Saxon plays Tilburg in March 2027 as part of the European Gods of Thunder tour

British heavy metal band Saxon have announced the second European leg of the world tour around their new album Gods Of Thunder. For Dutch fans there's a clear date to circle: on March 24, 2027, the band plays Poppodium 013 in Tilburg. It's one of the dates on which they'll bring back a very special piece of stage design.

For the shows in Brussels, Zurich, Cologne and Tilburg, Saxon are pulling out the legendary nine metre (thirty foot) tall mechanical eagle. The prop was built in the early eighties, when the band was preparing for the tour around the hugely influential album Denim And Leather. The Midlands company LSD made the eagle back then using landing lights from an airfield runway. Anyone attending one of those four nights will get a slice of metal history on stage.

The tour kicks off on March 1 at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels and works its way through Hamburg, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, Prague, Budapest, Zurich, Milan and Berlin, among others, before finishing in Tilburg on March 24. Cologne is also on the schedule on March 23 at E Werk, just across the border for Dutch visitors. Frontman Biff Byford says of the tour: "We're bringing the 'Gods Of Thunder' tour across to Europe. It's gonna be awesome! Can't wait to open the heavens and bring on the metal." Ticket sales roll out in phases: Tuesday, October 27 for the Italian shows, Wednesday, October 28 for Zurich, Thursday, October 29 for Oslo, and Friday, October 30 for all other dates.

The album Gods Of Thunder is out on January 22, 2027 via Silver Lining Music. Byford produced the record himself, and the mix was handled by Andy Sneap, who has worked with Saxon for years and is also touring guitarist for Judas Priest. Across ten tracks, Byford's love of history really shines through. In The Bloody Tower (The Ballad Of Anne Boleyn) he tells the story of Anne Boleyn's politically charged execution, Medusa draws on mythology, and Remember The Alamo charges ahead with the energy of the early eighties NWOBHM. On Temple Of Rock the twin guitar work of Doug Scarratt and Brian Tatler takes centre stage, driven by the rhythm section of Nigel Glocker and Tim "Nibbs" Carter. The record closes with MI5, a headbanger about the Berlin Wall and Cold War espionage. The album follows Hell, Fire And Damnation from January 2024 and will be released in several vinyl variants, on CD, in bundles and digitally.

The announcement comes after a difficult period for Byford. Last summer he first revealed that he'd had surgery for a small tumour, mentioning the prostate, but later clarified that it was actually bowel cancer. He then underwent chemotherapy, which led to some shows being cancelled and others rescheduled, after Saxon had already cancelled ten summer shows and festival appearances while he recovered from the operation. Last October he said in a video message that he had finished his final round of chemo. The singer has had health problems before: in August 2024 he had a procedure for atrial flutter, and in September 2019 he suffered a heart attack, followed by emergency triple bypass surgery.

For fans of classic British metal, the Tilburg show is one of the few chances in the Netherlands to see Saxon on this tour, complete with the special eagle the band is bringing along to just a handful of cities.