After opening band SUIDAKRA had warmed up the Nottingham crowd with their enjoyable brand of folk metal, the stage was handed over to revitalised Canadian metallers ANVIL. After the runaway success of the movie ‘The Story Of…’, ANVIL have suddenly become more popular than at any other time in their long and lets face it, undistinguished career.

ANVIL’s 40 minute set tonight was thoroughly enjoyable. The likes of ‘School Love’ and ‘Mothra’ are fine examples of true old school, NWOBHM influenced heavy metal. Frontman Lips loves every minute of being on stage, and his smile instantly rubs off on the audience. The guitar playing with a dildo may be a little over the top, but hey, if there’s one band who shouldn’t be taken too seriously, it’s ANVIL.

SAXON’s reputation as a killer live band just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Only a few years ago, Rock City on a Monday night would have been half full for this gig, but tonight, the place was bursting at the seems. Frontman Biff Byford lead out his troops to a rapturous response, as ‘Battalions of Steel’ roared out of the PA system at extreme volume. ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’ offered no chance for a respite as a hungry SAXON literally did thunder into action.

As voted by the fans, the setlist threw up a few rare gems, including a quite unbelievable performance of ‘Back On The Street’, a song that hasn’t had the dust blown off it for at least 20 years. The 80’s cheese of the song was the closest SAXON came to matching the comical performance of ANVIL earlier in the piece. ‘Ride Like the Wind’ also got an airing, as did the more up to date metal right hooks that are ‘Are We Travelers In Time’ and ‘State of Grace’.

SAXON are known for rarely delivering short of 2 hours, and with an encore kicked off by the anthemic ‘Live to Rock’ the clock did tick towards that 2 hours mark. With the rest of the encore filled with huge crowd pleasers such as ‘Denim and Leather’ and ‘Princess of the Night’, SAXON left the stage with a well deserved bow to the hordes.

Some would have been upset at the exclusion of ‘Motorcycle Man’ and ‘Crusader’, but with SAXON touring as often as they do, it’s always nice to see a few different songs in the setlist. SAXON are a band who never fail to disappoint, and tonight’s gig was yet another example of why the band has such a live legacy. May the battalions continue on many crusades to come.

SAXON Rating: 4.5/5.0

Photography by Alexander Shaw(Click Here)