JUDAS PRIEST – LIVE AT THE OAKDALE THEATRE
Thursday, October 16th, Judas Priest kicked off the North American leg of their 50 Heavy Metal Years tour at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford with supporting act Queensryche.
The show stated with lead singer Rob Halford situated behind a large illuminated cross. When the cross lifted, Halford went center stage with the band roaring into “Electric Eye”. For the first time since 2005, Priest powered into “Riding on the Wind”. Afterwards Halford screamed to the crowd, Priest is Back! The tour debut of “Heading Out to the Highway”, “Jawbreaker” (live for first time since 2015), and the debut of “Never the Heroes” followed.
Guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap were firing on all cylinders all evening long, often looking like playing clones of each other. Halford talked about the difficulty of picking out a set list with so many songs to choose from and then played “Beyond the Realms of Death” for first time since 2015. The tour debut of “Judas Rising” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” led into “Steeler” and the return of the huge cross. For the first time since 2009 the crowd was treated to “Between the Hammer and the Anvil”. Up next was “Halls of Valhalla” and the tour debut of “Firepower”.
The band then had a discussion and bassist Ian Hill stated this would be the first live performance of “Genocide” in more than 40 years.The final song of the main set “Screaming for Vengeance” is another song that hadn’t been played live since 2015. For the encore Halford came out riding a motorcycle as “Hell Bent for Leather” rocked the place. “Breaking the Law” kept the energy rising before a large bull with glowing red eyes appeared for the finale “Living After Midnight”. The crowd was an active participant singing the lyrics along with Halford. Scott Travis on drums filled out the lineup for a great opening night to their North American tour.
Supporting act Queensryche played a strong twelve song set including two songs, “Behind the Walls” and “In Extremis” off their new album Digital Noise Alliance. They were also one of the louder opening acts I’ve seen with the volume almost as loud as the headliner. The current lineup includes Michael Wilton (Guitar), Eddie Jackson (Bass), Mike Stone (Guitar), Todd La Torre (Vocals) and Casey Grillo (Drums).
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