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View Winners → Judas Priest Unleashes its Firepower in Los Angeles Sunday
Arts Apr 24, 2018
Photo by Ed Folven
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Photo by Ed Folven
By Ed Folven
The metal gods were smiling on April 22 when Judas Priest’s Firepower Tour ignited at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Opening band Black Star Riders and the metal veterans Saxon provided a rough and raucous first and second course, but it was Judas Priest that hungered the fans. The heavy metal icons opened with a blistering rendition of the title song on their new album Firepower before ripping into hits from the 1970s and ’80s such as “Running Wild,” “Grinder,” Sinner” and “The Ripper.”
Songs from the new album like “Lightning Strike” and “Evil Never Dies” sounded fresh and cutting edge, particularly when coupled with the classics “Bloodstone,” “Saints in Hell” and “Freewheel Burning,” which kept people headbanging and fist-pumping throughout the venue. The set had a little of everything, including ‘80s hits like “Electric Eye” and “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll,” anthems such as “Turbo Lover” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming,” and the hard-driving masterpiece “Painkiller.”
A Judas Priest concert just wouldn’t be the same without frontman Rob Halford belting out “Hell Bent for Leather” from the seat of a motorcycle he rides on stage through a cloud of smoke. Venerable bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis formed the backbone of the band’s heavy rhythms, while guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap – who stepped in for Glenn Tipton because of the founding guitarist’s health struggles – dazzled fans with face-melting solos and technical prowess.
Perhaps the most moving moment of an already earth-shaking night came when Tipton unexpectedly joined his bandmates for the encore songs “Metal Gods,” “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.” A roar echoed throughout the theater as one of the genres’ true metal gods showed his perpetual mettle on the fretboard.
Judas Priest has been an undisputed heavyweight in metal for four decades, and if the concert at the Microsoft Theater is any indicator, the band still has many promising years ahead. Here’s to hoping the band heads out to the highway again sometime soon and returns to the stage in L.A.
