Dead End Drive-In: Now Showing – Saxon – ‘Warriors Of The Road: The Saxon Chronicles Part II’
Written by Ian Bell
Saturday, 07 February 2015 03:20
Saxon – ‘Warriors of the Road: The Saxon Chronicles Part II’ (UDR)
‘Warriors Of The Road’ is the second instalment in Saxon’s visual documentation of life on the road and beyond, and this televisual feast of a package includes extensive coverage of their 2013 appearance at the UK’s Steelhouse Festival plus full-sets from the Wacken and Download festivals in 2012 and Graspop in 2013, and iIf that isn’t enough denim and leather for you then you also get the Steelhouse Festival set on CD too, Added to the live stuff is a fantastic behind the scenes documentary with interviews with each of the band members as well as revisiting old haunts, positively, the criticism of former band member has thankfully been left to reside in ‘Chronicles 1’ (which is also well worth checking out too by the way).
The Steelhouse Festival show and documentary run in parallel in a song/interview/song format which works really well and as I was there I am amazed by how good the quality of the filming and the production of the live show is considering I can’t remember any big production cameras about the place. In splitting hairs the only minus of this format is it would be nice to watch the live show without the documentary running through it and vice versa. A particular highlight for any older Saxon fan will be seeing the mighty Eagle leaving storage in Hannover and making the journey to South Wales for its debut at a British festival. The interviews reinforce the down to earth nature of the blokes that make up Saxon and are engaging and stories and insights are given without any ego. There’s some classic stories as well, such as the reasons why Saxon were never a drug band, it started that way but Biff going for a 15 minute walk along Blackpool front mid set as he was stoned in the early days brought it all to an abrupt end.
The performances from both Wacken and Download festivals in 2012 and Graspop Metal Meeting 2013 are also of superb quality, whilst the CD of the Steelhouse performance stands up against any of the other multiple live albums the band have now released, so with four live sets captured on DVD/Blu-ray along with the superb insight into the band via the documentary, which should be of interest to any rock music fan whether a fan of Saxon or not, coupled with the live album, it all makes for a package that only smells of value for money (the three disc DVD version retailing for under £15).
I would highly recommend ‘Warriors Of The Road’ to any Saxon fan, any fan that was at any of the festivals included here, and basically anybody who has an interest in rock music played from the heart. Saxon are riding high on a wave of popularity again at the moment, which is amazing for a band that has been going so long, recent high quality album releases have helped, being an amazing live band has helped even more, and the band obviously loving what they do as much as they did decades ago also helps. Saxon deserve the current levels of respect being afforded them and the world is a better place with them in it.
To pick up your copy of ‘Warriors Of The Road – The Saxon Chronicles Part II’ – CLICK HERE
