Live | Saxon [support Girlschool & Grand Slam] – 013 – Tilburg [NL]

2 March 2025

While the southern part of the Netherlands is immersed in carnival, ‘013’ bravely resists with a concert by Saxon. Do the heavy metal veterans still know how to do it?

FIRST SUPPORT ACT: GRAND SLAM

The evening starts with Grand Slam. This is an interesting band because they were founded in 1984 by Phil Lynott after Thin Lizzy. After his death the band fell apart until original keyboard player Mark Stanway and guitarist Laurence Archer reformed the band in 2016. Meanwhile Laurence Archer, you may remember him from Stampede and UFO, is still in the live band.

Grand Slam opens with ,,Nineteen” by Phil Lynott. Mike Dyer’s strong vocal is immediately noticeable. The tribute to Phil Lynott is complete when they play ,,Military Man” by Gary Moore and the traditional ,,Whiskey in the Jar”. With three more strong classic hard rock songs of their own, it’s an unexpected strong performance that opens this evening.

THE SECOND SUPPORT ACT: GIRLSCHOOL

From the same generation as Saxon are special guests Girlschool during their ‘farewell tour’. They have always pretty much operated on the margins. However, they were a source of inspiration for women to express themselves in metal. For that alone they deserve all the respect.

The core of the band is still guitarist/singer Kim McAuliffe and drummer Denise Dufort. This tour Larry Peterson is the stand in for Denise, due to her arthritis in het hands and that’s also the case for tonight. Kim also feels her body cracking but tonight it’s a cold on her voice.

It is time to stop and to look back on a wonderful run of almost 50 years. Girlschool opens with the classic ,,Demolition boys”. The rest of the setlist mainly consists of songs from their first two strong albums. The Mötorhead song ,,Bomber” is played in honor of Lemmy because both bands were very close. ,,Emergency” closes the set. All in all a good performance.

THE HEADLINER: SAXON

Saxon opens for a sold-out ’01’3 with the title track of the latest album and tour ‘Hell, Fire and Damnation’. It is the start of a wonderful evening of NWOBHM.

Even though the latest albums are at a consistently high level, most fans want to hear songs from their younger years when they still had hair or were not gray. It’s a problem that many long-existed bands have to deal with. You can forcefully ignore it or have no problem with it. Saxon takes a clever approach by playing the jubilee classic album ‘Wheels of Steel’ in its entirety. They can continue this concept for years because there are quite a few classic albums that are worthy to be put in the spotlight.

45TH ANNIVERSARY OF `WHEELS OF STEEL’

For the old-school Saxon fan, nothing can go wrong with a setlist that, in addition to the entire 45th anniversary ‘Wheels of Steel’ album, consists of live favorites, with ,,Dogs of War” from 1995 as most recent one. Of course they play a number of songs from the latest album ‘Hell, Fire and Damnation’. In addition to the title track these are ,,Madame Guillotine”, ,,There’s something in Roswell” and ,,1066”.

For the rest it is Saxon as Saxon just is and as we have seen them during the latest tours. The headbanging bassist Nibbs Carter remains the youngster of the band being 58 years and Biff is the director with still an excellent voice. Despite the fact that Brian Tatler is an excellent replacement for Paul Quinn, a bit of the characteristic vibe is missing.

SAXON – THE CONCLUSION

It is a fantastic concert with the highlight of course being the complete performance of the ‘Wheels of Steel’ album. While playing this classic album, many memories will come back. That gives extra cachet to the concert.

I can only say: please stay on the road, because a sold-out ‘013’ proves there is a demand. Also, better having a concert with veterans who play for about two hours than youngsters who leave after an hour. On the next tour ‘Strong Arm of the Law’ in its entirety, please!

SETLIST GRAND SLAM

• Nineteen (Phil Lynott cover)
• Crazy
• Military Man (Gary Moore cover)
• Spitfire
• Sisters of Mercy
• Whiskey in the Jar (traditional song)

SETLIST GIRLSCHOOL

• Demolition Boys
• C’mon let’s Go
• The Hunter
• Hit and Run
• Future Flash
• Kick it Down
• It is what it Is
• Are you Ready?
• Race with the Devil (The Gun cover)
• Bomber (Motörhead cover)
• Emergency

SETLIST SAXON

• Hell, Fire and Damnation
• Dogs of War
• Backs to The Wall
• Madame Guillotine
• And the Bands Played On
• Dallas 1 PM
• Solid ball of Rock
• There’s something in Roswell
• Strong arm of the Law
• 1066

WHEELS OF STEEL ALBUM

• Motorcycle Man
• Stand up and be Counted
• 747 (Strangers in the Night)
• Wheels of Steel
• Freeway Mad
• See the Light Shining
• Street Fighting Gang
• Suzie Hold On
• Machine Gun

THE ENCORE

• Crusader
• Heavy Metal Thunder
• Denim and Leather
• Princess of the Night

All photos by Dirk van den Heuvel of DCH-Photography