
| KERRANG Review - Deep Purple - Sweet Savage | |
| SMOKE ON THE WATERFRONT AS LEGENDARY ROCKERS STORM BELFAST
A LARGELY glassed-in hall with a reputation for less than meaty acoustics, St George’s Market seems an unlikely setting for a classic-rock masterclass, but filled-out with three generations of fans and headed-up by rock royalty it transforms into the perfect arena for this balmy summer evening’s gig. Sweet Savage may be a man down tonight, but even as a three-piece, their shred-tastic rendition of new-track Regenerator and charismatically delivered Metallica favourites Killing Time and Whiskey in the Jar get the crowd bouncing early. Entering to Prokofiev’s Montagues and Capulets, the fever-pitch reaction to the headliners is hardly surprising, but the overwhelming volume and energy Deep Purple manage to wring from tonight’s set, parts of which are well into their fourth decade, is genuinely astounding. Mixing proto-metal classics like Highway Star with searing newer cuts Rapture of the Deep and Contact Lost, their knack for expansive live performance without flagrant self-indulgence only sharpens with the years. Sure, purists will howl for Blackmore but Steve Morse’s skill and rapport with the irrepressible Gillan maintains a sense of settled revitalisation, while the earth-quaking closing salvo of Smoke on the Water, Hush and Black Night leaves no doubt that the originals can still cut it with the best. Sam Law | |
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| Sweet Savage announced as support to Iron Maiden | |
| Yes it's totally true - Sweet Savage have been officially confirmed as support to Iron Maiden - As part of the European 'Final Frontier Tour' in the O2 Dublin 30th July 2010 - We are totally knocked out at this one and would like to express our gratitude & thanks to the guys in Iron Maiden. This will be one hell of a concert & we just cant wait to play onstage with legendary fellow NWOBHM rockers. See you all in Dublin - Link to Iron Maiden's tour schedule We are also playing at SONISPHERE Festival on Sunday 1st August (Same day as Iron Maiden) Knebworth. So we guess some of you Iron Maiden fans will be getting to know us a little better - lol | ![]() |
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| Deep Purple support Slot | |
| Well Monday 28th June 2010 will go down forever as being one of the greatest honours Sweet Savage could possibly have. Playing on the same stage as our heros Deep Purple was such a fantastic moment. The crowd were very good to us & we played a great show! We watched in awe as Deep Purple waded through song after song of all time classic hits, and enjoyed every second of their show. To top it all off we chatted to Don Airey & most notable to Roger Glover who must be the nicest guy in rock music we have ever met. Thank you Roger - you rock!! | |
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| Sweet Savage to support Deep Purple | |
| We have the pleasure to announce that we will be playing on the 28th June, St George's Market, Belfast with our absolute heros - Deep Purple. This legendary band are the single major influence in the shaping of Sweet Savage's sound in the beginning and are still a source of inspiration to this day. Ray is a huge fan of the Coverdale / Hughes period while Speedo has always been a Blackmore fan and still is. He goes for the Machine Head era. Whatever version of the band, we are totally honored to be sharing a stage with the living legend that is Deep Purple. A huge thank you to Steve Strange, David Neely, Colin Wasson and all involved in making this show happen. Bring it on - this will be a fantastic show! | ![]() |
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| Spring & Airbrake show 7th May | |
| Sweet Savage team up with old friends Worldsend & Take the 5th for a show in the Spring & Airbrake on the 7th May. | |
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| The Distortion Project | |
| The Distortion Project - Belfast's longest running Metal club - Will be celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year. A DECADE OF DESTRUCTION is the snappy title of the show on the 8th May (Limelight) and will feature 20 bands - Our congratulations & thanx to James NOTE: Sweet Savage will NOT be playing this show | |
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| CD Cover | |
| We are currently getting new artwork for the CD cover and its looks as if it's gonna be f**king amazing!! A local artist from Bangor is busy working away creating all the graphics etc. Can't wait to see the finished result - Speedo | |
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| Black Box - 24th Feb 2008 | |
| Great fun playing at a theatre - was enjoyable for us all & we'd like to thank our friends 'Exit' for inviting us along to this event. No country or western here folks - lol | |
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| Limelight 20-02-2010 | |
| Great gig in the Limelight on Saturday - thanx to all for coming along to the show & to the support bands Sinners Fall & Valkaine.
