Review by Gary Spiller for MPM
A wistful half-moon hangs in the misty morning air, salty waters lap gently at sandy shores as the journeying triumvirate descend the slope as their endpoint grows closer. Their journeys have each been lengthy, their respective paths have crossed on many occasions over the previous half century but now the stars have aligned and for a while all three trek along the same course.
Central is the man of religion a crucifix hanging about his neck though, hidden from sight, under his monastical robes his pointed tail excitedly twitches sinuously from side to side. Flanking to the left is a man of travelling descent, swarthy of complexion and flamboyant of jewel whilst upon the opposite side a warrior clad in studded leather armour, his finely honed steel-bladed sword hanging, obediently at his side.
Crowds begin to gather as later the three shall recount their tales, invoking incantations and conjurations. Tens become hundreds and swell to thousands in the expectations of hearing of demonic spirits all shades of the light spectrum; of horses of iron breathing magma-hot fire and belching hissing steam and of hitting the open road upon mystical machines of chrome. Levels of suspense are ascending.
With nearly 160 years of heavy metal campaigning with 68 studio albums between them with reputed sales totalling 150 million units it’s all rather mind-boggling if you stop and consider the scale of it. Mulling it over let’s face it tonight’s hat-trick of Uriah Heep, Saxon, and headliners Judas Priest here in Bournemouth, as the town starts to emerge from its winter slumbers, is incredible enough!
This is a trio that could have graced the loftier echelons of any of the classic Monsters of Rock festivals; in fact, Saxon (the first band to appear twice at Donington) played alongside Priest in 1980 and Heep two years later. This evening, we have the privilege of witnessing this spectacle in the ‘intimate’ surroundings of the 6,000 capacity BIC – by my calculations the smallest of the six venues on the UK / Ireland leg of this tour.
Uriah Heep’s ever-expressive vocalist Bernie Shaw, following a couple of numbers, makes light of the ‘lot of the opening band’ commenting “Trying to squeeze 54 years into 35 minutes is virtually impossible!” That this fine outfit have such a short set allocated to them is seemingly, on the face of it, somewhat of a travesty. However, we’re not privy to all the behind the scenes wrangling and nor should we permit such unproductive meanderings to detract from what is a sterling despatch.
As atmospheric an intro as one could imagine heralds the arrival of ‘The Heep’ onto the BIC’s stage. Blue lights fade and dim switching to piercing single white spots. Cathedral-esque chimes ebb into hammer of the gods blows as the shadowy figures assemble. Six-string wizard, and the sole remaining founding member, Mick Box amiably points to the crowd and it’s right down to business.
Rip-roaring set-opener ‘Save Me Tonight’, selected from 2023’s ‘Chaos & Colour’, sets the pace. Shaw, mic stand angled, matches the strengthy output of his compatriots to bely the year. Wishing one and all a “Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!” he bridges the briefest of pauses before UH transfer focus back to their previous album ‘Living The Dream’ and the punchy ‘Grazed By Heaven’. Box revels merrily in the proggish mayhem.
Russell Gilbrook’s double bass kit (the first of three on show tonight) and Phil Lanzon’s searing keys – mercifully no repetition of the first night of the tour gremlins in Glasgow that reduced his output to just his piano according to his grandson Max who is sat close by – firmly underpin the low-end of power-stancing bassist Dave Rimmer. The latter the first of four Elegant Weapons connections here tonight.
The hairs atop the goosebumps are raised by the mythical fable of ‘Rainbow Demon’; this is the heavier end of prog rock at its finest. ‘Hurricane’ raises force 5 comparisons as it tears through the venue hustling forth in typical Heep fashion. “Feel the pain, hurricane” warns Shaw.
The Canadian frontman pays tribute “It goes without saying the next couple of bands coming on after are what heavy metal is about” before adding “Let’s take out three minutes to show them how it used to be done!” The rollicking gallop of ‘Free ‘n’ Easy’ is ratcheted right up and the ‘demonstration’ continues unabated with the mystique of ‘Gypsy’ and the set-closing V12 powered ‘Easy Livin’’.
As they take a deserved collective bow, as the applause rings about along with Elgar’s ‘Land Of Hope And Glory’, Heep can be safe in the knowledge they have served a timeless reminder of how ‘Eavy and ‘Umble they are. Very.
A brooding foretelling booms incisively forewarning of the coming battle of ‘Good vs. Evil’ before, out of the darkness, metalliferous warriors Saxon stride forth. If there’s ever an album opening salvo perfectly designed for this moment, then Saxon’s coupling of ‘The Prophecy’ with the conflagrant powerhouse ‘Hell, Fire And Damnation’ is just that.
