Judas Priest
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 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.
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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”.
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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.
‘How’s the lad?’ and welcome to the wearing-o’-something-green edition of ‘How’s it going there’ in 80’s metal.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so below is a video performance of ‘Whiskey In The Jar’. THIN LIZZY’s version came out in 1972 and METALLICA’s cover of Thin Lizzy’s version was released in 1998. Since neither came out in the 80’s, I flipped a coin and Thin Lizzy won, so “whack for my daddy-o, there’s whiskey in the jar-o” to light up your day.
Seems everyday there is something new in the AC/DC guest singer saga. Now comes word that vocalist, Rob Liotti, who was chosen by filmmakers to portray the late Bon Scott in a biopic, has apparently had contact with the band about replacing lead singer, Brian Johnson. Liotti says “yes, I will confirm that I have had contact with the band – both directly and through third parties close to the AC/DC camp, but that’s really all I can say.”
Last week, former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist KK Downing said he would only consider a return to Priest if they embarked on a “greatest metal tour” with other giants of the genre, IRON MAIDEN and BLACK SABBATH sharing the bill. Well, Priest frontman Rob Halford says he loves the idea, saying “I think that’s the dream of a lot of people, to imagine Maiden and Sabbath and Priest and Led Zeppelin. Can you imagine what that would be like at Wembley? Oh my God! It would just be mad. It would be like multiple nights. Forget about 50 shows that Michael Jackson didn’t do. It would be 100 shows at Wembley. So, yeah, it’s great to hear that there’s that passion still in KK’s voice for Priest.”
A petition has been launched to erect a statue of RONNIE JAMES DIO in his birthtown of Portsmouth, New York.
On this date in 1984, VAN HALEN’s ‘Jump’ peaked at No. 1 in the U.S. Over the years David Lee Roth has given various accounts of the meaning behind the lyrics, but most often says they are about a TV news story he saw where a man was about to kill himself by jumping off a building.
Happy Birthday to Bob Bohtelo listening to METAL SHOP in California.
That’s a wrap. Make a little time to party today or a lot 😉 and thanks for checking in here, made even better by your comments and updates! “Have a drink on me” Metal Dogs! And have a Sham-ROCKIN’ St. Patrick’s Day!
Happy Friday! The 80’s metal is non-stop on METAL SHOP because you deserve a good ass kicking, and you know it.
On this date in 1983, QUIET RIOT released their third album “Metal Health,” the first heavy metal album to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200. QR went on a tour the same year, opening for BLACK SABBATH. The title track is known by a number of slightly different names. It was simply called “Metal Health” on the original vinyl release, but most subsequent reissues of the album on other formats call it “Bang Your Head”, with the phrase ‘Metal Health’ in parentheses, either before or after the “main” title.
Today in 1983, HELIX also released their third studio album “No Rest for the Wicked,” featuring the single “Heavy Metal Love.” After a long run as a standard bar band, they changed their image to a more image-conscious metal band and were finally signed to Capitol Records after being rejected by them three times.
METALLICA is working on a new album and it may be done this year as Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone, “We’ve gotta finish the new record now. But thankfully we’re quite far along. Hopefully we should be able to knock that on the head this spring, I would guess. So we will be gearing up and playing shows and doing all that fun stuff again soon.”
JUDAS PRIEST is releasing a new concert DVD from last year’s “Redeemer Of Souls” tour later this month. Checkout a performance clip of ‘The Hellion/Electric Eye’ from that disc posted yesterday at this location – Click Here
Happy Birthday to former PANTERA Drummer “Vinnie Paul” Abbott, who turns 52 today and Happy Birthday to IRON MAIDEN Bassist Steve Harris, who turns 60 tomorrow (3/11).
For most of us in the U.S.A. and some parts of the world, we have the inexplicable duty this weekend of making sure that every single timepiece in our realm is changed, by force or by programming, to Daylight Saving Time. This is a highly unpopular and pointless mandate. The government wants us to eat our broccoli, but they have no problem with depriving us of that precious and vital thing called sleep?
Thanks for checking in! Look forward to reading your interesting updates and comments. Enjoy your abbreviated wknd!
Hey Hey it’s Thursday… here is a quick 80’s metal update to provide an illusory sense of being on top of stuff :).
With AC/DC’s Brian Johnson sidelined, probably forever, because of near total hearing loss, who will replace him to finish out the current tour? Some names being floated are Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth, Dave Grohl, Vince Neil, Krokus’ Marc Storace and original AC/DC lead singer Dave Evans. Stay tuned.
Ever since MOTORHEAD’s Lemmy passed in late December, it seems one classic rocker after another has also left us. Others like Brian Johnson are still here, but their careers have been cut short. Now comes word (and confirmed by guitarist Alex Lifeson) that RUSH are officially retired from touring because drummer of Neil Peart’s physical inability to play any longer due to increasing chronic arthritis pain. Super sad.
