Armored Saint -- Hollywood, CA -- November 30th, 2012

[Onioner]

This was the Metal Blade Records 30th Anniversary show. Gypsyhawk opened and were fun enough.

Sacred Reich was next and here is their marathon setlist.

1. Ignorance
2. War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
3. The American Way

Yup only three songs. Brian Slagel later apologized for the short set and said that he tried to get them to play for longer but the band insisted on only three songs. Laaaaaame.

Armored Saint came out dressed up in their classic 80s outfits. Phil and Gonzo had battle armor, John and Joey wore wigs and had denim vests. It was goofy yet kind of amazing, probably the closest thing to seeing them 30 years ago we'll ever get. Hell, seeing John Bush in person wearing a denim vest and having a full shock of brown hair was a total mindfuck, yet it was so cool. After March of the Saint they took off the costumes and played the rest of the set as normal. Throughout the set they incorporated covers with guests. Johan Hegg tore it up on Hit the Lights (apparently a couple Metallidudes wre up in the VIP balcony), hearing Ray Alder on Die by the Sword was surprisingly cool and Dug wailed on Hollywood. They also brought out a three year old to help sing Can U Deliver. It was fucking adorable and also metal as fuck. They also invited Doug, Brian Slagel to help sing background vocals on Madhouse and also Bernie from Redemption who had also guested on Hit the Lights earlier. Awesome set as I expected, and I got to hear 8 Armored Saint songs that I didn't get two years ago! John also sounded outstanding.

1. Lesson Well Learned
2. March of the Saint
3. Left Hook from Right Field
4. Long Before I Die
5. Control Issues (live debut)
6. Hit the lights (Metallica cover W/ Johan hegg and Bernie Versailles)
7. Human Vulture
8. Dropping Like Flies
9. Die by the Sword (Slayer cover W/ Ray Alder and Juan Garcia)
10. Little Monkey
11. Can U Deliver W/ little kid
12. Chemical Euphoria
Encore
13. Aftermath
14. Hollywood (Down On Your Luck) (Thin Lizzy cover W/ Nick from Redemption and Doug Pinnick and Eric from Gypsyhawk)
15. Reign of Fire
16. Madhouse W/ Bernie, Doug, and Brian Slagel

Oh and Eddie Trunk and Don Jamieson emcee'd and were total tools. Also if a mod can tack on a comma to the thread title that would be great, sorry about the error.

[MetalIsArt]

John indeed is outstanding.

This band should've been huge.

[Nater]

Weird Reich only wanted to play 3 songs. Not quite getting that but they are still kick ass.

[tenchimyo]

that sounds like a great time! why so many covers by the Saint tho? that THIN LIZZY one musta really jammed

[Onioner]

Originally Posted by MetalIsArt

John indeed is outstanding.

This band should've been huge.

Nah, Armored Saint are too great for millions of Americans to ever appreciate. It's not that they weren't good enough for America, it's that America wasn't good enough for them. Why they didn't become huge in Europe like Manowar is I'll never know though.

Originally Posted by tenchimyo

that sounds like a great time! why so many covers by the Saint tho? that THIN LIZZY one musta really jammed

The covers were all songs that were originally released on Metal Blade. Hit the Lights was on the Metal Massacre comp, Die by the Sword was from Show Now Mercy which came out on Metal Blade and I think Metal Blade reissued Renegade, which Hollywood is off of, at some point in the '90s. Considering they played a longer than usual setlist with a ton of relatively rare songs, I'm more than happy.

Oh and brutal, Brian Slagel is the founder of Metal Blade, not a member of Sacred Reich.

[sarsip]

Control Issues

[justinm4bama]

Originally Posted by Onioner

This was the Metal Blade Records 30th Anniversary show. Gypsyhawk opened and were fun enough.

Sacred Reich was next and here is their marathon setlist.

1. Ignorance
2. War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
3. The American Way

Yup only three songs. Brian Slagel later apologized for the short set and said that he tried to get them to play for longer but the band insisted on only three songs. Laaaaaame.

