(Report by Greg): The day SAXON quits playing live, the same day various metalheads will have enough trouble trying to vote in a magazine's / webzine's best live Metal band poll category. The other way round: the day a Metal fan walks out of a SAXON gig rather bored / dissatisfied from what he'd previously witnessed, the same fuckin' day he can consider himself not anymore capable of goin' to gigs anymore (folk music is always a good 'back-up'. Yup, another bombarding performance from the British Metal fathers and - as Biff Byford also commented - two generations of fans had equal amount of participation at Gagarin205 Club. Don't worry Biff-ie, a third one is on its way (if not already present).

Ok, MASTERPLAN may not be the most appropriate act to warm-up a SAXON gig (why didn't Aussie legends ROSE TATTOO follow the twin-pack here, also?...I wonder...), but two things must be pointed out by a non-passionate fan of this German / American band: ex-HELLOWEEN maestro Roland Grapow is a serious musician, present vocalist Mike DiMeo (ex-RIOT_THE LIZARDS) is credited with a charismatic warm voice and Mike Terrana (ex-everything) is the beast himself when it comes to pounding drumming. Adding the fact that MASTERPLAN's latest release MKII has already received good-to-very-good reviews worldwide, the fans of the band enjoyed a nice 45-minute appearance full of professionalism and a bad-turned-to-good sound: in a 'sweating' fully-packed venue, MASTERPLAN delivered tunes from all their three albums and songs like Spirit Never Die, Enlighten Me, Take Me Over, the Lost And Gone single off the 3rd album, Soulburn, Back For My Life and Kind Hearted Light were received with much of applaud. An essential drum solo by Terrana was the cherry on top and some 'funny' riffing by Roland - including HELLOWEEN oldies - wrapped up a notable performance by an honest Metal band. Walking off-stage, it was obvious MASTERPLAN did gain some new friends.

(Report by Panos): Well, every SAXON appearance is guaranteed to be a huge success - that's for sure! The Englishmen proved their reputation for one more time by playing for the 5th or 6th time in our country. The hardcore basis of fans in Greece once again paid their homage to the gods with full loyalty, since Gagarin205 Club almost suffocated from the enormous pressure and the barbaric breaths of the crusaders who came to support SAXON!
Having the audience already warmed up by the nice appearance of MASTERPLAN the band kicked out after the Return intro with State Of Grace. The audience was almost suffering from ecstasy from the first notes and was really eager to watch the band perform - no matter what they would play. Biff and his company, always in shape, were delivering their goods with passion, bearing in mind that Greece is one of their top-loving countries, a fact which serves like a hidden / well-shown ace in their hands.

Their set was split almost in half by their old songs, meaning that the other half mostly contained songs from their Inner Sanctum album. Apart from the classic beloved SAXON tunes such as 20,000 Feet, And The Bands Played On, Crusader, Wheels Of Steel, Motorcycle Man, Princess Of The Night, the real positive surprise for me came out from brilliant and forgotten diamonds such as Requiem, The Great White Buffalo, Travellers In Time. SAXON are a band that constantly proves that their fame and widespread rumor is not only based to their glorious past, but also to the fact that they have been active and productive throughout their whole career with style and passion. Maybe some people in the audience who had not witnest a SAXON performance in the past - felt a bit numb or discouraged due to the fact that they played quite a lot songs from the last album - but in the end they must have felt great and carried away by the SAXON-ic blast!

On the whole, the live went on as expected! Full of sweat, barbaric cries, enough beer, jumping all around and Heavy Metal music surrounding everyone, creating a nice warm sonic blanket to fill in! SAXON remained true to their legend and their fans once more and this is something that will not change! The fact that there were almost a thousand maniac fans on the arena that night created a monstrous thermal effect, which nearly peeled our skin, but the sonic assault and feeling of completeness from the band made this a not so important matter to deal with. It is absolutely certain that nobody could ever leave the concert hall after SAXON have played with a moody feeling or a sense of incompleteness at no time. The same feeling appealed that night and we are actually eager to witness them again (hopefully!) really soon.

Well, here is the play list to check out what you have missed or just to remind you the glorious feelings you had that night:

20000 Feet
And The Bands Played On
Ashes To Ashes
Attila The Hun
Crusader
I've Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)
If I Was You
Let Me Feel Your Power
Motorcycle Man
Princess Of The Night
Red Star Falling
Requiem
State Of Grace
The Great White Buffalo
Travelers In Time
Wheels Of steel