Judas Priest - Acer Arena 12/09/08

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Now playing: Various Artists - Nick's 1208 Mix
Now playing: Judas Priest - Exiled
This show was incorrectly billed as the original line-up, in fact it is arguable that it could be called the classic line-up; what it is, however is the strongest version of the Priest and after prodigal vocalist Rob Halford’s return a half-decade ago, we’ve been waiting patiently for them to treat us to the first ever performance of the band with Halford behind the mic.

It was a large, impressive stage set that greeted us, with a backdrop of the new ‘Nostradamus’ cover (with red glowing eyes and all!) and the band entered to the strains of the first, intro track from said album before kicking into the first track proper “Prophecy”. Halford entered with his typical theatricality via a hydraulic lift which allowed him to suddenly appear atop one of the turrets that framed the stage.

The pageantry continued with Halford bringing out large flags & waving them before affixing them to the turret platforms where they billowed – thanks to strategically positioned fans – for the remainder of the set. Also, his constant between-song disappearances only saw him return in new costume after new costume as was befitting of the various tunes.

And onto the tunes: whilst there were some of the obvious favourites trotted out – “Metal Gods”, “Between The Hammer And The Anvil”, “Breaking The Law”, Sinner”, “Electric Eye”; there were also some surprises such as “Eat Me Alive” and “Rock Hard Ride Free”. The guitar interplay between Downing and Tipton was as energised as one would expect but for me the strength came from the solid, locked-in performance of the rhythm section of Hill and Travis – the former showing that why he, whilst not being a particularly flashy bassist, is such an important part of this band and the latter proving again that he is one of the best drummers in metal. And of course Halford has not lost that voice, even if some of the notes looked like they were taking some effort.

I don’t usually like to compare bands, however I will say that the performance from Priest’s UK metal peers Iron Maiden earlier in the year wins out for sheer attention-holding spectacle and momentum, this show was entirely fulfilling and enjoyable and met all expectations. Long live the Priest!


Set list:
Dawn of Creation (intro)
Prophecy
Metal Gods
Eat Me Alive
Between the Hammer and the Anvil
Devil’s Child
Breaking the Law
Hell Patrol
Death
(my memory is missing a track here – if anyone knows, fill me in)
Angel
The Hellion/Electric Eye
Rock Hard Ride Free
Sinner
Painkiller
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Hell Bent for Leather
The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’