Also received a DVD of Savage playing at the Headbangers festival 2008 in Germany - Looks pretty good and is available from Hellion records. Next week we have our fist gig in the Black Box, Belfast. Hopefully we will Cya there | ![]() |
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| MSG concert Cancelled | |
| Due to unforeseen circumstances the Michael Schenker Group has had to cancel it's Ulster Hall show.
What a shame! We were really looking forward to playing alongside the greatest guitar player the world has ever known. Hopefully they can reschedule the show for some date later in the year ae we know there were a few people out there looking forward to this event. | |
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| Sweet Savage given award by International Metalheads | |
| During the Motorhead support shows while in Dublin Sweet Savage were given an award from The International Metalheads Club for outstanding contribution to the world of Metal & Hard Rock. We are so pleased & humbled to receive this award and would like to thank everyone at the IMhC for this award, in particularly to Sean Croke (I.M.h.C. Presiden) Thank you very much - Ray, Speedo, Jules & Trev!! Below is the information as it is on the IMC Website! | ![]() |
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| Motorhead and Sweet Savage Presented with The I.M.h.C. Honorary Membership Award! | |
| Metal Hails, Its gives me great pleasure to announce Sweet Savage and Motorhead as the newest honorary members of The I.M.h.C. for their outstanding achievements to the world of metal and hard rock. Both bands took the house down on an eventful night in the olympia in dublin on 08/11/09. I’d like to start by thanking Speedo from Sweet Savage and Eamonn the production manager who’s hospitality knew no bounds on the night and looked after us all more than we could have expected. Also to Tub’s of the Motorhead road crew who was great craic to hang out with and produced an audio interview that will have to go up on the site really soon! (Oh and Cheers Phil for the cider!!!! ) Sweet Savage took to the stage first and once they started cracking into the set you had to wonder, why havent they been bigger? Being part of The N.W.O.B.H.M. and having influenced bands like Metallica (with the song’s like killing time), Sweet Savage thrashed it out in style. Coming into the end of the set they blasted into their cover of Whiskey in the jar (which they’ve been covering long before Metallica…..Oh and they’ve been covering bread van since before them aswell!) you could see why they’ve had such a great working relationship with Mr. Hetfield and the boys!!! I can see 2010 being a big year for Sweet Savage with the release of the new album and hopefully a hell of a lot of gigs in support of it. The I.M.h.C. are in talks with the guys to do something late next year so stay tuned for updates as they arrive! | |
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| SWEET SAVAGE to support MSG | |
| Savage will be supporting The Michael Schenker Group on the 19th December. Speedo is particularly excited about this show as Mr Schenker is his fav guitar player. 'He's a total genius & i love listening to him play as much today as i did 25 years ago' says Speedo. 'I met him whilst on tour with Thin Lizzy, back in '81 & had my photo taken with him. He just has it all - style, technique, melody & above all he is just so fecking musical, a true genius of our time'. 'This will be an awesome show, we will be playing the new tracks which everyone seems to like, plus some additional even newer tracks. Bring it on'. Saturday 19th December | ![]() |
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| SWEET SAVAGE at Auntie Annies | |
| Sweet Savage will be playing at Auntie Annie's, Dublin Rd, Belfast on the 3rd December with friends 'EXIT'. This will be a prelude to the show in Auntie Annie's - 14th Dec and the MSG show - Ulster Hall 19th Dec. | |
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| SWEET SAVAGE - MOTORHEAD support | |
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| MOTORHEAD Shows a huge success | |
| Savage had overwhelming responses from the crowds both in Dublin & Belfast & we would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you & how knocked out we have been about it all.'. We would also like to say a huge thank you to Lemmy, Phil & Mikkey as well as Roger - for all you help & support | ![]() |
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| Ray joins METALLICA onstage at Marlay Park v1 | |
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| Ray joins METALLICA onstage at Marlay Park v2 | |
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| SWEET SAVAGE to support MOTORHEAD | |
| Metal legends Motorhead have confirmed a concert date at The Olympia Theatre on 8th November and Ulster Hall on 9th November.
We are pleased to announce that Sweet Savage will play support for both shows. Motorhead's tour which sees them stop off in Ireland for one night of destruction will see them perform collected highlights of a 30-year-career. Lemmy himself guarantees business as usual - and nothing less: A loud, aggressive rock-show that will make you sweat. That's all he wants, and all he delivers. | ![]() |
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| Ray joins METALLICA onstage at Marlay Park | |
| Our frontman Ray was spotted backstage at Marlay Park & was invited to join Metallica onstage to perform Killing Time. It was a fantastic moment for us all to witness, one that we'll never forget. We are once again very thankful and honored to Metallica for their graciousness and for being so fucking awesome. | ![]() |
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| Saxon | |
| This is a shot of us at the backstage party after the Saxon - Doro - Savage show in London on St George's Day.
