Oliver/Dawson Saxon, the British heavy metal band formed in 1995 by former members of Saxon, will be touring Ireland this month to play an intimate series of heavy metal gigs.
The band will be hitting Ballykeefe Amphitheatre, Kilmanagh, Kilkenny, on Friday, August 14.
Saxon is one of the original iconic bands of the heavy metal genre. Formed in Barnsley, England, in 1979, the group evolved from a band rejoicing in the name Son of a Bitch (SOB ) that was formed in 1976 by Steve Dawson and Graham Oliver.
In 1979 the band landed a publishing deal with Carrere Records, a French label that was starting out in the UK. The release of their first single ‘Big Teaser’ followed to critical acclaim and drew the attention of the music press. Carrere soon recommended that they adopt the name Saxon and the self-titled album was released the following year.
It was notable that the band possessed an ability to pen melodic metal anthems with great ease according to Essi Berelian in the Rough Guide to Heavy Metal (2005 ). In 1980 the Wheels of Steel album, produced by Pete Hinton, was released and reached the top 5 of the UK album charts. The song itself, ‘Wheels of Steel’ reached numbers 20 and 13 respectively in the top 20 at the time. ‘Strong Arm of the Law’ was soon released from the eponymous album followed by ‘Dallas 1 PM’.
A key moment in their career was their performance at the very first UK Monsters of Rock festival at Donnington Park. The performance, which set the place alight, led to them being invited back — the first band ever to play the festival two years in a row. Denim and Leather followed the next year during which Pete Gill injured his hand and was replaced by Nigel Glockler.
Around this time, the assault on the US commenced. Opening for AC/DC, Rush, Black Sabbath, and Blue Oyster Cult, their performances drew critical acclaim. Check them out for yourself on August 14 in Ballykeefe Amphitheatre.
