Metal-Head Heaven: Judas Priest and Whitesnake
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I attended a concert back in 2005 when Judas Priest and Queensryche played and the venue was called the Tweeter Center. I remember it being a very entertaining performance by the then reunited Rob Halford and band. Four years later and Judas Priest sounds like the rock 'n' roll juggernaut they have always been. This would be a special performance dedicated to the 30-year anniversary of the band's classic "British Steel" album.
The night opened with a rock-metal band from Michigan called Pop Evil. This band is up and coming and obviously strong enough to get on the same ticket as legends like Judas Priest and Whitesnake. Pop Evil performed admirably for an opening act and exhibited a tremendous stage presence and potential for furthering their career with a good set of original material.
I went to this concert with low expectations of what to expect from Whitesnake as the only remaining member of that band is the lead singer David Coverdale. How would Coverdale sound after all these years? Certainly nothing like the bluesy and heavy voiced front man of Deep Purple and there was no way I would hear that energy and power coming from him like when he launched Whitesnake to rock stardom. Well, Coverdale answered the call and dispelled any doubts about his capabilities in 2009, sounding strong while belting out all the Whitesnake favorites with energy and professionalism.
He can scream like a singer half his age and the band he put together is quite capable of playing everything from the Whitesnake canon in convincing fashion. That show only would have made the night it was that good, but the best was yet to come.
 Photos by Tim Bugbee of Tinnitus Photography
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Judas Priest Set
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| Rapid Fire Metal Gods Breaking The Law Grinder United You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise Living After Midnight The Rage |
Steeler The Ripper Prophecy Rock Hard, Ride Free Victim of Changes Encore: Freewheel Burning Diamonds & Rust You've Got Another Thing Coming |
You could see people's hands holding the cloth getting ready to unveil our heroes to us at any moment. A laser show picturing a steel worker hammering out some metal complete with all the sounds kicked things off and then in dramatic fashion the cloth dropped and Judas Priest launched into their set with "Rapid Fire" to a rousing response from the crowd.
This was metal-head nirvana and for anyone who appreciates this kind of music, there is no other band on the planet that represents the genre better than Judas Priest. Rob Halford can still scream and you wonder how much longer he will be able to do that. I imagine the day he can no longer let out his banshee yell he will hang up his microphone for good. Until then, we get to enjoy the quintessential metal gods in all their glory and power.
The entire British Steel album played live is a thing to behold and it seemed like it went all too fast. Once that was over some of the other fan favorites graced our ears. I was very anxious to hear material from last year's epic "Nostradamus" double-album set. Unfortunately we got to hear only one track, "Prophecy," which was excellent. Halford came out in a shiny metallic outfit and a cane and played his part very well. I heard through the grapevine prior to the concert that they may be performing the entire album live next year.
Now that would be something else to witness and I do hope it happens. I realize that a lot of synthesized guitar parts were used for the "Nostradamus" recording and the equipment, stage, and costumes must be quite extravagant for the full effect, thus the long period of time to plan and put together a show with so many complexities.
Nevertheless, the little disappointment of not enough of the most recent album went away very quickly as the band performed admirably and gave us all in attendance a tremendous and memorable performance.
The faithful forgive you Judas Priest and hope next year we get to see you again in all your glory performing your recent masterpiece just like you did last night, except it was a gem from 30 years ago.
All is well in metal-head land and, yes, there is metal-head heaven, I was just there last night.
Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck is a regular columnist and reviewer with MuzikReviews.com. The original review can be found here.