Armored Saint came out dressed up in their classic 80s outfits. Phil and Gonzo had battle armor, John and Joey wore wigs and had denim vests. It was goofy yet kind of amazing, probably the closest thing to seeing them 30 years ago we'll ever get. Hell, seeing John Bush in person wearing a denim vest and having a full shock of brown hair was a total mindfuck, yet it was so cool. After March of the Saint they took off the costumes and played the rest of the set as normal. Throughout the set they incorporated covers with guests. Johan Hegg tore it up on Hit the Lights (apparently a couple Metallidudes wre up in the VIP balcony), hearing Ray Alder on Die by the Sword was surprisingly cool and Dug wailed on Hollywood. They also brought out a three year old to help sing Can U Deliver. It was fucking adorable and also metal as fuck. They also invited Doug, Brian Slagel to help sing background vocals on Madhouse and also Bernie from Redemption who had also guested on Hit the Lights earlier. Awesome set as I expected, and I got to hear 8 Armored Saint songs that I didn't get two years ago! John also sounded outstanding.

1. Lesson Well Learned
2. March of the Saint
3. Left Hook from Right Field
4. Long Before I Die
5. Control Issues (live debut)
6. Hit the lights (Metallica cover W/ Johan hegg and Bernie Versailles)
7. Human Vulture
8. Dropping Like Flies
9. Die by the Sword (Slayer cover W/ Ray Alder and Juan Garcia)
10. Little Monkey
11. Can U Deliver W/ little kid
12. Chemical Euphoria
Encore
13. Aftermath
14. Hollywood (Down On Your Luck) (Thin Lizzy cover W/ Nick from Redemption and Doug Pinnick and Eric from Gypsyhawk)
15. Reign of Fire
16. Madhouse W/ Bernie, Doug, and Brian Slagel

Oh and Eddie Trunk and Don Jamieson emcee'd and were total tools. Also if a mod can tack on a comma to the thread title that would be great, sorry about the error.

How were the TMS guys tools? Big fan of the show, but iffy on how they are on and off camera.

[MetalIsArt]

Originally Posted by Onioner

Nah, Armored Saint are too great for millions of Americans to ever appreciate. It's not that they weren't good enough for America, it's that America wasn't good enough for them. Why they didn't become huge in Europe like Manowar is I'll never know though.



The covers were all songs that were originally released on Metal Blade. Hit the Lights was on the Metal Massacre comp, Die by the Sword was from Show Now Mercy which came out on Metal Blade and I think Metal Blade reissued Renegade, which Hollywood is off of, at some point in the '90s. Considering they played a longer than usual setlist with a ton of relatively rare songs, I'm more than happy.

Oh and brutal, Brian Slagel is the founder of Metal Blade, not a member of Sacred Reich.

Manowar sucks imho, so yeah...

And they're "huge" only in Germany & east-Europe.

[Sanitarium78]

Originally Posted by MetalIsArt

This band should've been huge.

It never could've happened. There were too many big names in metal back in the day for them to get to that level. Their first three albums are good but they're not top tier level good. They did find some success with Symbol Of Salvation but the musical climate changed not too long after that and John left to join Anthrax, so it was never really meant to be with them. Now, if their first few albums were as good and SOS and Revelation which I think are their best ones, then yes they could've got big back then. They should've been a little bigger but the band hit their stride a little too late and metal wasn't the cool thing anymore when they released their best material.

I know John was busy with Anthrax but taking ten years between albums doesn't help a bands popularity when they weren't that big to begin with.

[MetalIsArt]

Originally Posted by Sanitarium78

It never could've happened. There were too many big names in metal back in the day for them to get to that level. Their first three albums are good but they're not top tier level good. They did find some success with Symbol Of Salvation but the musical climate changed not too long after that and John left to join Anthrax, so it was never really meant to be with them. Now, if their first few albums were as good and SOS and Revelation which I think are their best ones, then yes they could've got big back then. They should've been a little bigger but the band hit their stride a little too late and metal wasn't the cool thing anymore when they released their best material.

I know John was busy with Anthrax but taking ten years between albums doesn't help a bands popularity when they weren't that big to begin with.

Anthrax should've kept John. I really, really like them with Joey, but looking back... I've listened more to the albums with him.