Afront the two banks of eight ‘eagled’ Marshall cabs – either side of Nigel Glockler’s lofty drum kit – enigmatic vocalist Biff Byford is soon flanked by guitarists Doug Scarratt and Brian Tatler. Evergreen four-stringer Nibbs Carter, not wishing to miss the ‘party’, lines up too.
Fists are clenched and stab upwards, Carter raises his horns in salute as Byford roars the line time-immortal “Bournemouth make some fucking noise!” Scarratt and Tatler seamlessly trade solos, a flourishing partnership that outputs a blistering dynamic formula. The gleaming V-twin of ‘Motorcycle Man’ emphatically purrs proving anthems never die. Barely a breath is taken as the damburst continues with the pummelling ‘Sacrifice’ – one of six title tracks in the set – prowling as a fearsome beast.
My MPM colleague Paul Monkhouse recently wrote, in his review of the Andy Sneap produced ‘Hell, Fire and Damnation’, of Saxon’s knack of storytelling – weaving a cogent rocker – something that is undiminished to the day and one of the many facets of the band I genuinely love. With the brandished blade of ‘There’s Something in Roswell’ think ‘Dallas 1pm’ or the heavyweight homage of ‘And The Bands Played On’ which rolls along after the alien-infused belter. The Saxon freight-train rolls on unencumbered, lights ahead are green and the power is at max. Rockets to the sky as the rainbow shines vividly.
The alternating of the new and old is maintained as Byford introduces ‘Madam Guillotine’ to the rammed to capacity BIC. Carter’s bass sends out seismic shivers that are felt right along the full length of the south coast from Penzance to Dover. Aptly the track’s incisions are razor-sharp with hooky densely laden melodies that completely ensnare. The tempo drops for a bluesy Tatler solo whittled from his Les Paul’s fret with the opulence then translating over to Scarratt. A fine grade ore indeed.
The igneous herd, unstoppable as the lava flow, rides upon the towering cumulonimbus; the formidable thrust of ‘Power and the Glory’ conquers. Track end and Byford cups his ear savouring the applause, nearing next year’s 50th anniversary there’s been fallow times when this would’ve seemed a fantasy. Mercifully, Saxon have endured those torrid chapters to write new ones of a more triumphant nature.
With the pacy metallic ‘Fire and Steel’ finely tempered provides the final look at the latest release as the mood is cranked up to Spinal Tap’s beloved eleven with a slew of numbers right out of the ‘Greatest Hits’ section. Given the choice of ‘Dallas 1pm’, ‘Strong Arm Of The Law’ and ‘Crusader’ it’s the latter, following lengthy debate between stage and arena, which is dished up with Tatler bringing in the baroscopic opening notes.
The broadside of ‘Crusader’ is swiftly followed by the classic strains of ‘747 (Strangers in the Night)’. “1980, think we did Top of The Pops with Judas Priest, Motorhead and Whitesnake with this one!” notes Byford before VTOL is completed with the preceding single (and fellow top smash) ‘Wheels Of Steel’. From aeroplanes to two-wheeled stallions Saxon continue to tear it up, the BIC bounces along to the ensuing rampage.
Whipping out a mobile Byford “Gonna film yas for our facebook” the dapper outfitted vocalist informs. “Fucking brilliant!” he concludes as the packed venue goes totally ape. How do you follow a coupling from the ‘Wheels Of Steel’ album? With a brace of tracks from their other top ten album ‘Denim and Leather’ of course! It’s as perfect a way to bring the metaphorical curtain down on a setlist that achieves a balance between a festival set and a touring headline one.
During a faultless ‘Denim and Leather’, his left arm around the shoulders of Tatler, the imperial Byford surveys the scene with approval “Let’s hear the chorus” he encourages. No surprises as the ranks respond in a raucous fashion, the spirit is set free once more.
“If I wasn’t here [on stage] I would have a ticket” muses Byford before the band’s engine works overtime for one last time in the steam-rollering set-closer ‘Princess of the Night’. Like opening act Uriah Heep so Saxon have rolled back the years in waves with ample helpings of the classics and proved their current relevance with choice cuts from their latest studio offering. Timeless quality only begins to describe what we are privileged to be witnessing this evening.
“It’s Sunday night in Bournemouth and the Priest is back!” roars percussive force Scott Travis, from his lofty perch, prior to the mosh-pit inducing ‘Painkiller’ wraps the main body of an immaculate performance.
