Judas Priest with Queensryche
Nissan Pavilion Center
Bristow, VA
June 19, 2005

In recent years, Judas Priest was relegated to a Trivial Pursuit answer (What rock group was the inspiration for the Mark Wahlberg movie “Rock Star”?). That is, until Rob Halford rejoined the group. After last year’s successful Ozzfest summer tour, the members of Priest went into the studio and produced the best Heavy Metal CD of the year so far – “Angel of Retribution”. To support this CD, Priest has hit the North American road with Queensryche, a group that has gone through some line-up changes since its heyday in the late 80s-early 90s. At the the halfway mark in the tour, they decended upon Bristow, Virginia to play in the cool evening breeze in the biggest ampitheatre in the Metro DC area. So, the stage is set, are you ready to rawk?

Queensryche opened with to a moderate crowd as the sun set in the distance. Geoff Tate, lead singer for the group, showed his killer pipes as he belted song after song with out much of a break. Their hour-long set was solid but somewhat suspect since over half of their songs were culled from their first EP and first two studio CDs with a couple from “Tribe”. I understand showing depth within your song catalog but to only play one song from “Operation: Mindcrime” and “Empire” is pretty obtuse to say the least. The band did, however, play one song from the upcoming “Operation: Mindcrime 2″ called “I’m American” which wasn’t too bad but I would’ve liked to hear the studio version for comparison purposes. Another head scratcher was that the Queensryche stage was deviod of any band logo or personality as they played against black cotton curtains that were barely convering up Priest’s high production set. I’ve seen lesser acts tour with a better set design than this one. Truly sad.

Queensryche’s Set List:
1. The Whisper
2. En Force
3. Neue Regel
4. NM 156
5. Screaming In Digital
6. Open
7. Desert Dance
8. Queen Of The Reich/Nightrider Medley
9. Walk In The Shadows
10. The Needle Lies
11. I’m American
12. Surgical Strike
13. Empire
14. Take Hold Of The Flame

Judas Priest took the stage about 30 minutes after Queensryche left the stage which was cool since sometimes the headline seems to take forever before they make their first appearance. Priest hit the ground running with “Hellion/Electric Eye” medley with lead singer Rob Halford singing the first two verses and a chorus while standing on a lift behind a backdrop of an “electric” eye. During the two-hour set, Judas Priest showed their opening act how to put together a set list by picking familar songs from lesser known works like “Turbo”, “Ram It Down” and “RockaRolla”. It helps that their catalog is more extensive as well.

Halford’s timbre was great and he showed no signs of a letdown through the night’s set. His bandmates were more than up to the task of playing 30 + years of heavy metal thunder. Lead guitarist Glenn Tipton, lead guitarist K.K. Downing, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis seemed to get stronger as the night went on as they played head-banging classics like “Breaking The Law”, “Painkiller” and “Exciter” as well as four songs from the aforementioned “Angel of Retribution”. Sometimes, it seemed more like the Rob Halford fashion show as it looked like he was trying to break Madonna’s record of costume changes for one show. During almost every other break, Halford changed his floor-length jacket about 7-8 times until he put on his traditonal biker jacket and studded uniform hat.

The only disappointment in their set was when Tipton performed his guitar solo. The majority of the said solo comprised the repetition of the same three notes over two minutes time. You won’t think that it would get irritating but after awhile, most of the crowd was ready to move on to the end of the song. But Tipton waited until he received some audience participation before he wrapped it up. But that was the only thing that seemed off during the night for Priest, who appeared to find the fountain of youth while on this tour. If you get a chance to see them, you don’t want to miss it.

Judas Priest’s Set List:
1. Hellion/Electric Eye medley
2. Metal Gods
3. Riding On The Wind
4. A Touch Of Evil
5. Judas Rising
6. Revolution
7. Breaking The Law
8. I’m A Rocker
9. Diamonds & Rust
10. Deal With The Devil
11. Beyond The Realms Of Death
12. Turbo Lover
13. Hellrider
14. Victim Of Changes
15. Exciter
16. Painkiller
Encores:
1. Hell Bent For Leather
2. Living After Midnight
3. You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’

2 side-notes:
* I would be remiss if I did not say that part of the allure of going to this concert was to “people watch”. If you’ve never saw the fifteen minutes of laugh-out-loud while still cringe inducing theatre called “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” (thanks for the link, Andrew), be forwarned. The sights of high Jersey-style Aqua Net hair and acid wash jeans may be too much for the head to comprehend. And since it was shot in my backyard (ye olde Captial Centre, Largo, MD), it’s a good probablility that the same people that were in that video attended this show. And guess what? Their clothes are still the same. Hey, it’s not like I’m on TLC giving fashion tips with super-hottie Stacy London. But c’mon, it’s 2005 – live in the now! For those are the curious type (like me), the mullet made more than it’s fair share of appearances with their overweight owners in tow. And there were women in the mid to late thirties trying to wear the skimpiest clothes that they could nicely fit into when they were in their twenties. With cutouts, no less. Seriously, I could see more rolls in those exposed skin than they make in a day at Bob Evans. Really sick. Funny but sick.

* Big ups go to the Nissan Pavilion staff for not only getting people parked in an orderly fashion but also having them present to direct traffic after the concert ended. I can’t tell you how many times I have spend two hours plus in their parking lot waiting to leave after a show ended. My crew and I were on the road in less than 15 minutes. And that included travel time from our seats in section 102 to the SUV. Really ended the night on a positive note.

Both concert photos are courtesy of Metal Express Radio as the dumb ass who wrote this review forgot to bring the damn camera. Thanks, guys!

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