OZZY OSBOURNE said recently, “I’m not saying I’ll never record with Tony or Geezer again,” but he will no longer tour with BLACK SABBATH, so get out and see them while you still can. ‘The End’ tour starts up again in Australia next month.
In a recent interview, MÖTLEY CRÜE’s Nikki Sixx said it was ‘really special’ seeing Vince Neil cry at the band’s final show on December 31, 2015, “cause I had seen Vince only cry a few times.”
Two great songs and a precursor to the metal sound of the 80’s were released today in 1976 (JUDAS PRIEST ‘The Ripper’) and in 1979 (MOTÖRHEAD ‘Overkill’).
Happy Birthday to Aron Culver listening to METAL SHOP in California.
Hope to see you on the radio. Love to hear your comments about things. Thanks!
Welcome to a Monday. We’re those old fuckers that play those old heavy metal songs. METAL SHOP rolls out kick ass 80’s metal and hard rock 24/7.
All your favorites are always in the mix, including IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, METALLICA, DIO, MÖTLEY CRÜE, MEGADETH, QUEENSRŸCHE, SCORPIONS, RATT, SLAYER, and more.
Listen also for the new ANTHRAX… ‘Evil Twin’ is coming up soon. The new album ‘For All Kings’ is excellent and cracked the U.S. Top 10 in its first week of release to land at position No. 9 on The Billboard 200 chart.
In a recent interview with vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza of San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans EXODUS, he said “we’re not considered one of the [so-called] “Big Four” [of 1980s thrash metal, which consists of METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX], and I hate that phrase. METALLICA is by far the biggest band in the world, so to put the other three in that category? No disrespect to MEGADETH, ANTHRAX or SLAYER; I love all of those bands, but I lived in the Bay Area when metal was being born, and everybody wanted to be like EXODUS. That goes from POSSESSED, LEGACY, DEATH ANGEL. It was not necessarily METALLICA, it was EXODUS. So, to me, that was the band that innovated and started it out.”
Checkout this video an IRON MAIDEN fan uploaded of the official and bootleg merchandise stands at the band’s March 3rd concert at Palacio De Los Deportes in Mexico City. METAL SHOP’s Ralph Cartel noted that in Las Vegas, the official merchandise booth was out of control. In Mexico though, not a soul is buying a t-shirt inside the venue but if you go outside it’s a whole different story.
Former ACCEPT singer Udo Dirkschneider is currently on tour where he is performing ACCEPT songs one last time before he closes the chapter for good, saying “I wanna close, like a book, and say, ‘Okay, that’s it. I read it.’ Sometimes you have to come to an end with something. I wanna close up everything with ACCEPT. Click Here to read more and see video footage from Friday’s show in Jyväskylä, Finland.
Happy Birthday to Linda Jarota listening to METAL SHOP in Pennsylvania, Chris Hiles listening in Washington State, Tony Nicholl listening in the U.K., and Jorge Zorrilla Diaz listening in Peru.
Have a good one all and stay dry out there.
Hello again 80’s Metal lovin’ friends. Today is a big-time landmark day because today in 1986, METALLICA released what many consider the greatest metal record of the 80’s and maybe of all-time, ‘Master of Puppets.’
Rolling Stone notes the album still sounds as powerful today as it does fearless. It was also written in only eight weeks. The first song Metallica wrote for the LP was “Battery,” followed by “Disposable Heroes.” The only songs that weren’t complete by the time they got to the studio were “The Thing That Should Not Be” and “Orion.” Originally, they’d hoped Rush singer Geddy Lee would produce the LP, but he was unavailable due to time constraints.
The title track is so popular it surprises Lars Ulrich, saying “when I listen to ‘Master of Puppets’ now, I just sit there and go, ‘What the fuck? How do you do that?’ It’s very gutsy music.” Former bassist Cliff Burton said in 1986 that it was Metallica’s “best song yet.”
Did you know Lars used another band’s drum on ‘Master of Puppets’? Def Leppard’s Rick Allen had been in an accident that resulted in him losing his left arm and wasn’t using his snare at the time, so Lars asked, “Can you send it over? They just overnighted it.”
Ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing says he would be open to reuniting with his former bandmates on the occasion of a hypothetical Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Even better he said “is to schedule a massive tour featuring of BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN and PRIEST. I think we would all love to see that. “It would be something I would have to be part of,” Downing said. “Only because I’d like to see the greatest heavy-metal tour happen because it’s never happened. And it’s never gonna happen. Unfortunately, that chapter of history won’t be there forever, which is kind of sad.”
SLAYER guitarist Kerry King may have temporarily lost his mind or may be a little delusional when he said in a recent interview that Iron Maiden and Metallica are ‘living on past success’. Although he did admit that Slayer is, to some degree, resting on its laurels. Not sure what to make of this.
