Tag Archives: biff byford

Saxon and Uriah Heep Announce “Hell, Fire and Chaos” US Tour

January 8, 2024 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

The Press Release:
Hell, Fire & Chaos – The Best Of British Rock & Metal is the title of the upcoming United States tour by two British Legends in the Rock and Metal genre URIAH HEEP and SAXON. With almost 50 studio albums combined and numerous live records, selling multi-millions, this tour will truly be THE BEST OF BRITISH ROCK AND METAL! The tour is a 100% co-headline with both bands playing equal set lengths, with some cities Uriah Heep closing and others Saxon.

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Events, Reviews

Judas Priest @ Prudential Center (3/20/2018)

March 23, 2018 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

Artist: Judas Priest
Venue: Prudential Center (Newark, NJ)
Opener: Saxon and Black Star Riders
Date: 3/20/2018
Label: Epic Records

As a card-carrying Heavy Metal fan for pretty much four decades now, I was super excited that 2018 would not only find us receiving a brand-new Judas Priest album, but also a healthy tour that would visit a lot of states on our side of the pond. The tour was sure to be an exciting one since The Priest had lined out that both Black Star Riders and the legendary Saxon would be joining them as they celebrated “Firepower”. Sadly, the band wouldn’t be hitting any of the Big Apple arenas outside of Long Islands Nassau Coliseum but that was fine since the nearby Prudential Center in Newark, NJ would be on the docket. Here’s my summary of the rock-solid event.

Black Star Riders: The BSR were up first and if you don’t know too much about the band, you should know that this began as an offshoot to a rebuilt Thin Lizzy. After a brief reunion tour by that famous moniker, the new material was released under a new branding out of respect of their storied past and would find Damon Johnson, Robbie Crane and Chad Szeliga joining up with Scott Gorham and Ricky Warwick. The band is a solid one and has been signed to Nuclear Blast Records for a few years now. Their set is a blending of new sure to be classics along with numbers that are long in our musical hearts from the Thin Lizzy catalog. Tonight, they would not deliver too many of the legendary bands numbers outside of “Jailbreak” and instead would focus on their new albums material. Speaking frankly, I would have preferred that they mixed it up a little better since there was a lot of people coming in tonight that would be getting into place by the time Saxon would hit and I think more would have tried to be earlier if they knew more of the songs. That being said, the early and short set that they delivered was a solid one. I still need to get the new album myself and once I do you can count on a comprehensive overview here on the website. Now it was time for Saxon so all the excite right? You betcha.

BSR Set: All Hell Breaks Loose, Jailbreak, Heavy Fire, Soldiertown, The Killer Instinct, When The Night Comes In, Kingdom Of The Lost, Bound For Glory.
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Features, Tours and Festivals

Judas Priest Announce “Firepower 2018” North American Tour

October 23, 2017 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

I guess that I can no longer quote that fabulous feline Heathcliff with his lament of “I Hate Mondays” when this particular one comes with the announcement of a late Winter early Spring tour by the legendary Judas Priest. I’ll let the official notes from the publicity team give you the full scoop but don’t worry you know that I will close this up with some extra editorial notes. Here we go.

The Press Release:
One of heavy metal’s most legendary acts will be hitting the road in 2018 in support of their new studio album, ‘Firepower.’ The ‘Judas Priest: Firepower 2018 Tour’ will kick off on March 13th in Pennsylvania, and wrap up on May 1st in Texas. The new album (which was produced by Andy Sneap and Tom Allom) is due in early 2018 and the tour will feature the line-up of singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis.

All dates will be running a “Judas Priest Fan Presale” starting Wednesday, October 25th, 2017 at 10:00 A.M local time with the password: FIREPOWER that fans can use to purchase tickets in advance. Check the local venue for additional information.

There are few heavy metal bands that have managed to scale the heights that Judas Priest have during their 40 year career – originally formed during the early ’70s in Birmingham, England, Judas Priest is responsible for some of the genre’s most influential and landmark albums (1980’s ‘British Steel,’ 1982’s ‘Screaming for Vengeance,’ 1990’s ‘Painkiller,’ etc.) and for decades have been one of the greatest live bands in the entire heavy metal genre including an iconic performance at Live Aid in 1985 – they also brought metal to the masses by their appearance on American Idol in 2011 – plus Judas Priest were one of the first metal bands to exclusively wear leather and studs – a look that began during this era and was eventually embraced by metal fans throughout the world! And in 2017, the band was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Features, Giveaways

Win A Ticket To UFO/Saxon @ B.B. King Blues Club on 3/29/2017

March 26, 2017 Ken Pierce 16 Comments

The Details: If you’re a Heavy Metal and Hard Rock fan who has studied the teachings of the masters then you know full well about the greatness of the legendary UFO and the equally dominating Saxon. Each of these bands has brought forth so many amazing tunes and to say that there are numbers that are among the most important tunes for the genre would be an understatement. Just imagine the kind of night that these two might deliver for their fans on the live stage. Having been a fan of each act for so many years I am excited to add this new contest to our offerings thanks to the powers that be at the vaunted Times Square venue. Yes my fiends, some of the PiercingMetal readership are going to see the UFO and Saxon show for free on the Wednesday night appearance. Read more down below.

When and Where: Wednesday, March 29th at B.B. King Blues Club (237 West 42nd Street, NYC)

To Participate: I’ve already extoled over the mutual greatness of UFO and Saxon and since this is a super important show I am NOT going to make it easy on you at all. Tenured readers know that I generally ask for three things about the main act that make you clamor for this show win and guess what, I will stick to the premise for this giveaway. However, in this case there are two main acts and that means three items for each of them. Yep. Three for UFO and three for Saxon. You can cite your favorite albums and why, discuss past concert experiences and what made them special or even let us know how they affected your musical psyche. Just know that there have to be three for each band. Not one, not two but three. Incompletes are an immediate NEXT in the Big Metal Book of Passes and let’s face it, these guys deserve the input. As always you should make these interesting reading since typing in “because they rock dude” is just too un-original and boring. I’ll be responding to the comments that I like most right below their answer. This is for a single ticket only and no plus one requests can be honored. Sorry.
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Features, Tours and Festivals

UFO & Saxon Announce Spring US Tour – The British Invasion 2017!

October 10, 2016 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

I’m slowly coming back to Earth after the four-day massive event spectacle that was the NY Comic Con and while I do that it’s great to find some new concert tours being announced. Check this one out from the teams working the great British bands UFO and Saxon who will be heading our way in Spring 2017.

tour-ufo-and-saxon-spring-2017

The Press Release:
Rock legends UFO have announced a US tour with very special guests SAXON, beginning March 9 in Houston, TX and continuing into early April.

UFO, with their long standing line up of Phil Mogg (Vocals), Paul Raymond (Keyboards / Guitar), Andy Parker (Drums), Vinnie Moore (Guitar) and Rob De Luca (Bass), are back in the US after a phenomenally successful sold out tour in early 2016. They are currently working on their 22nd studio album after the last studio release A Conspiracy of Stars in 2015.

SAXON are touring on their latest release Battering Ram together with the new double live album set Let Me Feel Your Power (out October 28 in North America), both on the UDR Music label. After great success with both US headline shows and dates with Judas Priest over last few years, the band are back as part of this great package. SAXON are Biff Byford (Vocals), Paul Quinn (Guitar), Nigel Glockler (Drums), Doug Scarrett (Guitar) and Tim “Nibbs” Carter (Bass).
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