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SAXON At Hell's Heroes Festival In Houston, TX With Photos! By Larry Petro, News Monkey Wednesday, March 26, 2025 @ 8:43 AM
Not since the days of the renowned TEXXAS JAM events of the 1970s and 80s has there been a rock festival in the Lone Star State that attracts as much attention as Hell's Heroes in Houston. Having now completed its seventh year, Hell's Heroes is the go-to destination for the hardcore metalhead with an array of thrash, black, death and traditional heavy metal acts spread out over 3 days at White Oak Music Hall, a venue that stands within sight of the downtown skyline of Houston making for a pleasant if not raucous atmosphere.
The NWOBHM legends made a special trip to the states, and Texas in particular, for 2 shows. The night prior to their HH appearance the band played San Antonio along with LIZZY BORDEN and RIOT V, who had also played the HH Pre-Party show on Wednesday. During the San Antonio show SAXON played a longer set which included performing the album Wheels Of Steel in full. Obviously with just a set time of an hour and 15 minutes allotted to them for HH we wouldn't get the same show but there was no doubt that they would still rock the house solidly.
As the lights dimmed at 9:40pm and the outdoor stage positioned against the backdrop of downtown Houston the heroes took the stage and proceeded to kick our asses right out of the gate with the title track from the latest epic album, Hell, Fire and Damnation and then straight into "Power And The Glory", one of my all-time favorites and just a kick ass song to see live. The set we got was definitely geared toward the old school material with 3 songs each being played from Denim And Leather, Power & The Glory, Strong Arm Of The Law and Wheels Of Steel and one from the self-titled debut album going all the way back to 1979 in "Backs To The Wall".
The most interesting song of the night, at least for me, was hearing them perform the Christopher Cross hit "Ride Like The Wind". I have seen SAXON many times over the years starting in 1983 and I have never heard that song played live. It was actually quite enjoyable! The band was tight and frontman Biff Byford has a voice that defies the sands of time. Even though he just recently turned 74 he still belts out the songs as if he was half that age and there's not too many from that era you can say that about. And with "Wheels Of Steel" and a partial performance of "Princess Of The Night" the seventh edition of the Hell's Heroes festival came to a close.
Setlist:
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