JUDAS PRIEST (Live)

When it comes to heavy metal, there are so many great bands over the years that having a favorite is almost impossible. For me, when it comes to legends there is one band at the top of the heap: Judas Priest. Having seen them 5 times from as far back as 1980, I wondered how they would hold up onstage to their status as founding fathers of Heavy Metal. Consequently, on a warm June evening in Portland, Oregon I found out. On the 2019 leg of the Firepower tour, the band lived up to the legend once again!

The Concert

From the opening notes of “Necromancer” from the new Firepower album, the band was as tight as ever, delivering blistering riffs with all of the precision you’d expect. The Metal God; Rob Halford appeared out of a smoky doorway on stage in a rich, purple Voodoo cape and hat, almost taking a page from King Diamond. As always, Rob’s vocals are the heart and soul of the band as he takes us from melodic lows to piercing highs with the finesse and grace that only he can deliver.

The lineup for the tour (as Glen Tipton only plays very limited dates due to health issues) includes Rob Halford, Ian Hill, Scott Travis, Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap. Faulkner and Sneap on guitars do justice to all of the music, new and old with their excellent musicianship and tone. Ian Hill is as solid as ever as the backbone of the band, and Scott Travis completes the thunderous lineup with his always precise double bass drumming and razor tight beats.

Doing 4 cuts from the new album, the show also contains a lot of the songs you’d expect at a Priest concert, and a few you wouldn’t. Classics like “Tyrant” and “Starbreaker” were an amazing addition to the show, with a high point for me being “Victim of Changes.” All in all, the set was 18 songs of brilliant, tight metal, that left me wanting more.

If you get a chance to catch Judas Priest on this tour, do it. After 40+ years, it’s clear that Rob and the band still have the passion to continue for a long time to come.