Warriors of the Road Tour, with Saxon, Armored Saint, and Mindmaze, Howard Theatre, Washington DC, USA, September 15, 2015
It was going to be a great night of classic heavy metal! With the American band Armored Saint, and the British band, Saxon sharing the same stage, fans of 70s and 80s classic metal were in for a treat. They were both touring in support of their new albums… Armored Saint’s “Win hands Down” was released in early summer, and Saxon’s “Battering Ram” is scheduled to be released any day. Support was to be provided by one of my favorite up and coming bands, Mindmaze. Definitely a show not to be missed.
The show was at the Howard Theatre, a relatively new venue in Washington DC. I’d never been there before, but, as I found out on arrival, it had a decent sized stage and good acoustics. It had an open general admission floor in the front, but the back half of the venue was set up in dinner theater fashion with tables, chairs, and booths. A bit odd for a concert venue but it seemed to work.
MindMaze, a progressive/melodic metal band from Pennsylvania, was the first to hit the stage. This band has become one of my favorite acts to see live over the past few years. Despite playing hundreds of shows in the past, this was the band’s first major tour… well deserved… and way overdue. Formed by the brother/sister team of Sarah (vocals) and Jeff Teets (guitars), the band is rounded out by bassist Rich Pasqualone and drummer Mark Bennett. They are always a joy to see live and tonight was no exception. They played a killer set. Because they were the opening band, their set was shorter than usual… 6 songs in all. The songs were about evenly split between the albums, “Mask of Lies” and “Back From The Edge”. Each one was a gem. I know people say this all the time in reviews… but if you are a fan at all of melodic or progressive metal, and like hearing soaring powerful soaring vocals and incredible guitar work… MindMaze is definitely a band you need to check out.
When Armored Saint took the stage, I wasn’t completely sure what to expect. I’d heard of the band before, but I’d never seen them live or listened to their music… but I liked what I saw and heard that night. They still had their classic five piece line up with almost all original members. The music was good solid metal. John Bush’s vocals were great and the guitars were just the way I like them: Hard, heavy, and with lots of solos. The played a nine song set in all that contained several songs including two songs from their new album: “Win Hands Down” and “An Exercise in Debauchery”. They also played the title tracks of several of their earlier albums. Armored Saint had a lot of fans in the audience and there was a lot of excitement in the air. When they left the stage I was left wondering why I’d never seen this band before… I definitely intend to see them again….
After experiencing two awesome opening acts, the fans were ready for the main course. The roar was deafening when Saxon finally hit the stage. Saxon has been a fixture in the heavy metal scene for almost four decades and, although they developed a much bigger following in Europe than they did in North America, they still have a very devoted following here. Their set began with “Motorcycle Man” from there “Wheels of Steel” album, followed by the title track from their upcoming album, “Battering Ram” Eighteen songs were played in all, including several title tracks that spanned several of their albums form earlier in their career. With 21 albums under their belt, it was impossible to play songs from every release, but the set was pretty comprehensive across their career. I was a little disappointed they only played one song off of their new release, but it was still an awesome show!
Saxon had some member changes earlier in their career, but the bands lineup has been more or less stable for the last 2 decades. Vocalist Biff Byford and guitarist Paul Quinn have been with the band since the beginning. Bassist Nibbs Carter joined in the late 80s and their other guitarist Doug Scarratt joined in the mid 90s. Drummer Nigel Glockler has been with the band since the early 80s except for 3 short hiatuses. The band put on a great show both musically and visually. Biff spent a lot of time interacting with the audience members (including frequently gesturing for me to pull out my camera), and the crowd gave it back with lots of cheers and singing along.
It was definitely a great night of classic heavy metal… and its always a treat when I get to see MindMaze play! The tour is over now, but after being on the road for several decades, Saxon and Armored Saint show no signs of slowing down, so hopefully these “Warriors of the Road” be around again. In contrast, MindMaze is a young band that is definitely going places, so hopefully we will see a lot more of them for years to come as well.
