Saxon are excited to announce that their great friends, Girlschool, will be joining them as main support on the band’s upcoming Hell, Fire and Steel European tour.
Saxon’s Biff Byford says – “Great to be working with our longtime friends Girlschool metal titans… Bring it on!”
Saxon are also super excited to announce the addition of an extra German date on March 6th in Düsseldorf at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle where the band will not only be joined by Girlschool but also by another very special guest for the last night of the tour.
“We’re so excited and looking forward to touring with our old mates the mighty Saxon again! What an adventure!” – Kim McAuliffe
In July 2023 Girlschool released (via Silver Lining Music) their 14thstudio album to much critical acclaim, titled WTFortyfive?. The album also features the brilliant collaborative reworking of Motörhead’s classic “Born To Raise Hell”, featuring Saxon’s own Biff Byford on vocals along with Motörhead’s Phil Campbell (Guitar) and Duff McKagan (Bass).
Meanwhile tickets for the Hell, Fire and Damnation tour are selling fast with the band’s shows in Stockholm and Huskvana already SOLD OUT and more shows also running low on tickets.
The Hell, Fire and Steel European tour will not only see the band performing songs from their well received, recently released, top 20 album, Hell, Fire and Damnation, but also play the whole of their classic sophomore album Wheels of Steel (released 45 years ago next year) as well as playing other fan favourites and hits from across the band’s career.
Saxon’s groundbreaking album Wheels of Steel has been heavily cited by numerous journalists as one of those classic albums that every metal fan should own. Jam-packed with seminal songs and chunky riffs from the opening high octane belting riff of “Motorcycle Man”, Wheels of Steel(the album) packs a punch from start to finish. From the infectious and arguably the biggest riff of hit single “747 (Strangers in the Night)”through to the more stripped-down crunchy tour de force of title track “Wheels of Steel”. This is a one-off not to be missed opportunity to see one of metal’s best albums played from start to finish in all its glory.
Saxon’s Biff Byford says – “We are really excited to be heading back out to Europe early next year and wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. The Judas Priest tour was fantastic to be a part of and we wanted to take some of that spirit and energy into our next tour too and what better way than to play the first album that really took off for us globally, Wheels of Steel, in its entirety. We will of course also be playing the usual array of hits and other fan favourites as well as songs from our new album Hell, Fire and Damnation.”
The “Hell, Fire and Steel” tour kicks off in Bremen in Germany on February 4th, a full listing of dates are below.
HELL, FIRE AND STEEL EUROPEAN TOUR
FEB 04 – Aladin Music Hall, Bremen (DE)
FEB 06 – Amager Bio, Copenhagen (DK)
FEB 07 – Conventum, Orebro (SE)
FEB 08 – Värmekyrkan, Norrköping (SE)
FEB 09 – Slagthuset, Malmö (SE)
FEB 11 – Rockefeller, Olso (NO)
FEB 13 – Trädgär’n, Gothenburg (SE)
FEB 14 – Folkets Park, Huskvarna (SE) [SOLD OUT]
FEB 15 – Cirkus, Stockholm (SE) [SOLD OUT]
FEB 17 – Docks, Hamburg (DE)
FEB 19 – Lucerna Music Bar, Prague (CZ)
FEB 20 – Studio, Kraków (PL)
FEB 21 – Gasometer, Vienna (AT)
FEB 23 – Progresja, Warsaw (PL)
FEB 25 – Muffathalle, Munich (DE)
FEB 26 – Live Club, Milan (IT)
FEB 28 – Volkshaus, Zurich (CH)
MAR 01 – Central, Erfurt (DE)
MAR 02 – 013, Tilburg (NL)
MAR 04 – Huxleys, Berlin (DE)
MAR 05 – Haus Auensee, Leipzig (DE)
MAR 06 – Mitsubishi Electric Halle , Düsseldorf
For tickets and more information visit: www.saxon747.com
Hell, Fire and Damnation is an album which sees Saxon investigate all areas of history and mystery amidst ten of their most confident and thunderously powerful songs yet. Biff delivers his richest vocals in years, Nigel Glockler and Nibbs Carter on drums and bass respectively lay down the rhythmic law with bombastic power, and the guitars of Doug Scarratt and Brian Tatler are fresh and fiery, a perfect complement to each other, carrying an overall energy and fury which will have fans salivating. Musically, Saxon bring it all to the table. There’s a furious tribute to actual heavy metal in the denim & leather coated super-sprint “Fire and Steel”, a wonderful nod to the NWOBHM’s birth in the electric mid-pace “Pirates of the Airwaves”, but maybe the true treasure amidst the jewels is “There’s Something in Roswell”, with the sort of expansive groove and embrace which deserves arenas.
Hell, Fire and Damnation is a superlative British Heavy Metal classic. Produced by Andy Sneap (Judas Priest, Exodus, Accept and Priest guitarist) and Biff Byford, with Sneap mixing and mastering, the album strides the perfect line between confident, current power, and gloriously irreverent flexing of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal muscle which Saxon co-created.
