Photos by Adam Hughes
The Scene: Fans of all ages came out to the 1st Bank Center last Wednesday night to pay homage to the metal gods JUDAS PRIEST. In attendance was everyone from the long haired “old-schoolers” to the much younger metal heads, punk rockers, and leather enthusiasts. I even saw some very young up-and-comers up in the stands with their parents, lucky to be out past their bed time. And in true Priest fashion, there was no shortage of black leather and spikes. When I walked out onto the main floor, my jaw dropped and my heart raced when I saw the massive JUDAS PRIEST curtain that wrapped around the stage, hiding it from the crowd. This was it. I had been looking forward to this night for a very long time.
Opener: Steel Panther. It was quite a shock to me when I heard who would be opening up for Judas Priest. Not because of their lack of talent, but because their style and all-around attitude was on complete opposite sides of the metal spectrum. Los Angeles’ Steel Panther is a comedic 80’s metal tribute band who are more glam than some of the bands they are giving tribute to. They sport tight leopard print pants, scarves, and long gorgeous locks. While their looks may be a bit over the top, that does not in any way reflect them as band musically. In my opinion, they are almost too good to be a joke band. In between songs they ripped on each other, and pointed out girls in the crowd who they planned to meet with after the show. Guitarist Satchel accused vocalist Michael Starr of being a fat version of Brett Michaels, to which he responded that he was more of a skinny Vince Neil. While all of this was going on, bassist Lexxi Foxx used this opportunity to fix his hair and makeup using his own personal vanity mirror on the side of the stage, making sure a second didn’t go by that he didn’t look his prettiest. Between throwing insults at each other and applying a fresh coat of lip gloss, the band pumped up the crowd with comedic songs and intense solos, bringing the riffs and the laughs.
Judas Priest: The anticipation couldn’t have been greater in the moments before PRIEST took the stage. To get the crowd going, Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” played over the speakers, and every person in attendance started singing along. Shortly after, the lights went down, the curtain was dropped, and the crowd went nuts as Rob Halford’s voice came through the mic.
The band started their set with “Dragonaut,” from their most recent album, Redeemer of Souls, and continued to play select tunes covering their entire 40 year span, including “Victim of Changes” and “Metal Gods.” While they have been playing for almost half a century, the band seems to give no signs of wear just yet. Halford’s screams proved they are just as powerful as ever, and the solo battles between guitar legend Glenn Tipton and the younger Richie Faulkner will have you shaking in your boots. Add to that the thunderous pounding of Scott Travis’ drums and Ian Hill’s bass lines, and you have the most powerful band in heavy metal – still.
With interesting visuals on the big screen, as well as a crazy light show, Halford led the performance with great force. He wore outfits of leather, spikes, denim, and chains, occasionally walking offstage to change. Faulkner was constantly interacting with the crowd, pointing at a fan and singing along with them, sometimes throwing a pick and a smile their way. Being the youngest and newest member of the band, he had the most energy of all of them. At one point he shot his finger at me and we both sang along together before swapping grins. During the songs Halford would strut across the stage while singing to join each of the other members individually while sharing a look and a move, and encouraging the crowd to cheer for that member.
One thing I was disappointed with, however, was they had no pyrotechnics on this tour. When I saw Priest in 2011 at the same venue, they had fire blasting on the stage during almost every song. I was shocked to see they didn’t have this feature this time but I’m sure they had their reasons. Also, between songs there really wasn’t anything going on with the band. Halford did talk about their new album a bit, and also announced their 40 year anniversary, but besides that there wasn’t much said between songs, just silence apart from the crowd cheering. What Priest lacked in their stage presence they more than made up for in their live performance. Having been around for as long as they have, they don’t need to do much to keep the crowd’s attention. They also turned many of the songs into sing-a-longs, where they stretched a song out to allow for the crowd to join in, even silencing the guitar and bass to hear the crowd better.
The crowd went wild for the Priest classic “Breakin’ the Law,” and after, Halford emerged on-stage on his shiny Harley Davidson, revving it up to bring in “Hell Bent for Leather” as the big finale. The band followed with two encores, playing crowd favorites “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin,” and the lighter party anthem, “Living After Midnight.”
After blowing the minds of thousands of crazed fans, the band retreated to the back of the stage before the lights were turned back on, and then came back out and did a bow for all of the fans. Afterwards, they walked to the edge of the stage to give thanks, shake hands and throw out guitar picks and drums sticks to well deserving fans before finally disappearing into the darkness. As the crowd dispersed, there was a feeling of awe that lingered, creating the sense of “Did that really just happen?” It took a few days for me to fully take it all in. JP is still spinning on my stereo.
Energy: B+
Musicianship: A+
Sound: A+
Stage Presence: B
Set/Light Show: A-
Overall: A-
+ There are no comments
Add yours