They insist upon themselves, and you wouldn't want it any other way

I remember interviewing the late, great David Brockie (a.k.a. Oderus Urungus from Gwar) in 2007, and that he affectionately referred to Saxon as "old geezers". Well, that's 19 years ago. One can only wonder what he'd have said about them today, what with stately frontman Biff Byford, for example, having long since rocked equal parts stately silver mane and beer gut.

And with a Copenhell line-up like this year's, where headliner slots are sadly dominated by those wretched, sterile trend-calculations that pass for metal bands in this sorry millennium, I'm clearly feeling somewhat of an initial disconnection in the air between band and audience. Indeed, perhaps not unlike a sentiment of "who the Hell ARE these old geezers anyway?".

Last time I saw Saxon, they completely fucking ripped apart the Jailbreak festival in downright spite of the unlikely combination of big stage + small crowd + sudden flash flood. This time around, none of the kind. Only thing is, this is the fourth day, so people might be tired. But then again, it's 8 p.m., so they've had plenty of time to drink themselves into party mode. So I dunno, man.

Whatever's the case, it's not until the life-affirming frenzied romp of "Heavy Metal Thunder" that Barnsley's finest finally win the crowd, kickstarting a mosh pit lasting throughout the rest of the show. Up until then, while the title track from "Dogs of War" is a wicked inclusion – my first time hearing it out of 13 Saxon shows – it's still too deep of a cut for this audience. Same thing goes for the otherwise steady staples of "Solid Ball of Rock" and the wonderful festival hymn "And the Bands Played On", the former perhaps being a bit too void of dynamics, and the latter perhaps leaning a bit too close to the boogie-like Status Quo territory for the kids.

But as has long been both attempted and ridiculed as a futile attempt at criticism of cultural artefacts galore, Saxon insist upon themselves. Whether despite the gritty metal attack of "Sacrifice" not igniting the crowd as it should, or despite a minor rhythm group mishap during "Power and the Glory". When someone has something important on their minds and know how to say it well, insisting upon themselves will eventually pay off. And that's exactly the case here.

Because Saxon have something on their minds, alright. The same thing as they did in '79 when the dam began to burst, as one lyric of theirs famously goes. And that thing is called heavy metal. Genuine, uncontaminated heavy metal. And its infectious energy dissipates throughout the fortunate attendees. Seeing, for example, one kid after the other – and we're talking age 12-14 here – constantly surf the crowd during "Wheels of Steel". And eventually seeing people all the way back on the hill stand up in reverence during the quintessentially epic "Crusader".

Old geezers or not, enjoy Saxon while they're here. Because they're truer than anything you're into, and it'll be a dark day when they leave us.

As I wrote about the Iron Maiden show closing the festival's first evening, when a group reaches an average age nearing 70, the cracks naturally begin to show. This is the case here as well: I'm noticing, for example, otherwise loveably energetic drummer Nigel Glockler struggling a few times. And Byford even gets into the last verse of an otherwise blistering "Motorcycle Man" one 8th too late (kinda like that time when he did it one 8th too early with Metallica in Paris), so the band has to realign.

The only one who seems 100% unfazed by any and every imaginable blemish is – to no surprise of any fan – ever-savage bassist Nibbs Carter, the band's youngest member at the ripe age of 59, who thrashes around on stage, headbanging like a maniac, taking off his shirt, and jumping on and off monitors and podiums. I normally consider Carter the coolest bass player in metal, but as I wrote after the Anthrax concert the other night, I might have to concede that title to Frank Bello. Well, now once again, I'm not so sure about that anymore. We can call it a tie.

But I digress, of course. Just like with aforementioned Maiden show, while any mishaps here are noticeable, they're still so relatively few and far between that everything remains more than intact. While I've long started to tire of people bumping into me during concerts unless I'm in on the action, my constantly moshing brothers and sisters around me tonight still bring me joy. Everyone's having a ball, whether jumping and hollering along with evergreen crowd banger "747 (Strangers in the Night)", or passing around the head of a roast suckling pig for everyone to kiss during aforementioned "Motorcycle Man".

Apart from Carter, the band isn't as ambulant as they used to. But Byford, while, at 75, not exactly storming back and forth, takes full advantage of his aforementioned stateliness, towering majestically behind the band during singalong NWoBHM anthem "Denim and Leather" like a general overseeing his troops. However, demonstrating that he's not entirely behind the 21st century wayside, he whips out his smartphone towards the end, shooting a video of the masses before we erupt in one big dusty cloud of flailing arms, legs, and hair during set closer "Princess of the Night".

This, then, marks not only my 13th Saxon show, but the longest haul in audience engagement at either of those, going from an acceptable 3.5/6 to their average sturdy 5/6.

Old geezers or not, enjoy them while they're here. Because they're truer than anything you're into, and it'll be a dark day when they leave us.

Rating: 5 out of 6

Genre: Heavy metal
Venue: Copenhell, Hades Stage
Date: Sat., June 27th, 2026

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Setlist:

1. Hell, Fire, and Damnation
2. Power and the Glory
3. Dogs of War
4. And the Bands Played On
5. Sacrifice
6. Heavy Metal Thunder
7. Dallas 1 PM
8. Solid Ball of Rock
9. Motorcycle Man
10. Denim and Leather
11. 747 (Strangers in the Night)
12. Wheels of Steel
13. Crusader
14. Princess of the Night