That was a fresh kiss of rock history for that of the Vogtland: With a memorable concert evening, the two icons breathed new youth into the music hall in the Musikwinkel metropolis.
Whether something old seems old-fashioned, nostalgic, timelessly serious or exciting again is at best half due to the music on offer: atmosphere always ignites in the interplay between audience expectations and stage presentation. As far as that is concerned, around a thousand rock fans experienced a moment of happiness in the music hall in Markneukirchen on Saturday evening. How often have you attended retro concerts where a relaxed audience turned the evening into a mental wink: let’s see what the old bastards can do, they’re not doing any better than us, they’re not getting any younger, hey!
Now Saxon singer Biff Byford is in his 70s and Rage frontman Peavy Wagner is approaching his 60s. Both bands, the British battleship of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and the power metal formation from the Ruhr area, have each recorded 25 albums, many (old ones!) of which are legendary for the metal scene. Means: Both groups actually have to play sets, the core of which is 20 years old; newer material is taken in as an alibi. Nevertheless, the guest performance in the Vogtland was an unexpected moment of freshness: no “let’s see” in the hall, just “great that they are here!”. Namely in Markneukirchen, the place of longing for metal in the 90s in a wide radius as far as Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt: Here after the reunification, when the lights went out everywhere, something was torched, greats like Dio, Rammstein, Blind Guardian and even those back then unknown placebo took to the city by storm.
At that time, the “Schützenhaus” was the Germany-wide known metal pilgrimage site. Ever since that was torn down and the Stadthalle, which was newly built 20 years ago, was never able to continue its boom, the rock culture of the upper Vogtland has largely consisted of memories and the principle of hope. There were a few attempts at resuscitation, but none felt as vital as this evening: Is something really going on now?
Rage as the noble supporting act performed the principle of rejuvenation in perfection at the start. Frontman Peavy, whose hair was still on his head and not under his chin during his guest performances in the “Schützenhaus”, runs the squad as the only original member with the fresh blood of well-rested U-40 experts, which the band almost explodes with craftsmanship at the beginning left: Fat, clear sound, great light and raging fan choirs flanked the controlled demolition. From “Don’t Fear The Winter” to “Black in Mind” there was good to twelve, even if you felt like you had to skip every second band classic: It wasn’t somehow “timeless”, there was a lot of fresh pepper in it. When saying goodbye, Rage could grin from ear to ear: Approved!
Saxon, on the other hand, completed their rejuvenation when they swapped alto bassist Paul Johnson for Tim “Nibbs” Carter, who was only 22 at the time, in 1988. Accordingly, the Brits got down to business with a celebrated best-of program from “Power And The Glory” to “Heavy Metal Thunder” to “Crusader”. Still, there was always that nervous, joyful “Finally!” in the crowd, that loud hunger for more rock. And as if they felt it, Saxon left out their most striking hit: With “Requiem” in 1990, the band had tried for the last time to be somehow modern and at the same time defeat a curse. The band, which was formed in the late 1970s, was one of the most important drivers of the “New Wave Of British Heavy Metal” (NWOBHM) along with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and their albums range from the second “Strong Arm Of The Law” (1980) to “Crusader” (1984) Milestones of the genre.But: Unlike the colleagues mentioned or, for example, Def Leppard and Motörhead, the group from Yorkshire was never able to break into the American market and, despite being of the same quality, remained a European phenomenon.
Although treats were repeatedly thrown at the USA, from the classic “Dallas 1pm” to the Kennedy assassination to “Requiem”, a clever commercial anthem about the immortality of US stage rock, adaptable and defiant at the same time: after all, the mass success of most hard-core US -Bands based on the British model, not least the young Metallica, whose star was to rise absurdly brightly in the 90s, toured in the European Saxon support act. So they mixed the coal dust of the very own British workers’ hammering with the hedonistic glamor of big AOR hits into the simply brilliant piece – which in the rising grunge wave was only appreciated by dying scrap metal freaks and actually the involuntary end of an era sang.
But nothing suits Saxon 2023 less than a funeral mass: The band is much further away from that in 2023 than in the 90s. The NWOBHM is back in fashion like never before. Quite a few youngster groups, whose parents mostly didn’t even know each other at the time of “Requiem”, indulge in this sound, whose musical-historical ignition potential can hardly be underestimated. This was also felt among the visitors. So Byford & Co preferred to bang out the title song of their huge 1990s album, which has long since been acknowledged: “Solid Ball Of Rock”! And that evening seemed to come full circle for Markneukirchen: the old can, logically, become the new again. So what’s the point of remembering the Schützenhaus as long as you still have a music hall?