St George's Day has become a traditional gig day for British heavy metal band Saxon. 2013's concert took the band to the Ritz in Manchester and the show has now been preserved for all time on a live double CD.As the concert has been recorded in it's entirety, (including the chit chat in between songs) you can close your eyes and imagine you are stood amongst the crowd, rocking out and playing air guitar in your room to Power And The Glory, Wheels Of Steel and 747 (Strangers In The Night). Make no mistake, this CD gives you the full Saxon live experience.
The set is a mixture of old classics and 6 new songs from their Sacrifice album including Wheels of Terror andGuardians Of The Tomb. The set also features some great rarities like Broken Heroes and Conquistador. Although some fans grumbled that Motorcycle Man was absent from the show, this 2 hour plus concert gives us Saxon at their best and demonstrates their lasting legacy on the genre. The new tracks sitting so well alongside the classics only goes to show how these guys continue to fly the flag for British metal.
One of the best things about this album is that the tracks have not been sanitised by excessive studio mixing, so they maintain their glorious live raw edge. You can really feel the atmosphere and taste the sweat in this recording as Biff Byford and the band demonstrate that they still have the energy and punch of a great metal band. It's a shame that there is no live DVD or video highlights added to this package (at least not at the time of writing), but hopefully they will follow up with this addition in the future.
St George's Day Sacrifice is a great album for fans who were at the Ritz and for fans who wish they could have been. This fantastic live offering is perfect for getting you in the mood for some old school head banging.