There are few bands that, after fifty years, can still amaze friend and foe with a metal show of the highest level. Judas Priest does that ‘just for a moment’ on a dreary, dreary Monday and amazes everyone in the AFAS Live with a show that is correct from A to Z. The Priest is not only back, but better than ever!
Everything indicated in advance that Judas Priest would give a great show. This spring, the British seventies released an unparalleled nineteenth (!) studio album that can easily compete with their best work (think Screaming for Vengeance, Sad Wings of Destiny and of course the ultimate favorite: Painkiller).
Judging by their recent misfortunes, it’s actually a miracle that ‘Priest’ is still active at all. Not only did frontman Rob Halford (72) fight a fierce battle against cancer for years, guitarist Glenn Tipton also struggles with Parkinson’s and the youngest band member, Richie Faulkner, almost died a few years ago after a heart attack on stage.
Yet Judas Priest is there, and not only that, but she may have given her best performance ever on Dutch soil. The musical class is oozing from the first second. The opening song Panic Attack, from the new album Invincible Shield, is one of the best songs Priest has ever written with its super fast riffs and icy vocals and immediately hits Amsterdam like a bomb.
Halford, dressed in a white glittery coat, immediately stands out because of both his appearance and his performance. The man is 72, but sings, screams, roars and screams with as much energy and passion as in the seventies. “Hello Priest family! Hello Amsterdam!”, Halford greets the audience after a few songs, after which he appears again in a new outfit. Many outfits will follow, as if De Toppers had left something behind after their shows in the Arena across the street. “Are you ready? Is everyone ready for an old-fashioned evening of metal?” he shouts enthusiastically.
Judas Priest is known for their metal classics, but for several years now they have been delivering a full-fledged metal show with bells and whistles that many bands envy. The set resembles a mini castle with multiple floors, consisting of vertical and square screens on which the band shows beautiful visuals such as flames, lightning bolts and skulls. Extremely cliché, but Priest gets away with it effortlessly.
Priest’s castle flickers, flashes and turns into millions of colors for an hour and a half. There are lamps everywhere that rotate 360 degrees and illuminate the band members and the audience. Above the band hangs a huge set piece in the shape of the Judas Priest logo, which descends and rises and during Faulkner’s dizzying solos and sometimes even turns upside down.
It is – in short – a metal show at its finest. The riffs fly around your ears, and Halford’s signature icy vocals bring the show to life. Star guitarist Faulkner stands with his legs spread throughout the show and plays one phenomenal solo after another with unprecedented speed and precision. During Turbo Lover he throws his guitar in the air, throws cool riffs and looks confidently into the audience as if he knows that only he is the boss tonight. The rotating lights put him in the spotlight at the right moments, as if he were performing a true circus act.
“Exactly fifty years ago we released our first album,” says Halford about the critically acclaimed debut album Rocka Rolla. “That was the start of heavy metal. We grew up with Black Sabbath and together we tried to create a new sound. And now look at us! Decades later, we are still on a beautiful journey. We couldn’t do this without you. Thanks to you, the Priest is alive and well!”
Not a word has been said about that. Judas Priest is in top form in the AFAS Live. The songs – new and old – sound just as strong as on the record and are adorned with strong instrumental sessions that are never boring. The setlist is a perfect mix of old and new material. The chorus of classic Breaking The Law is sung loudly by the audience, and the nostalgic Sinner once again shows Faulkner’s sublime guitar work.
Even when Priest takes a gamble in the setlist, for example with the Fleetwood Mac cover The Green Manalishi, the audience’s attention remains fully focused on the stage. While you normally suffer from The Dutch Disease, all metalheads (mostly in their fifties) keep their mouths shut here.
Judas Priest is at her very best in the final. Magnum opus Painkiller is and remains one of the best metal songs ever written; it’s truly amazing how Halford still manages to hit those high notes. Traditionally, he appears on stage in the encore on a huge motorcycle, and then concludes with Hell Bent For Leather and Living After Midnight with a kind of black whip in his hands. What a party, but above all: what unprecedented class. Where most of their peers are slowly tapering off (see Metallica and their 15 songs per evening), Judas Priest is livelier and better than ever.
