Since July 2018 and SAXON's last appearance in Greece, a lot has changed, but what has remained the same for sure is the fact that every concert they do is a guarantee of fun and pure heavy metal.
The unstoppable frontman, Biff Byford, with his unique voice and tremendous stage presence, answered our questions and he's ready to blow us away at SAXON's performance in front of the Greek audience on Friday July 7th at Rockwave 2023, Terra Vibe Park!
"Carpe Diem" to enjoy an authentic, British heavy metal thunder delivered by one of the most recognizable voices in the metal scene.
Read our nice chat below.
Hi! Biff and welcome again on RockOverdose! Your european tour starts from Greece in a few weeks! We feel very lucky to be the first to see your show and hear your setlist! Should we expect any surprises on the setlist?
Biff Byford (SAXON): Hi there! Good to see you! Well, it's a festival obviously so we're going to play lot's of songs from the 80s and the new songs from Carpe Diem, so it would be a mix setlist with pretty exciting stuff. We can't wait come to Greece, we're bringing Brian Tatler with us, standing in for Paul, he's pretty good really.
RockOverdose: Was Brian ready to take off for Paul, who recently retired from touring?
Biff Byford (SAXON): Yeah! He was ready and he's very excited, looking forward coming to Greece. There's no plan to do Diamond Head tour this year so he had time to step in and he's happy! The greek audience in Athens is going to be the first guys to see him on stage with Saxon and I'm sure there would be lot's of videos and photographs.
RockOverdose: Yeah, it would be a great day at Rockwave Festival in Athens as we'd have the chance to experience 2 of the most legendary bands out there! You and Deep Purple of course, as headliners.
Biff Byford (SAXON): Yes, we've played with Deep Purple many times over the years, we've actually played with Ian Gillan band during the 80's as well. We know the guys very well, great band and they've been great influence for Saxon definitely .
RockOverdose: Will the setlist include any covers from your recent "Inspirations" albums?
Biff Byford (SAXON): No! We won't make any covers in there.
RockOverdose: Why is that, I think you're doing pretty well on that...
Biff Byford (SAXON): Maybe when we come back in Europe on a proper album tour we would do a couple of covers then.
RockOverdose: In recent news we've read that you've already demos for a new album, is that true?
Biff Byford (SAXON): Yeah, we just making them now, we start recording in August and I think it would be ready earlier next year, maybe for the next tour with Judas Priest in March 2024, I think the new album should be out by then.
RockOverdose: That's great! Recently we saw a photo of you together with Metallica members. We know that in their very early days they opened your shows. Do you have any memories from those years?
Biff Byford (SAXON): They played with us in Los Angeles, we did two shows in one day, at Whiskey A Go Go back in 1982. It was a great time, they're big Saxon fans and I'm sure they got on the show because of this. It was good for them to play with us on those shows, they were totally sold out. I've been on stage with them many times since then, we're good friends.
RockOverdose: Are you planing to make any anniversary shows for your 45th anniversary of your debut album maybe next year?
Biff Byford (SAXON): We don't plan to do something special, we did on the 40th anniversary.
RockOverdose: How do you manage to stay fresh for every gig and do the best you can, concidering that you're obviously not so young and you've recently been through health issues.
Biff Byford (SAXON): I think you just must give as much as you can really and hope that it's enought. We work very hard so we're quite fit. The secret is to give as much as you can!
RockOverdose: I'm sure that also the love from people and your fans have kept you safe thoughout this adventure of your health.
Biff Byford (SAXON): Yeah sure! The fans have been great to us all. Athens would be an exciting show I think and we're going to reward them by playing songs they love from the 80's, from Carpe Diem and maybe Thunderbolt, which is a song about the Greek Gods!
RockOverdose: Before we close would you like to send a message to the greek audience coming to see you?
Biff Byford (SAXON): Saxon are coming - get Ready to fill your heads with Heavy Metal THUNDERRR!
RockOverdose: Thank you very much Biff! Looking forward to see you soon!
Biff Byford (SAXON): See you in Athens!
For RockOverdose,
Vivi Zapantiotou
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