Armored Saint
June 4, 2016
Whisky A Go-Go- Los Angeles, CA
Armored Saint is a heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. They formed in 1982 by brothers Phil Sandoval (guitars) and Gonzo Sandoval (drums). Since its formation, the band has released nine studio albums including their newest album Win Hands Down in 2015. Armored Saint announced a small west coast tour in support of the album as well. One of the stops was the world-famous Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, California. The show sold out a month in advance so by the time Armored Saint came out, The venue was packed to max capacity as metalheads from different generations came out to see this underrated metal band.
Armored Saint came out to a thunderous cheer from fans and they started the show with Win Hands Down from the new 
album. They received a very warm welcome from the crowd and by the looks of the band’s face, they were happy to be performing for their fans. The show continued with the classic track March of the Saint from their debut album of the same name. Being that fans were very familiar with this track, it was easy spotting fans singing along to the track. Guitarists Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan shredded on the guitars to perfection keeping the heavy metal pace going without slowing down. The crowd stayed relatively calm throughout the show except for a few times when shoving and a few mosh pits attempted to happen. Armored Saint kept their setlist mixed with both old and new songs. Fans seemed to enjoy their music as the band played songs like: Stricken By Fate, Over the Edge, Aftermath, and Human Vulture. It was one heavy metal blast after another. Frontman John Bush was very energetic on stage as he gave it his all when singing and would run around and make use of the whole stage. Armored Saint finished the show with Reign of Fire and left the stage. All seemed quite throughout the venue and eventually the fans started chanting the band’s name. It wasn’t long before the band came back out to play a couple of more songs for their fans. The first encore was Can U Deliver which is from the band’s debut album. To end the night, Armored Saint played Mad House which is also from their debut album. Given that the song has a more thrashy sound to it, the song got a proper mosh pit going for fans to let out any remaining energy they had been holding back. Armored Saint finished the song and they were still getting loud cheers from fans. Armored Saint will always have their dedicated Los Angeles fans and those same fans will be waiting for the next opportunity to march with the saint.
Review by: Misael Ruiz
