SAXON Drummer: 'Rest Assured, We're Working On' U.S. Tour

SAXON drummer Nigel Glockler has posted a lengthy update on his official web site. A couple of excerpts from his message follow:

"The first proper tour I've undertaken in seven years has come to an end and now we're entering a period of summer festivals, inbetween which we'll be continuing with the writing of the next album. It was great to renew old aquaintances and also to finally meet some of the SAXON forum contributors in the flesh.

"Outstanding gig? For me it had to be London — who else but SAXON could play on St. George's Day? I've never seen so many flags at one of our gigs before! And the singing? Wow!!!!! However, thanks to everyone that attended any of our concerts, especially for making me feel like I'm back home — the 'Nigel' chants really brought a lump to my throat wherever they occurred. I hope my playing lived up to your expectations!! And I honestly loved every gig.

"As I'm sure you already know, the 2007 tour is being booked. I've read a few things on the forum about the fact we seem to be ignoring certain towns, or not playing as many gigs over here as people would like. We have to promote the albums everywhere so I'm sure you can appreciate the tight scheduling that has to be adhered to. Add to that the willingness of a promoter to actually put the gigs on. . . It's the same situation with the States and Canada. We really are desperate to get over there, but not at any price — a band has a lot of overheads; gear, crew, travel — so it has to make sense financially. As long as those things can be covered, and we don't actually lose money, we're ready. We do know how frustrating it must be for the U.S. fans — it's annoying for us too! Same old story — it's down to promoters over there. Again, I read a comment on the forum a while back that we'd priced ourselves out of the Canadian/U.S. market — rubbish! No way! Whoever gave out that info is on another planet — but we're certainly not going to do a gig for the price of a couple of pizzas as happened when the band toured over there with Fritz! That's financial suicide. Rest assured, we're working on it."

Read Nigel's entire message at this location.

As previously reported, Steamhammer/SPV are due to release SAXON's brand-new live album, "The Eagle Has Landed Pt. III", in the U.S. on June 27, featuring the first new recordings with Glockler, who recently returned to the SAXON fold following an extended creative break. "The Eagle Has Landed Pt. III" was recorded by two different line-ups: the cuts from 2004 feature drummer Jörg Michael, the 2005 material presents Nigel Glockler. Consisting, next to Glocker, of founding members, Biff Byford (vocals) and Paul Quinn (guitar) plus the long-serving Nibbs Carter (bass) and Doug Scarratt (guitar),SAXON are still one of the hottest contemporary live acts.

The double album, "The Eagle Has Landed Pt. III", will be released in a top-value digi-pack. CD1 contains many of the classics from the band's early years up to 1984, including the release of their landmark album, "Crusader". CD 2 features the most important songs from the recent past, starting with tracks from their 1991 comeback release, "Solid Ball Of Rock", and ending with material from "Lionheart" (2004) — with one exception: "Broken Heroes" from their 1985 recording, "Innocence Is No Excuse".