If the proverbial three certainties in life always include death and taxes, then the kicker — at least as far as San Antonio metal is concerned — is Saxon will always draw a sold-out devoted following whenever it comes to town.
In a town that knows how to rock, the latest example came last Friday night on Saxon’s second visit ever to the downtown Tobin Center, once again drawing approximately 1,800 fans filling all levels of the cozy and acoustically impeccable theater for the performing arts.
As in May 2024, Saxon shared tracks from latest album Hell, Fire & Damnation (coverage here). Unlike that show, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal stalwarts went eight songs deep before unleashing 1980 classic Wheels of Steel in its entirety — a treat on this “Hell, Fire & Steel” tour Saxon was not going to unveil the following night in Houston at the Hell’s Heroes VIII festival that it headlined (coverage forthcoming).
Original vocalist Biff Byford and Austin resident and (practically original) drummer Nigel Glockler were once again backed by longtime guitarist Doug Scarratt, bassist Tim “Nibbs” Carter and Diamond Head mainstay Brian Tatler on guitar.
Mixing songs from all eras (see setlist in 54-photo gallery), Saxon and the 74-year-old Byford (yes, you read that correctly) continue to defy age and logic in the city that gave the band its first taste of American radio airplay back in 1979-80. Watch them in action at the bottom via ATM’s footage of “Heavy Metal Thunder” and the band’s 1980 account of the John F. Kennedy assassination, “Dallas 1 p.m.”
Amazingly, the direct support act has been around a little longer than Saxon.
Riot V and hometown bassist Don Van Stavern are touring as part of their 50th anniversary in support of latest album Mean Streets.
Although no original members remain in the group, Van Stavern has been more than a huge contributor to Riot’s legacy beginning with the classic 1988 Thundersteel lineup, with guitarist Mike Flyntz following only five years later.
Backed by drummer Frank Gilchriest and new guitarist Jonathan Reinheimer, the group was injected with a new bolt of energy when vocalist Todd Michael Hall — then of Jack Starr’s Burning Starr and Reverence — was hired by Van Stavern in late 2013 and officially announced as the fifth singer in the band’s storied history in January 2014. Mean Streets marks the third Riot V album with Hall on vocals, a record that sees Van Stavern having written tracks in the vein of each of the band’s eras.
Hall, meanwhile, recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of his scintillating performance on “The Voice” of Foreigner’s “Jukebox Hero” (watch here) and released his latest classic-rock solo album of originals Off the Rails this past October.
Although it was a thankless task narrowing 50 years of music into nine or 10 “support act” songs, Riot pulled it off masterfully with tracks from various albums and nearly every era, highlighted by 1988 opener “Thundersteel,” the mandatory 1981 sing-along “Swords and Tequila” and 1979 dynamo “Road Racin.’ “
Riot added Thundersteel classic “Johnny’s Back” to the printed setlist and inserted it prior to finale “Warrior.” You can watch the group in action at the bottom via ATM’s footage of new-album single “Feel the Fire,” 1982 title track “Restless Breed” and Thundersteel MTV hit “Bloodstreets.”
Kicking off the night was the unpredictable shock-rocker Lizzy Borden, who came out in a three-headed monster contraption while singing the title track to his latest album, 2018’s My Midnight Things.
Longtime drummer Joey Scott provided the beats on classics such as “Notorious,” “Eyes of a Stranger” and “Me Against the World.”
ATM footage below of “Master of Disguise” and the crowd-pleasing “American Metal” captured Lizzy Borden’s uplifting performance in what was a rare San Antonio visit, buoyed by guitarist AC Alexander, who’s a luxury realtor in California known as Alexander Ciullo when he’s not playing, well, American metal.
From the shores of England, to the streets of New York and the glitz of Los Angeles, the trio of acts at the Tobin on this night provided a get-together that San Antonio could be proud of. The debate as to whether the Alamo City remains the “Heavy Metal capital” in 2025 will carry on. But there’s no denying there aren’t many cities in the U.S. that have welcomed, and flown the flag for, Saxon, Riot, Lizzy Borden and many others like them for as long as it has.
For that, San Antonio undoubtedly remains second to none — and the reason these bands will continue to return as long as they’re around to do so.