SAVATAGE Guitarist CHRIS CAFFERY is joining METAL CHURCH for their upcoming tour.
That’s it for now. Find out the latest by visiting the METAL SHOP website or follow on Facebook or Twitter.
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Hi there! Back for another merry round of what’s up in 80’s Metal.
Photos, video and stories are coming from the big weekend of live metal in Las Vegas.
METAL SHOP listener Bianca Trujillo attended the MEGADETH concert last Friday (Feb. 26th). Check out her recap and photos at this location – Click Here
METAL SHOP’s Ralph Cartel attended the IRON MAIDEN concert on Sunday (Feb. 28th). Check out his recap and photos – Click Here
A new Twitter account purportedly belonging to former GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Izzy Stradlin has appeared on the social media site, according to The Pulse Of Radio. Two sources have apparently confirmed to The Wall Street Journal reporter Neil Shah that the account is real, with Stradlin himself — or the person behind the account claiming to be Stradlin — tweeting a video of himself playing guitar. But more importantly, the first tweet from the @IzzyStradlin999 account on Feb. 22nd read, “At this point in time, I’ve no involvement in the upcoming April 2016 GNR shows.”
Former DIO and current DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013 and is continues to battle the disease, saying recently, “It keeps coming back. I’ve done three rounds of chemo, stem cell transplant and I really thought would be it with the stem cell transplant, but no, it came back, so I’m kind of resigned to the fact that I’ll probably deal with the rest of my life. But I’m really not at all concerned with it; it’s just maintenance. I put it on par with going to the dentist. It’s a little bit more involved than that, but it’s just something that I got to keep doing.”
Today in 1997, a MÖTLEY CRÜE fan who claimed his hearing had been irreparably damaged after a show in New Jersey had his lawsuit thrown out of court. The judge told Clifford Goldberg who had sat near the front of the stage, knew the risk he was taking.
Happy Birthday to original SKID ROW drummer Rob Affuso. He turns 53 today.
On this date in 1982, KROKUS released their sixth album “One Vice at a Time”, featuring the single “Long Stick Goes Boom” and today in 2005, JUDAS PRIEST released the album “Angel of Retribution”, their first album since 1990’s ‘Painkiller’ to feature Rob Halford.
That’s all I’ve got so far. Check in, chime in….and thank you!
Oh yeah! It’s Friday. Now read that again in James Hetfield’s voice – “Oh yeah!”
Here we go…
Like any good celebrity memoir, Lita Ford’s new book ‘Living Like a Runaway’ has its share of surprising all-star revelations — like her memories of the night Robert Plant asked her if she wanted to join Led Zeppelin. Their encounter, as recalled in an excerpt published by the New York Post, took place in 1975 after the Runaways’ first headlining gig in Los Angeles. After posing for photos with the band, Plant took Ford aside and asked if she could play bass. When she wondered who she’d be playing bass for, Plant retorted, “Led Zep.” “He might have been drinking or pulling my leg,” wrote Ford, “but he seemed to be dead serious in the moment.”
The IRON MAIDEN ‘The Book of Souls Tour’ resumes tonight (Feb. 26) in Tulsa, Oklahoma after opening in Florida this week. Maiden will be in Vegas on Sunday and then off to Mexico. Kind of a strange tour route in North America, but maybe pilot Bruce Dickinson is not interested in short flights 🙂 Checkout the IRON MAIDEN facebook page to view photos from Wednesday’s tour kickoff show in Florida.
Whitesnake has announced a Greatest Hits tour for this summer. The group’s release last year, ‘The Purple Album’ was meant to be singer David Coverdale’s last work, but he admitted it gave him a new lease of life. “I have no desire to hang up my rock’n’roll sneakers just yet,” he said.
Today in 1981, JUDAS PRIEST released their 7th album “Point of Entry.” Following the instant classic “British Steel,” Priest wasn’t content to simply fast-track a quick carbon copy for their next effort. The problem was, they couldn’t agree on their next step, according to frontman Rob Halford. “The band wanted to do something different, but the record company had seen we could deliver hit singles and wanted more of the same. We were not so sure, so I think Point of Entry suffers from too many people pulling in too many directions.” Can you believe their record label rejected the vaguely futuristic album cover design chosen overseas and replaced it with an arguably more abstract interpretation of the title?
ANTHRAX’s long-awaited new album, “For All Kings”, is out today (Feb. 26). A review in The Guardian calls the new record “crowd-pleasing destruction from the thrash masters.” Listen for the single “Breathing Lightning” now playing on METAL SHOP.
Happy Friday and let’s raise a toast to 80’s metal this weekend. Cheers!
