Armored Saint 11-19-16 Club Red, Mesa, AZ

Armored Saint played November 19, 2016 at Club Red in Mesa, AZ. It was one of the dates that offered the meet & greet as part of their PledgeMusic campaign for their new live album recently titled Carpe Noctum. I was very impressed with how the handlers communicated and arranged the meet and greet. I received an email asking for my shirt size and instructing me to arrive at the venue no later than 3:30 P.M. Things were delayed, so the meet and greet didn’t actually start until around 4:40 P.M. but that’s par for the course. The guy who ran it recognized me from the Saxon meet and greet in Riverside, CA way back in August 2015. I was very surprised, haha.

Anyway, there were eleven of us and we each got a cinch bag with drumsticks and stickers. After the session, we received our t-shirts. I had requested a small, but they only had medium. The band was already on stage when we arrived. John Bush greeted us and said 2005 was the last time they played Phoenix (Mesa is close enough to Phoenix, I guess).  It was with the Scorpions. They also reminisced about playing at a bar called the Mason Jar sometime in the 1980s and there was just one guy in the audience and another at the bar. Joey said the guy drinking at the bar was the other guy’s driver. John said, “I hope not, if he was driving.” “Well, it was the 1980s,” Joey replied.



John asked each of us where we had seen them before. I told him when they played with Metal Church at Brick By Brick in San Diego. It was last June, but he didn’t seem to remember it. He just said, “so recent, right?” Someone asked where John’s son was who sometimes accompanies him on the road. He was back in San Diego for a soccer game, I believe. John had stayed in San Diego to watch his daughter play some sport and then flew to Phoenix. One of the fans there had been to the San Diego show the night before and I think was going to their next city, Lubbock, TX.


They played three songs for their soundcheck. They allowed us to record them.  They played “Mess,” “Can U Deliver,” and “Stricken By Fate.” For “Can U Deliver” they brought out Nick Bowcott, formally of Grim Reaper, to play guitar. He lives in Phoenix and had always wanted to jam with them. That was a treat. Here's the video I took:



After the soundcheck, the band came down to talk with us and sign any memorabilia we brought. I printed out a photo for them to sign. Joey Vera was very friendly. We talked a little about Nibbs Carter of Saxon because I mentioned how nice he was when I met the band.  We also talked briefly about Grim Reaper. He said they had played with Grim Reaper in 1987 but never jammed with them. One fan brought a custom Armored Saint guitar for them to sign. The guitarists made sure we all got guitar picks. We then got are photos with the band.



We had to leave and then come back when the doors opened at 6 P.M. One of the guys at the meet and greet said he was coming back at 11:00 P.M. because that is when Armored Saint played (he was correct). I guess he didn’t care about any of the opening acts. I came back about 6:45 P.M. in time to see the first act, Empire of Dezire. They are a Phoenix band and were pretty good and had merchandise for sale. They have a female singer.

Next was Violent Revolution. I wasn’t that impressed with them. The next band was Dive Bar Knights which was a perfect name for them considering their style and subject of most of their songs. The drummer lost a stick in the crowd. I was up in front and the guy just a few people down from me caught it. He had several drumsticks with him. He tossed it back to the drummer after the song. The singer said he had never seen that happen before. I found out on their Facebook page that the guy who tossed back the stick was the drummer for another band playing that night, Bomber 2.0.



The next band up was Dawn of the Rising. I liked them. I checked their Facebook page and they took a photo of the audience before their set and I’m in it looking down at my phone, lol. Anyway, my favorite opening band of the night was Bomber 2.0. They are a band out of Tempe, AZ and were very energetic and fun. Their songs were upbeat and catchy and they seemed to be having a great time. Here is their website with their songs: https://www.reverbnation.com/bomber20.  The drummer who caught the Dive Bar Knight’s drummer’s stick lost one of his drumsticks in the crowd, too.


The final opening band was Midnight Eternal from New York. They are touring with Queensryche and Armored Saint. They had a lot of props. The female singer set up a fan and a box to stand on. They also had two giant posters of their album artwork which was also featured on the bass drum.  I guess their style is symphonic metal. The bass player had a ridiculous amount of hair he flipped around.  He kind of looked like Jesus, lol. When the singer was on the platform, I kept anticipating fog to rise. I thought I saw little streams of smoke from two metal pins on top of the riser. The singer would step on one which I thought was controlling it. No fog rose from it, though, so maybe it just added height. The fan blew her hair up. The props didn’t seem to add much to the show but, maybe, in the back it would look more impressive.




It was after 11:00 P.M., and finally Armored Saint was being prepared to go on. I had been standing in the same spot up in front since 7:00 P.M. They started with “Win Hands Down” and then right into “March of the Saint” like they did in San Diego. I took a photo of the set list: Win Hands Down, March of the Saint, Nervous Man, Control Issues, In An Instant, Last Train Home, Chemical Euphoria, Mess, Tribal Dance, Aftermath, Left Hook from Right Field, Reign of Fire, and encores Can U Deliver and Mad House. Bowcott joined them for “Can U Deliver.” I got home after 1:00 A.M. It was a long night of metal.

Cool review!! And some great photos and AS merch!!!

That's really cool!