Judas Priest owned the '80s. They were absolutely second to none as far as heavy metal goes.
They released a number of all-time classic albums such as 'British Steel', 'Point Of Entry', 'Screaming For Vengeance' and 'Defenders Of The Faith'. Each record spawned a number of enduring metal anthems like 'Breaking The Law', 'Living After Midnight', 'Heading Out To The Highway', and 'You've Got Another Thing Coming'.
Priest became global headliners with massive stage sets at some of the world's biggest festivals including Monsters Of Rock at Donington Park ('80) and Live Aid ('85) in the United States.
This month the masters of metal are coming to Australia for Soundwave with a few Sidewave shows booked for Sydney and Brisbane – much to the disdain of Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide fans.
Recently, in a thick Birmingham accent, Rob Halford chatted with Carl Neumann about just how delighted he is to be coming back to Australia and painted a good picture of what to expect live.
"It does my metal heart good to hear that you are a big fan of everything we have done Carl. It really does you know. We are absolutely thrilled to be coming back to Australia, particularly with the Soundwave festival we are going to be taking part in. What a great way to start the year."
After releasing a killer album mid-2014, 'Redeemer Of Souls', fans can expect to hear a couple of its best tracks as well as all of the mighty classics. If their November '14 setlists are anything to go by, we can expect to witness something like this:
Dragonaut
Metal Gods
Devil's Child
Victim Of Changes
Halls Of Valhalla
Love Bites
March Of The Damned
Turbo Lover
Redeemer Of Souls
Beyond The Realms Of Death
Jawbreaker
Breaking The Law
Encore:
Hell Bent For Leather
You've Got Another Thing Comin'
Encore 2:
Living After Midnight
Defenders Of The Faith
Californian glam metal band, Steel Panther, will be at Soundwave this year and we might just get to see them join Priest on stage for 'Living After Midnight'. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but hell I've got to see it!
Soundwave promoter, AJ Maddah, earlier confirmed Priest will play a full 90-minute set at the festival although they are not a headlining act. Maddah tweeted: “90 to 100 mins for headliners. 70 mins for top bands. 60 mins for middle bands. 40 mins for small/new bands... Can’t take any credit. I had them down for 75 minutes. They insisted on 90."
Most Priest fans are fans of Rob Halford’s 90’s group, Fight, and would want to know if he is ever going to another Fight record. This is what he had to say: “I'’ve just been through a patch with the people who were looking after me previously [recording company]. It took a while to get everything knocked back into shape legally and to get out of the hell that I was going through. But the good news is my solo back-catalogue is slowly being put back out there into the world again. And, if the opportunity arises, I would love to do that again.
"Priest is the most important band to me, ever, first and foremost. We are always very busy in Priest, so it’s a matter of finding the time. I would love to. I remember bringing Fight down to Australia, oh God knows how long ago now [circa ’97]. Maybe I will come back with Fight, reconnect and have a good time."
There’s no near end in sight for Rob and the mighty Priest, and he’s very proud about that. "We can’t say thank you enough for all our Australian metal heads for their ongoing support and dedication to Priest. Thank you. Keep the metal alive. See you at Soundwave."
JUDAS PRIEST TOUR DATES
Tues 24 Feb – The Enmore (Syndey)Thurs 26 Feb – Eatons Hill Hotel (Brisbane)
SOUNDWAVE
Sat 21 Feb & Sun 22 Feb - Bonython Park (Adelaide)Sat 21 Feb & Sun 22 Feb - Flemington Racecourse (Melbourne)
Sat 28 Feb & Sun 1 Mar - Brisbane Showgrounds
Sat 28 Feb & Sun 1 Mar - Olympic Park (Sydney)