Welcome to a Wednesday 80’s Metal Dogs! Sometimes I do miss my mullet. I started growing it around 1985 and now I can’t grow anything, but bald is beautiful too 🙂
The term “supergroup” gets thrown around on a regular basis these days, however, a new tour featuring some of the greatest guitarists of all time is about to truly give the term a whole new meaning. It’s called “Generation Axe” and features Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi. There will be 26 performances in North America, beginning April 5th in Seattle.
Next week, the new documentary, We Are Twisted F***ing Sister!, which focuses on the 10 years the group spent playing as a full-time bar band before finally making it big, will be released on DVD, VOD and digital download (Feb. 23). Dee Snider recently discussed the movie saying, “If you’re from the Northeast, there’s a reference and understanding of the importance of Twisted Sister. That’s why you’ll see bands like Cinderella and Bon Jovi, Kix and Poison, Anthrax and Overkill. When they talk about Twisted, it’s like they’re talking about somebody that’s in their band. People from the West Coast, and overseas and South America, they get confused — ‘this is the band with two songs?’ The bands I mentioned, growing up in the Northeast, they were aware of the Twisted presence and the Twisted influence over these bands. So many of them would get in line with thousands of others to see Twisted Sister in a bar or a club, packed to the rafters to see this band. It’s great for that story to finally be made available.”
AC/DC released their debut album (only in Australia) ‘High Voltage’ today in 1975. The album featured ‘She’s Got Balls’ which was written about singer Bon Scott’s ex-wife Irene. At some point, she had complained he had never written a song about her; lead guitarist Angus Young said: “So he wrote She’s Got Balls and she left him!”
KING DIAMOND also released their debut album “Fatal Portrait” in 1986 and today in 1984, MEGADETH played their first-ever show at Ruthie’s Inn in Berkeley, California. The line-up consisted of Dave Mustaine on guitar, David Ellefson on bass, Kerry King on guitar and Lee Rausch on drums. Check out the original flyer below.
At the peak of the hair band run, David Coverdale married actress Tawny Kitaen (known for her provocative appearances in Whitesnake’s music videos ‘Here I Go Again, ‘Is This Love’ and ‘Still of the Night’) today in 1989. The couple divorced in 1991.
Finally, here’s a fun time suck – 100 Metal Facts You Might Not Know, including Rob Halford worked at a porno movie theatre before he joined JUDAS PRIEST and early era IRON MAIDEN singer Dennis Wilcock quitting the band because the other members wouldn’t follow his lead and don KISS-inspired makeup, and this one… Between his stints in METALLICA and MEGADETH, Dave Mustaine worked as a telemarketer… “Hello me, meet the real me and will Tuesday at 4pm work for me to come by and demonstrate our new vacuum cleaner?” Click Here for more.
If you are on twitter, be sure to follow METAL SHOP there for songs now playing and ALL the latest 80’s Metal/Hair Band News – Click Here.
Now go rock the day and thanks for listening!
Well, it’s Tuesday, but there are no bad days when 80’s metal is playing.
One great thing about the Internet is not having to sit through entire awards shows on television to watch the one thing you are interested in seeing. I only cared about the tribute to late MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister performed by the Hollywood Vampires (featuring actor Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, AEROSMITH’s Joe Perry and GUNS N’ ROSES Duff McKagan). I loved Alice singing “Ace of Spades.” Check it out while you can at this location – Click Here
For some reason, certain metal fans get very upset seeing Justin Bieber wear a METALLICA shirt. He did it again at the Grammys and I am just wondering, why does it even matter? James Hetfield joked about it in his top 10 things of 2015 and it’s possible the band sent JB a care package of shirts, because he’s been rocking different Metallica shirts each time he’s photographed in one. If this bothers you, here’s another take to consider… Today’s artists wearing old metal shirts, regardless of what they perform, promotes the genre to an audience that may never be exposed to it.
Happy Birthday to former Slayer Drummer Dave Lombardo. He turns 51 today. Did you know Lombardo created the now iconic Slayer logo? At the age of 16, he met Kerry King, who introduced the drummer to another guitarist named Jeff Hanneman and singer/bass player, Tom Araya to form the original lineup.
Original Def Leppard Guitarist Pete Willis (56) is also celebrating a birthday today. Pete was fired during the recording of “Pyromania,” and replaced by guitarist Phil Collen. He co-wrote many tracks on the band’s first three albums… hopefully the royalties he gets from those records takes away some of the sting of missing out on Def Lepp’s meteoric rise to fame following his departure.
Just announced today, JUDAS PRIEST is set to unleash a new live CD and DVD titled ‘Battle Cry’ next month from the most recent “Redeemer Of Souls” tour.
Lots of Priest will spin on METAL SHOP today and everyday, along with MAIDEN, METALLICA, MÖTLEY CRÜE, SCORPIONS, W.A.S.P., SLAYER and more. Thanks for listening.
