Saratoga
There are concerts where the band plays the songs and the audience watches. Then there are Saratoga concerts, where the line between stage and crowd gets thoroughly smashed somewhere between the first guitar riff and the first massive singalong. On Saturday night, 12 September, Madrid heavy metal veterans Saratoga brought their En Estado Puro tour to Sala Moon Valencia and found a Valencia crowd more than ready to give them everything they had. The show was part of the band's current En Estado Puro tour, with the set built around three acts: essential classics, requested and less frequently played material, and songs from the band's newer era.
From the opening moments, this was a band completely in command of the room. Tete Novoa is a born frontman, constantly working the crowd rather than simply standing behind a microphone and delivering the lines, while bassist and founding member Niko del Hierro supplied the muscular low-end foundation that has been at the heart of Saratoga since their formation. Behind them, Arnau Martí attacked the drums with the precision and force the songs demand, while Charlie Parra tore into the guitar parts with the kind of playing that makes you wonder whether his fingers have some sort of private agreement with the laws of physics. The current line-up combines decades of Saratoga history with musicians who bring plenty of their own personality to the machine.
Saratoga have never been short of material capable of making a metal crowd lose its collective mind, from the aggression of “Vientos de Guerra” and “A Morir” to the towering melodies of “Si Amaneciera”, the relentless attack of “Perro Traidor” and the classics that have followed the band throughout their career. Agotarás, in particular, remains a monster of Spanish heavy metal, the 2002 album marking a crucial point in the band's history and helping establish the sound and identity that would carry them into the biggest stages of their career.
What made the Valencia show work so well, however, wasn't simply the strength of the setlist. It was the conversation between band and audience. Novoa repeatedly handed the room its opportunities to respond, and Moon responded loudly, with fists in the air, voices coming back from the floor and the kind of collective participation that makes a club show feel considerably bigger than the building containing it.
There was a real sense of community in the room, too. Saratoga have been part of the Spanish metal landscape for more than three decades, and you could feel that history in the audience. Some people had clearly been following the band for years, while others were discovering the current incarnation of Saratoga at full volume. Either way, nobody had turned up to stand quietly in the corner. The band gave them absolutely no excuse to.
Moon is particularly well suited to this kind of night. It's a proper club environment, close enough for the audience to see the musicians working and loud enough to feel every kick drum and guitar riff somewhere in your internal organs. Saratoga used every inch of it, turning the venue into a sweaty, noisy meeting point for Spanish heavy metal and leaving very little oxygen between the stage and the crowd.
And that is perhaps the best way to describe Saratoga live: there is no museum glass around the history. These aren't musicians simply reproducing songs because somebody bought a ticket to hear them. The old material still has teeth, the newer songs fit naturally alongside it, and the whole thing is driven by a band that clearly understands why these songs have stayed with people for so long.
After more than 30 years, Saratoga still sound like they have something to prove, and that is exactly why the Valencia crowd responded so strongly. They came for the songs, stayed for the performance and spent the night giving the band as much back as they were receiving. Moon was loud. Saratoga were louder. Valencia sang along. That's heavy metal doing exactly what it is supposed to do.
Words and photos: Rhyan Paul
Comments