Share

80’s Metal Perfect Pairing: Armored Saint Metal Church

Since December I have seen Motley Crue, AC/DC and Iron Maiden live. Arena Rock is great, but these bands all started in some club somewhere. And there is just something about a small club that takes you back to the early hungry days as bands work to make a name for themselves.

Saturday night’s Armored Saint Metal Church concert at the Hawthorne Theatre (capacity -620) in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, June 11, 2016, had that feel and it was awesome. Putting these bands together for a tour was a great idea, but too short as this was the final show.

Armored Saint

A friend of mine who attended said “Armored Saint was crazy good!!! The energy there was just something you don’t see at many shows! There was some urgency to it! Still buzzing from it, rhythm section was amazing!”

Armored Saint Metal Church Portland Oregon 6-11-16

This co-headline tour featured each band switching off each night and on this stop, Armored Saint took the stage first. The last time they played here was 2001 at the Roseland Theatre. At the time though, that venue had a different name and lead singer John Bush asked the crowd what is was called? (Starry Night).

 

I loved the localized banter from Bush between songs. We know most singers just repeat the same lines each night, but Bush was specific to Portland on most things he talked about, including playing here with Metallica in the early 80’s and the time he threw out his armour costume into the crowd… “somebody here tonight still have that?” he asked. Speaking of which, there aren’t too many photos out there of the 1984 tour, but I found one here courtesy of the Kevin Estrada Blog.

Armored Saint opened with the great new song ‘Win Hands Down’ and their setlist included all the classics we know and love… ‘March of the Saint’, ‘Long Before I Die’, ‘Reign of Fire’ and ‘Can U Deliver’.

 

My friend continued, “Armored Saint should’ve headlined and their set wasn’t long enough! John Bush was the star this night! That voice is just flawless! My fav moment was when Bush nailed that scream in the middle of “Can U Deliver”!

 

Yes, I felt that… I’m still buzzing too. And how about Bush jumping into the crowd to surf? The dude is 52… that was killer! A guy next to me was at the Seattle show the night before and I thought “you drove down here to see it again?” I get it though. Hope they come back soon.

Metal Church

Around 11:30, Metal Church hit the stage, opening with ‘Fake Healer.’ The crowd was just as fired up for this one and with Mike Howe back on vocals, the night just felt special, like how lucky are we to see this great concert.

Armored Saint Metal Church Portland Oregon 6-11-16

The mosh pit was non-stop during both shows. My 17 year-old son and I were separated from the pit by only one row of humans, who did a good job pushing the moshers back in, but we got bumped a few times. When Metal Church launched into ‘Start the Fire’, I felt like I might want to join the pit, but I came to my senses and perished the thought.

 

There were quite a few tracks from the new album in their 13 song set, including ‘No Tomorrow’. Most of the setlist featured songs from the Church albums Howe sung on from 1988 to 1994, including ‘In Mourning’, ‘Date with Poverty’ and ‘Badlands’.

 

Only one song was played from their 1984 debut album and it was ‘Beyond the Black’. Howe joked with guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof that this song was written the day he was born.

 

This West Coast USA tour lasted all of seven dates. I’m not sure if it was a test run or something, but it was one of the best 80’s metal concerts I have attended. The small club feel and sound combined with musicians who have been playing together for 30+ years in some cases, made for an enthralling performance from both of these great bands.

80’s Metal Trending

In a new interview with The Mistress Carrie Podcast, FOZZY frontman Chris Jericho spoke about the success of the band's latest standalone single, "Spotlight", which was released last October via [...]

Chris Dalston, who serves as co-head of international touring at CAA, spoke to Pollstar about the wild success of ticket sales for AC/DC's upcoming "Power Up" tour, which launches in [...]

In a recent interview with Stereogum, Bruce Dickinson was asked why he thinks there haven't been any lineup changes in IRON MAIDEN since he and guitarist Adrian Smith rejoined the [...]

HarperCollins has set a September 12 release date for "Power - Musiken, Döden, Livet" (English: "Power: Music, Death, Life"), the Swedish-language autobiography from former SKID ROW and H.E.A.T. singer Erik [...]

An official unboxing video for the "Anno Domini 1989-1995" box set of the Tony Martin-era BLACK SABBATH albums can be seen below. BLACK SABBATH's history with singers Ozzy Osbourne and [...]

MUDVAYNE singer Chad Gray, who played in HELLYEAH with Vinnie Paul Abbott for 12 years prior to the PANTERA drummer's tragic passing, has weighed in on the fact that PANTERA's [...]

Founding Anthrax member Dan Lilker will return to the band for a limited batch of shows as Frank Bello cannot make the tour. Continue reading… [...]

The world-famous Black Sabbath Bench is back in place in Birmingham, United Kingdom city center following a major refurbishment that includes brand new heads for all band members. The heavy [...]

Hellyeah and Mudvayne singer Chad Gray says late drummer Vinnie Paul never wanted Pantera to reunite following the death of his brother Dimebag Darrell [...]

Australian prog trio The Omnific will tour Europe and the UK this summer [...]

Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray, who was bandmates with Vinnie Paul in Hellyeah, talks about Pantera's comeback. Continue reading… [...]

ANTHRAX has announced that, due to personal reasons, bassist Frank Bello will not be able to accompany the band on its upcoming South American tour, set to kick off April [...]

ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna's JOURNEY tribute band called BEYOND FRONTIERS performed at Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, March 27. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below, [...]

IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson recently went on Side Jams With Bryan Reesman to talk about the evolution of his "The Mandrake Project" comic book, his love for "Watchmen" and [...]

Accept . The post Accept drop video for new single “The Reckoning” first appeared on Sleaze Roxx. [...]

Erik Grönwall, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021, has offered a lengthy explanation for his decision to leave SKID ROW, saying that he wanted to focus [...]

Erik . The post Erik Grönwall finalizing his biography and provides his own explanation on why he left Skid Row first appeared on Sleaze Roxx. [...]

Erik . The post Erik Grönwall steps down as lead vocalist for Skid Row and to be replaced by Lzzy Hale for few shows first appeared on Sleaze Roxx. [...]

Legendary German/American heavy metal titans ACCEPT have shared the official music video for "The Reckoning", the second single from their upcoming album "Humanoid". Due on April 26 via Napalm Records, [...]

He was the fourth singer the band has worked with since they split with Sebastian Bach. Continue reading… [...]

During an appearance on Joel Madden's podcast "Artist Friendly", CHEVELLE frontman Pete Loeffler spoke about the band's plans for the follow-up to 2021's "Niratias" LP. He said (as transcribed by [...]

Expanded version of 1974 LP includes remastered album, demos and live show. Continue reading… [...]

'Alive!' producer Eddie Kramer recalled how he got the best out of Kiss guitarist he was certain would become a star. Continue reading… [...]

Bobby . The post Bobby Blotzer “clarifies” his earlier comments about his former Ratt bandmate Juan Croucier first appeared on Sleaze Roxx. [...]