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| Saxon |
Cardiff University was the location for the latest photo for The Record, my forthcoming bowel cancer fundraising book. Biff Byford, lead singer with the legendary heavy metal band, Saxon, had kindly agreed to take part in book. I got to meet him just after the band's soundcheck, and instead of doing a photo there and then, Biff suggested I did the photo of the band during their set, so he organised me with a photo pass. What an experience it was being able capture the band in action. Biff was lovely, happy to chat and answer my questions, even though it was a very busy evening for the band.
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| Waiting by the side of the stage before entering the photo pit |
The band have just released a new album, Thunderbolt, which made the top 30 in the UK album chart on its first week of release. Biff told the crowd, that this was the first time the band had been back in the top 30 album charts since 1984!
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| Set List |
The gig was brilliant, and the band played a great career spanning set. Songs old and new alike went down very well with the very enthusiastic audience. This was the first night of the bands 2018 world tour, and although they were only playing three shows in the UK before heading to Europe and America, they will be back in the autumn for part 2. And 2019 is a big year for the band, as they will be celebrating their 40th anniversary. I first got into Saxon when '747 Strangers In The Night' was a hit in 1980. Having a big brother, who was (still is to be fair) into his rock music, it probably was no surprise that some of it rubbed off on me.
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| Biff! |
So this will make another great chapter for the book. As soon as I messaged Biff, and explained that I was doing a fundraising book in memory of my Mum who passed away from bowel cancer in 2016, he immediately agreed to be involved. All proceeds raised from sales of the forthcoming book will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. Bowel cancer remains the 2nd highest cancer killer in the UK, claiming 16,000 lives each year. Yet if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. Much more needs to be done in raising awareness, and improving early diagnosis rates.
