Share

Recap from Metal Mike Koreski in Portland, Oregon (4/17/18), Additonal photos from Ralph Cartel in Los Angeles, California (4/22/18)

What an atmosphere for Tuesday night’s show at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. The Portland Trailblazers were playing game two of the first round of the NBA playoffs. Then across the courtyard was a near sellout crowd of a different sort….some younger, mostly older metal fans who came out for a BIG night of 80’s metal music featuring Judas Priest and Saxon!

Judas Priest Portland Oregon 4-17-18

Judas Priest is riding a wave of momentum right now… 70’s/80’s hard rock/heavy metal is more accessible at arenas and clubs these days as it used to be during those decades when many of the bands were earning the “classic” status they have now.

The latest Priest release “Firepower” is very good (in my opinion their best work since Painkiller in the early 90’s), and the unfortunate circumstances with original guitar player Glenn Tipton (who has Parkinson’s and is to the point where he can’t tour anymore) have also caused fans to realize you better see these groups now while you can as you truly never know when they are done.

Click Here to view more photos

Opening the night was Black Star Riders, which was originally a latter day version of Thin Lizzy, centered around one of the key guitarists, Scott Gorham and singer/guitarist Ricky Warrick, who changed their name when they decided to make new music, but still play some Thin Lizzy classics and deep cuts. This show featured “Jailbreak” as the second song into their tight 40 minute set. The band is good… some good energy on stage… Warrick in particular is a VERY intense performer.

Next up was Saxon, one of the original NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) bands. Their close to one hour set was split between selections from their latest scorching release, “Thunderbolt” (the title track was the opener and as well it should’ve been), and classic tracks such as “Power and the Glory”, “Denim & Leather” and “Dallas 1pm”.

Saxon vocalist Biff Byford was my vote for MVP of the night… amazing stage presence, knows how to work the crowd and his voice was amazingly strong for being several decades in use. Oh yeah, and he looked very regal in a double breasted revolutionary-war-looking coat… so metal, LOL. The bass player for Saxon was the craziest stage performer I’ve seen in decades. The guy was doing the best animal from the Muppets imitation ever and his head would just continually thrash during most of the songs. He also ran the whole stage, stood on the front stage amps and embodied how Saxon are still a vital band for fans of this genre. By the way, pick up “Thunderbolt”, you WILL NOT be disappointed!

And then it was time for the main event. Judas Priest opened their set with the title track off their latest face melting release “Firepower”, and the rest of the set didn’t disappoint. They played “Freewheel Burning” on this tour for the first time in a looooong time, and my favorite song of the night was the “Screaming For Vengeance” deep track “Bloodstone”. Guitarist Andy Sneap (who co-produced Firepower and was Tipton’s choice to replace him on tour) had a chance to shine on this song and a few others, but Richie Faulkner is the featured player in the band now.

The second half of the show was loaded with more of the sing along chorus songs that allowed vocalist Rob Halford to have the crowd sing them, giving him a small break on “Turbo Lover”, “Hell Bent for Leather” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’.

And then, the big reveal… Glenn Tipton came out for the encore and played for only the third show of the tour so far (he played at the Kent, WA show two nights earlier). The encore was “Metal Gods”, “Breaking the Law” and the finisher, the gigantic sing along “Livin’ After Midnight”.

Click Here to view more photos

A couple of points about this show… all three bands have new discs out and you really should be purchasing them, as they are worthy of being listened to in sequence, not on a music service playlist with several other bands, even though you just wanted one. Also, support live music when these and several other “vintage” artists come to town (see Rich Rock’s Y&T review for an example). Many bands bring it better than they have in years.

80s Metal Trending

Black Sabbath's Back To The Beginning show will take place on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK [...]

In a new interview with Mark Strigl, GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall opened up about last year's passing of the band's original singer, Jack Russell. Mark said (as transcribed by [...]

Ozzy Osbourne has confirmed that he will just be doing "little bits and pieces" with BLACK SABBATH during his final gig. Ozzy announced his last-ever performance on February 5, revealing [...]

During an appearance on the "Going Off Track" podcast, SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan reflected on the more aggressive sound of the band's second album, 1991's "Slave To The Grind", [...]

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson joined PANTERA on stage earlier tonight (Saturday, February 15) at Adidas Arena in Paris, France to perform the Philip Anselmo-fronted band's classic song "Walk". Video [...]

In a new interview with Belgian Jasper, LACUNA COIL singer Cristina Scabbia was asked how she initially felt about being featured on the cover of the February 2006 issue of [...]

During an appearance on the Guitar Hang podcast, Australian guitarist Orianthi spoke about the injury which forced her to pull out of her previously announced return to Alice Cooper's touring [...]

In a recent interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, Udo Dirkschneider and Peter Baltes spoke about the upcoming reimagining of ACCEPT's iconic album "Balls To The Wall" to [...]

In a new interview with Jonathan Clarke, host of "Out Of The Box" on Q104.3, New York's classic rock station, Ian Anderson reflected on Tony Iommi's sole appearance with JETHRO [...]

The guitarist’s solo debut It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere turns 30 this week but it could’ve been a GN’R album if he'd had his way [...]

In a new interview with Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic, EXODUS guitarist and main songwriter Gary Holt spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2021's [...]

W.A.S.P. . The post W.A.S.P. announce digital release of ‘Bonus Tracks & B-Sides’ from their ‘The 7 Savage’ Boxset first appeared on Sleaze Roxx. [...]

Sebastian . The post Sebastian Bach drops video for new single “To Live Again” first appeared on Sleaze Roxx. [...]

Black Sabbath icon Ozzy and Billy Morrison join forces again on reimagined new single Gods of Rock N Roll [...]

In a new interview with Mexico's Summa Inferno, TOOL bassist Justin Chancellor was asked about a possible follow-up to the band's 2019 album "Fear Inoculum". He said (as transcribed by [...]

In a new interview with Iron Madness, former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate once again looked back on his involvement with "Stars", the 1985 charity single for famine relief released under [...]

In a new interview with American Musical Supply, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman spoke about the importance of younger guitar players developing their own sound and style. He said (as [...]

The Motley Crue rocker wasn't on board his plane on when it veered off course and collided with a parked jet during landing, but his girlfriend was. Continue reading… [...]

Reworked version of 2015 song will appear on deluxe digital edition of 'The Morrison Project,' out next week. Continue reading… [...]

Tickets for Black Sabbath's 2025 reunion show went on sale today, and fans aren't happy with the results of the ticket-buying process. Continue reading… [...]

Madfish Music has announced the digital release of "Bonus Tracks And B-Sides" from W.A.S.P.'s "The 7 Savage" box set. W.A.S.P. has always been a band that embraced the raw power [...]

Here’s my pick of the eye-catching early bargains - t-shirts, vinyl, speakers, collectables, Lego & more [...]