The picture was taken by Dawn Irwin (Thank you Pat) There are more images which were taken during the Saxon tour from various photographers on Speedo's facebook here We will be updating the images page as soon as possible. | ![]() |
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| Warbird album release delayed | |
| Unfortunately the Warbird album has been put back for a little while. There a couple of reasons which will be explained in due course. This is very frustrating for us all & is totally indicative of the music world. We can assure you it will be worth the wait! | |
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| New album 'WARBIRD' finished!! | |
| We have just completed our album 'WARBIRD' It has been sent off for mastering. And failing any unforeseen hitches, a release date has be set for late July (will keep you posted on that) We are currently investigating some festivals, shows & support slots to promote WARBIRD. | |
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| Enter the Leppard | |
| Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard) will be making a guest appearance on the new album. Viv will be playing on a cover version of Whiskey In The Jar. You may or may not know that Viv was one of the original members of Sweet Savage & it's pretty cool to have him play on this with us once again. Amazingly he will be recording the solo in L.A. and sending it via email. Isn't technology awesome? | ![]() |
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| SAXON TOUR | |
| AWESOME!!!! Well the Saxon tour has finished & it was simply fantastic. We had a brilliant time & cannot state enough how well we were treated by everyone. So a huge thank you to Biff, Nigel, Paul, Doug & Nebbs from Saxon as well as all the crew especially Rene (live sound) Roger & Leo (Guitar & bass techs) Not forgetting Jana our coach driver. We'd also like to say thank you to Doro & the guys, Johnny, Nick, Baz & Luca - you guys rocked. Also a huge thank you to Thomas & Stevie for making it all happen and to Eddie for organising it all. | ![]() |
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| Metallica invite Biff onstage in Paris | |
| During their performance at a packed Palais Omnisport de Bercy in Paris last week Metallica invited Saxon frontman Biff Byford on stage to perform Motorcycle Man with them. Back in 1982 Metallica opened for Saxon at the world famous Whisky A Go Go bar on Sunset Strip in L.A. To add to a great week for the Metal legends, Saxon have also been nominated for Best UK act at this years Metal Hammer Golden God awards alongside Motorhead, The Answer, Iron Maiden, Gallows and Dragonforce. They will perform at the ceremony in London this June. Saxon play Dublin & Belfast this month on 26th & 27th and will be joined by special guests the Queen of Metal 'Doro Pesch' and Northern Irelands 'Sweet Savage' | ![]() |
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| Album News | |
| We have been working hard on the new album over the past month & are finally getting there, starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Surprisingly the main chore has been trying to choose which tracks to use and which to leave out. We can say that we will be doing a version of Whiskey in the Jar, there are a few reasons for this, and we are very aware of the Metallica thing. But we have our own personal reasons for doing this tune. Just ask us . . . . lol But the main news is that the album is nearing completion & we will update you all asap! Incidentally - we have a few ideas for the cover, but before we commit, we'd love to hear any of your ideas. Can we also thank Sam Law once again for being a great guy! | |
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| SWEET SAVAGE to support NAZARETH - Fri-27th-Feb-09 | |
| Let us state right here & now that we absolutely love Nazareth & we are so pleased to be supporting the band who we used to listen to all those years ago! Looking forward to meeting Dan & the gang. Razamanz This Flight Tonight The gig is in the Spring & Airbake (Belfast) on Friday 27th February & we hope to see you there. | ![]() |
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| SAXON Battalions of Steel World Tour II - support slot confirmed | |
| SWEET SAVAGE are proud to announce we will be on tour in April / May as special guests of SAXON during the British & Irish legs of their Battalions of Steel World Tour II Dates are as following : 23rd April 2009 - London - Forum 25th April 2009 - Prestatyn - Hammerfest 26th April 2009 - Belfast - Mandela Hall 27th April 2009 - Dublin - Academy 28th April 2009 - Glasgow - ABC 30th April 2009 - Sheffield - Academy 01st May 2009 - Newcastle - Academy 03rd May 2009 - Manchester - Academy 04th May 2009 - Bristol - Academy 05th May 2009 - Wolverhampton - Wulfrun Hall We very much look forward to seeing you all once again! Visit SAXON online | ![]() |
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| KERRANG! GIG REVIEW - 22nd October 2008 | |
