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SAXON At Hell's Heroes Festival In Houston, TX With Photos!

By Larry Petro, News Monkey
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 @ 8:43 AM

Band Headlines Final Day On March 22nd

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All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

Not since the days of the renowned TEXXAS JAM events of the 1970s and 80s has there been a rock festival in the Lone Star State that attracts as much attention as Hell's Heroes in Houston. Having now completed its seventh year, Hell's Heroes is the go-to destination for the hardcore metalhead with an array of thrash, black, death and traditional heavy metal acts spread out over 3 days at White Oak Music Hall, a venue that stands within sight of the downtown skyline of Houston making for a pleasant if not raucous atmosphere.

I didn't cover last year's festival mainly because even though there are plenty of bands for everyone to enjoy, the ones I really cared for were spread out across the 3 days. I did however make a point of covering one day headliner, QUEENSRYCHE, as Hell's Heroes was the kickoff show for the band's 'Origins Tour' where they would be playing the debut EP and first full-length The Warning in their entirety so I couldn't miss that. In similar fashion this year's fest seemed to be just a tad more slanted towards the heavier, more extreme end of the metal spectrum with ABBATH headlining the first night and a more traditional act, a rejuvenated CRIMSON GLORY headlined Day Two. I might add here that based on people I talked to on Day 3, CRIMSON GLORY, with new vocalist Travis Wills, absolutely nailed it. Literally everyone I spoke to echoed the same thing. As much as I hated to miss them, this day for me was all about the headliners SAXON.

The NWOBHM legends made a special trip to the states, and Texas in particular, for 2 shows. The night prior to their HH appearance the band played San Antonio along with LIZZY BORDEN and RIOT V, who had also played the HH Pre-Party show on Wednesday. During the San Antonio show SAXON played a longer set which included performing the album Wheels Of Steel in full. Obviously with just a set time of an hour and 15 minutes allotted to them for HH we wouldn't get the same show but there was no doubt that they would still rock the house solidly.

As the lights dimmed at 9:40pm and the outdoor stage positioned against the backdrop of downtown Houston the heroes took the stage and proceeded to kick our asses right out of the gate with the title track from the latest epic album, Hell, Fire and Damnation and then straight into "Power And The Glory", one of my all-time favorites and just a kick ass song to see live. The set we got was definitely geared toward the old school material with 3 songs each being played from Denim And Leather, Power & The Glory, Strong Arm Of The Law and Wheels Of Steel and one from the self-titled debut album going all the way back to 1979 in "Backs To The Wall".

The most interesting song of the night, at least for me, was hearing them perform the Christopher Cross hit "Ride Like The Wind". I have seen SAXON many times over the years starting in 1983 and I have never heard that song played live. It was actually quite enjoyable! The band was tight and frontman Biff Byford has a voice that defies the sands of time. Even though he just recently turned 74 he still belts out the songs as if he was half that age and there's not too many from that era you can say that about. And with "Wheels Of Steel" and a partial performance of "Princess Of The Night" the seventh edition of the Hell's Heroes festival came to a close.

If you have yet to go, mark your calendars for around the 3rd week of March next year as we wait patiently for the band lineup to be revealed. No doubt festival founder and organizer Christian Larsen will have new tricks up his sleeve for the die hard rockers to enjoy.