Motorhead, Saxon 08-19-15 Riverside, CA

This is my third post about a Saxon show, but this one is very special because I got the Meet & Greet. I drove to Riverside, CA (about 5 ½ hours) to get the opportunity to meet Saxon. I arrived at Riverside Municipal Auditorium and wasn’t sure where to go at first. I could not find anyone else with a Meet & Greet. Well, there was a reason for that…I was the only one, LOL. A representative finally got me. First he took me along a maze to find the merchandise table. I have enough stuff, so then he took me to the auditorium to watch the soundcheck. Saxon played one full song during the soundcheck: their new one, “Battering Ram.”


Saxon soundcheck. Note the Crobot banner.


Crobot soundcheck, LOL.

After the band posed for a photoshoot, they walked over to where I was sitting. We shook hands and I followed Biff to their tour bus. I got to sit with them and Biff put on their new CD. One funny story was that, since this was the first date of this current leg of the tour, their bus wasn’t stocked. Biff used a walky talky to order beer. A guy walks in the bus with a case of Bud Light, Biff says, “I asked for beer, not lemonade”, LOL. I asked what kind of beer they like. Biff said, “Beer with alcohol” (though he said he actually isn’t a beer drinker and prefers wine).  He asked the guys what they wanted.  Doug wanted Heineken.  Biff got on the walky talky to ask Paul, who wasn’t seated with us at the time, what he wanted and Paul replied, “I’m in the bathroom!” LOL.  There is a little bathroom on the bus right by the front sitting area.




Nibbs Carter was the nicest guy. He made sure everyone signed my ticket as Rock Events didn’t have the autograph card I was supposed to get and will have it sent to me in the mail. He was also the most personable and remembered the Mesa show I went to. A lady was handing out cards advertising a heavy metal video network on the internet, and he remembered it. Doug, Paul, and Nigel were very quiet.








I got photos taken with the band on the bus and in front of the bus. I also got photos with each individual band member. I got to walk back into the venue with them, too. As we walked back, Paul said something about how they play even harder when they have a smaller audience. I said the audience in Mesa was small. Biff said that those are called "fillers" and that they just pay for the bus and supplies. I highly recommend getting the VIP Meet & Greet. It’s only $75. You get to hang out with the band and Biff puts on the CD of their latest album Battering Ram. You also get a VIP laminate and lanyard and autograph card. I just didn’t get mine yet because it hadn’t arrived in time.





Now for the show.  Crobot, the opening act, was really good. The singer was quite the showman and even hopped on the guitarist’s shoulders at one point. Saxon was great as always and played the usual numbers. It seemed to be a younger crowd that wasn’t as familiar with them. I overheard someone say, “They’re pretty good” (LOL).  When Motorhead came on, things got crazy. A guy behind me warned me he was going to start “elbowing” which turned out to mean pushing the crowd one way or the other.



The vocals sounded awful at first. It was the equipment because Lemmy sounded fine when he spoke to the crowd and after the first song. The first song, though, was almost unlistenable.  I’m not a big Motorhead fan, so didn’t know most of the songs, but the ones Lemmy announced were “Metropolis”, “Over The Top”, “Rock It”, “Going To Brazil”, “Just Cause You Got The Power”. The one song I knew well that they played because it’s one of my favorites of theirs was “The Chase Is Better Than The Catch”. There were also guitar and drum solos. “Ace Of Spades” was the last song they played in the regular set. They played one encore.  I was pushed and shoved in the crowd (as can be seen from the videos I took) and had a beer spilled on me. Well, at least I can say I saw Motorhead.

Nice review and great story - sounds like a fantastic time!!!!!!!!

Saxon is a fave band of mine and one that I keep missing live. I seriously need to get out and see them before they decide to call it a day.

And agreed, great write up and it does look like you had a heck of a time and to be the only meet n greeter how special is that.

Helluva review! You put alot of effort into it!

Looking forward to the Chicago show next month. We get Armored Saint as the opener, which I am totally pysched about.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

Helluva review!  You put alot of effort into it!

Looking forward to the Chicago show next month.  We get Armored Saint as the opener, which I am totally pysched about.

I actually wanted to go to the San Diego show and was excited to see Armored Saint opening because I'm just getting into their stuff via Spotify and YouTube. I couldn't get the day off after that show to travel back, so opted for Riverside. I was disappointed when I saw the show was for Motorhead and Armored Saint wouldn't be there. It worked out anyway.

Great review!!! Awesome pics as well!! I'll be seeing Saxon for the first time in Sept. with Armored Saint, Dragonland and Almah.

What a great experience. I have yet to catch Saxon live. They have never been anywhere near here in their entire career.

I asked Paul where his favorite place to play was, and he said he really liked San Antonio. That surprised me, but now I know why. Yesterday Motorhead cancelled the San Antonio show and Saxon was able to get a venue that they sold out within 4 hours. They were giving updates on their Facebook page. They even played a few songs not on their regular set (I'm trying to find out what those songs were). That's pretty amazing. They have great fans in San Antonio.

Saxon has a large following in San Antonio, when Uncle Sax and I went and saw them they traveled to the States just to play that 1 gig and then fly back.

Budgie also has a large following in San Antonio, the only city in the US where they do.

They're was a meet & greet.... I live 20 minutes from Riverside I would have loved to have gone.