| As many of you know SWEET SAVAGE'S first gig in Belfast for many years was held in the Spring & Airbrake earlier this month. The gig was favourably reviewed in the KERRANG this week. "Back on home turf for the first time in a decade, it could be a slight understatement to say that tonight’s belated return from hometown heroes Sweet Savage comes with some great expectations. Fortunately, the resurgent veterans are in no mood to disappoint. Local newcomers Jane Doe prove to be anything but anonymous; their infectious racket, veering between walloping power and soaring melody. By contrast, Worldsend are the picture of talent tempered by maturity and deliver an engrossing, measured performance of gritty soulful rock. Really, though, tonight’s all about the headliners, who shift through the gears at an alarming rate. The punkish bark of bass-wielding front man Ray Haller appears to have actually intensified with age, while the guitar team of Trev Fleming and the technically brilliant “Speedo” Wilson alternate thrillingly between harmonic warmth and shred-heavy attack, to rejuvenate old classics like Metallica fave Killing Time and the neck-bothering Eye of the Storm, while new tune Lady of the Night sends expectations for the new record skyward. The fire in their bellies undeniably relit, Sweet Savage are rebooted and reborn and better still, they’re just getting (re)started". SAM LAW We would like to say a huge thank you to Sam. | ![]() |
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| SWEET SAVAGE T-Shirts | |
| Limited stock available - Click here to go directly to the Ebay site. | |
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| ALBUM NEWS -14:Oct:08 | |
| Work has started in earnest on the new album - As well as writing and jamming, we are sourcing a producer and studio - As of this moment in time we have two producers in mind. We hope to bring you some exciting news in the next few weeks. | |
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| THE ANSWER | |
| Sweet Savage would like to wish THE ANSWER all the very best on their upcoming USA tour supporting AC/DC | ![]() |
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| Spring & Airbrake - 03:October:08 | |
| Well the show was a great success ans we would like to thank all of you for coming along and supporting us! We were pleased with the crowd reaction & it went a long way to making the gig a memorable one. A huge thank you to all the people who helped us: Rob Rooster - Stevie Haller - Mark Hylands - Chris Hylands - All at CDC Leisure - Jennifer & Shaun at URChannel - The Guitar Emporium - Brian on the sound-desk - and all the others who we apologise for forgetting to mention. NOTE: During our shows from now on we have decided will be including a couple of covers, namely Breadfan by BUDGIE and a THIN LIZZY tune. The reasoning? Breadfan was the first song Sweet Savage ever played live & THIN LIZZY have a special place in the history of the band. We therefore want to pay homage to both of these bands as our way of saying 'respect'. | |
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| SWEET SAVAGE at the SPRING & AIRBRAKE | |
| Sweet Savage have not played in heir hometown for over 15 years & the upcoming show in the Spring & Airbrake on the 3rd October 2008 is proving to be of epic proportions, having been only released, the interest for tickets is proving to be none other than phenomonal. The lads have pulled out all the stops for this show which will include projectors & other tecnologies. Special guests will be long time friends of the band Annex who now go under the name of Worldsend. This will be thier first outing in a long while & going by what i have heard, they will be putting on a fantasctic show. As if this is not enough, new up and coming local band Jane Doe will be opening the nights proceedings! | ![]() |
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| New Album | |
| Sweet Savage are beginning work on songs for a new album which is due for release before Christmas 08. Speedo: 'We have been firing loads of ideas back and forward to each-other for the past few months, it's very exciting as there are so many great bits and pieces floating about we hardly know which ones to choose from. After seeing all the new Metal talent that is knocking around & absorbing it all in, we have no doubt this will be Savage's heaviest offering to date. I just can't wait to get my teeth into it'. | |
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| Artwork | |
| Leading Tattoo Artist Jason Kirker at Dark Angel Tattoo Studio, Belfast, has just provided a new logo for the band, This will either be the new official one or will be used for the album. We think it is fantastic, let us hear what you think! | ![]() |
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| Gibson Guitar endorsement | |
| Sweet Savage have been given an endorsement by Gibson Guitars, Trevor now sports a rather mean looking Explorer and Ray has one of the koolest basses i have ever seen, a Firebird. My god! the damage he is gonna do with that weapon! | |
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