Okay, I will repeat what I just posted on Facebook : I never thought I'd be saying this about the new version of Judas Priest, but "........................"! That means I'm speechless. Holy Smokes and My Goodness and Great Googly Moogly and Good Lordy Moses......they were freakin' great!
I wasn't exactly looking forward to the show because of the absence of Tipton and Downing, as I've mentioned several times, and you know my feelings about bands making major lineup changes and retaining the original band name.
But, having said all of that, I made the effort to go downtown to the Microsoft Theater (at the Staples complex). A motivating factor was the 90 bucks I'd spent on my ticket. I took the Red Line out of North Hollywood as usual, got off at the Metro/7th Street station and walked the few blocks to L.A. Live, or Staples, or whatever you wanna call it. The Microsoft used to be the Nokia Theater, and I've only been there a few times, for Rush about seven years ago, and I think for Priest in 2014.
I went down because I'd spent my money on the ticket, and I promised myself that I would not go in with preconceptions, i.e. "this is gonna suck". I had made the same promise in last night's blog, when I said that I would not go to the concert as a curmudgeon, and in fact, I was curious about the show because I had read so many good reviews from other cities, which I chalked up to Newbie Fans who don't know jack about the history of Judas Priest. I mentioned that too in a recent blog.
So I got there, I went in, I had a good seat : dead center, about 2/3rds of the way back in a medium sized venue (5K). Saxon was just beginning their set, and they were damn good too. I loved the "Wheels Of Steel" album in 1981, and they played the title track. They also played "Denim & Leather", another famous song by them. Me and Mr. D used to blast Saxon on a regular basis back in the NWOBHM days. Google the initials if need be. I also accompanied my friend Jon S. on an interview of Saxon back in 1983 (I was his photographer), and I have a photo of myself sitting with singer Biff Byford from that session. Biff was in powerful voice tonight and he is still bringing it live, 35 years later. Overall, Saxon played almost an hour and the crowd ate 'em up. They got a response usually reserved for headliners.
Okay, so here's the deal with what I will call "Judas Priest 2.0". If you go to the show, and you accept them on their own terms and don't make comparisons to original Judas Priest, then you will be blown off the map. That is what happened to me - no exaggeration - and I was prepared to hate it. The energy of the new band is reminiscent of the way Priest was in the early 80s, when they could blow anyone off the stage (except maybe Van Halen). But yeah, Priest from 81 to 86, fuggettabouddit.
You'd walk out of their shows thinking, "Surely you jest", because you couldn't believe what you had just seen.
That level of energy is back in the band now, incredible as it may seem. It's like the band went to Oxford and hired a couple of PhDs from the Judas Priest College of Metal for their new guitarists. Something has happened to Rob Halford also; he has gotten his voice back to about 92% of what it once was. If you are a JP fan who has seen him live since he rejoined the band in 2005, you know he was good on the first reunion tours, very good in fact, but he appeared overweight and his high range was mostly gone.
Rob must have gone back to the Harry Potter School for 5 Octave Wizardry, because - and I kid you not - he is singing like it is 1982 again.
They played a version of "Free Wheel Burning" from the "Defenders Of The Faith" album that blew the roof off the place. The setlist included many songs from way back into the classic catalogue, and you can Google that too if you are interested.
There was a drawback or two, just minor complaints, that I will mention tomorrow night because the hour is very late and I must sleep so that I can continue to function.
But basically, I got more than my 90 bucks worth.
What I got was one of the best Judas Priest shows I've ever seen, albeit in a whole new version of the band, which I was prepared to reject.
Believe me, if it had even remotely sucked, I would be the first to tell you, because I revere the original Judas Priest. You have no idea how much.
But not only did it not suck, it was phenomenal in it's own way.
And, Glenn Tipton came out for the three song encore.
Thank You, Lord.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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