In an instant I’m teleported back to the summer of ’87 and our headline act’s second live album ‘Priest …. Live!” Hearing Halford utter those immortal words “The Priest is back!” was tantamount to spinetingling to that then teenager!
Catapulted to back to the here and now nearly four decades later, surrounded by 6,000 metal maniacs, I’m giddy on elevated levels of expectation – unbelievably this is the first time I’ve ever seen Judas Priest, a most heavyweight of ticks to be applied to the bucket-list!
The house lights dim and Sabbath’s anti-war protest ‘War Pigs’ sends shudders throughout. Sirens mournfully wail and the BIC sings with the epic. A tribe unified in the celebration of Priest’s fellow Brummie metal legends. Stage lighting bursts into life and the triumphant heraldic tour anthem melding of brass and guitars stirs.
A backlit drape, with the lyrics to the titular track of Priest’s most recent release ‘Invincible Shield’ upon, stretches from stage to ceiling high above. An impeccable scene is set as the band gather about the third, and final, double bass drum kit of the evening under the watchful gaze of carefully choreographed lighting.
The twin Flying V’s of Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap let fly, ‘Panic Attack’ hits the shore. Stateside drummer Travis and the ever-stoic bassist Ian Hill – the lone continuous member in this incarnation of Priest – wrestle the low end before the enigmatic Rob Halford ‘spits’ out the lines with more venom than a coiled cobra. Ever wonder who inspired Helloween’s Michael Kiske?
Prior to ripping into the evergreen ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’ Halford addresses the flock asking, “Are you ready for some Judas Priest heavy metal?” Not a discerning voice to be heard. The BIC ensemble surges forwards receiving a thumbs up from the leather clad singer. Rolling straight into the utter anthemic ‘Breaking The Law’ shines the light on the epic album ‘British Steel’ for the first time.
Its iconic video with the 1974 Cadillac convertible transporting the bank robbing band along the elevated A40 flows through the grey matter; surely it had a leaning in Kasabian’s thought process for their ‘Fire’ video. 6,000 heavy metal maniacs savour every last second. Halford extends his mic out to the word-perfect audience; mosh pits break out across the arena.
The venturing into ‘British Steel’ – until the number 2 position of ‘Invincible Shield’, a couple of days previous, JP’s highest charting long-player – continues with select cut ‘Rapid Fire’ which does precisely what it says on the exterior of the tin. The howling twin lead guitars of Sneap and Faulkner align for the light and shade of ‘Sword of Damocles’, retained from the previous date in Dublin giving the first indication that Priest’s setlist is settling down four dates into the tour.
Hill’s deep bass notage is a delight in the vampire-horror of ‘Love Bites’ whilst the choice inclusions continue with the energetic stomp ‘Saints In Hell’ punctuated by demons and snakes ‘torturing’ blood-red stained saintly figures.
The unstoppable dynamics of ‘Turbo Lover’ are sandwiched by new ones ‘Crown of Horns’ and the showpiece ‘Invincible Shield’. Riveted balls of iron swing their rhythmic wrecking ball path, their cores of molten rock threaten to spill; onstage kinetics are beholden.
Side on to the crowd Faulkner arches backwards rollercoastering ‘Sinner’ – back in the set after a 5-year hiatus – along before another returnee ‘You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise’ breaks a 15-year break from the stage. The Priest has complete confidence and faith in their craft.
‘The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)’ is Fleetwood Mac reworked beyond the standard laws of both music and physics. Quite what the quartet of Green, Kirwan, McVie, and Fleetwood would make of the moshing is an intriguing line of conjecture. Abstractly a long brown wig flies across the crowd.
The widest, and craziest, mosh pit of the night is reserved for thrashingly good ‘Painkiller’ which closes the main body of the set in emphatic style. Whilst some mosh others record the moment on their mobiles; how things have changed. Above all of this crowd surfers add to the fury of the raging torrent. The screaming mayhem is totally absorbing.
With a dash of class ‘The Hellion’ bridges the gap of the pause before the return of the band for the encore which, naturally, commences with orbiting powerage of ‘Electric Eye’, a pinpointing trailblazer of a legend if there ever was one. Engines roar and Halford, returns to the stage, upon his Harley-Davidson for the coruscant crescendo of ‘Hell Bent For Leather’ and ‘Living After Midnight’. Living, Rocking, Loving. Loaded!!
Bloody excellent falls short of what we’ve experienced this evening, and my fear is that my words above don’t convey fully the whole scene. If I were to have made note of every treasured moment, then this would be a book not a review! Needless to say, it’s been one of the tours of the last couple of years for me and one that will live long, long in the memory.
Photography by Kelly Spiller for MPM
