Night" and "The Final Countdown" live after so many years... I felt like I was 10 years old again, when I got my first Europe album haha :-) On Sunday I went to the SAXON show and I even enjoyed it more than Europe. It was a veeeeery long show (2hr 40 min) with a set-list filled with all the classics!
German power metallers CHINCHILLA, featuring former Primal Fear drummer Klaus Sperling, were the openers and I think everyone liked them. They rocked the house with a 35 minute set during which they demonstrated that they are a very experienced live band. It was their first time playing in Spain and even though most of the crowd didn't really know who they were, they won a few fans that night ;-)
They played about eight songs and all were well executed, but I especially enjoyed "Queen Of The Rain" from their "Madness" album (the first CD I bought of theirs), "Father Forgive Me" from "The Last Millennium", and "When The Sand Darkens The Sun" from "Madtropolis". A couple of songs off their new album ("Take No Prisoners") were played too ("The Call" and "The Allmighty Power"). A cover of Kiss' "I Stole Your Love" closed the show with everybody singing along.
Overall, Chinchilla were a good support act, I'm glad I got to see them.
After Chinchilla, British heavy metal legends SAXON came on stage to present the new album "Lionheart", their 24th album, that still has that cool and unmistakable NWOBHM sound that nobody else has, something that I like :-) This was my third time seeing them and they definitely have to be one of the best live acts for me. I must say this is a band worthy of respect and admiration that has been around since the late '70s and after all these years they still know how to rock.
Saxon were on stage for 2 hours 40 minutes (that's value for money!) burning through a set of favorites including material from 1979 to the present. This was the best set I've seen them play.
They started with the intro "The Return" which took us directly to the first song, "Lionheart", about the great King Richard. All the songs they played sounded great live and there was a lot of crowd participation, and of course everyone knew the words. After "Lionheart" we get "Backs To The Wall", "Power And The Glory" and "Motorcycle Man". The rest of the set list was played as brilliantly as the mentioned songs and contained a few surprises like "Broken Heroes" from their 1985 album "Innocence Is No Excuse" and a cover of Christopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind". Other songs included in the set were "Heavy Metal Thunder" (the title says it all), newer songs like "Man And Machine" (a typical Saxon-song that went down very well), the melancholic and dark "Beyond The Grave", the fast "To Live By The Sword" (superb guitar solos on this number!), "Witchfinder General" (the headbanging opener of the new album) and of course essential ones like "20,000 Feets", "Conquistadores", "Dragon's Lair", "Princess Of The Night", "Crusader" (the song that all the fans couldn't wait to hear), "Wheels Of Steel", "And The Bands Played On" and the heavy metal hymn "Denim And Leather" off their 1981 album of the same title, the song that ended the show.
Byford's voice was in good shape, singing the songs with heart and passion. Jörg Michael from Stratovarius, replacing Fritz Randow behind the drumkit, played like he had been playing with the band for years and not for only a few months. Both guitarists Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt were very impressive and "duelled" on their instruments all night. Bassist Nibbs Carter, as always, was moving all the time banging his head like it was the end of the world.
All in all, good and long show. The fans got their money worth and everybody left the venue satisfied.
It's good to know that there are still great musicians and bands like Saxon that care about
their audience. -Review & photos by Marina-
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