{"id":4352,"date":"1991-03-19T00:00:58","date_gmt":"1991-03-19T00:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=4352"},"modified":"2012-02-20T18:54:18","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T18:54:18","slug":"live-review-judas-priest-19-03-91","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/live-review-judas-priest-19-03-91\/","title":{"rendered":"JUDAS PRIEST – Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Birmingham, England (March 19th, 1991) | Live Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

JUDAS PRIEST<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nAston Villa Leisure Centre, Birmingham, England<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMarch 19th, 1991<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
Rob Halford<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Pic: Matt Sampson<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The opening show of Judas Priest\u2019s UK tour attracted virtually every Brum-based rock singer ranging from Robert Plant to Andy Pyke. And what pray was Ronnie James Dio doing backstage?<\/p>\n

Without question this was Priest at a peak of ferociousness. Believe me, I\u2019ve seen this band countless times, but tonight they really took the bit between their teeth and damn near chewed clean through it in their eagerness to prove that not only are they undisputed kings of the hill, but that they have no intention of being usurped by any thrashing whippersnappers for a few years yet.<\/p>\n

Inaugurating Aston Villa\u2019s hairy hordes into the Priesthood via a breakneck \u2018Hell Bent For Leather\u2019, with an initial Harley growl as hardcore jester Rob Halford glides his mobile throne through a thundercloud of dry ice as his henchmen, Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, cover the flanks, Priest state their intentions from the off. The 1978 classic over with, the band bask in the applause that antecedes a set designed to leave no quarter.<\/p>\n

\u2018Metal Gods\u2019 is positively planet busting in its magnitude; a great stomping giant intent on grinding everything beneath its heel. And talking of grinding… the song with more rolled Rs than a Danish dictionary reminds one and all that British Steel<\/em> starts and ends here. The rest of the set is of unequaled pedigree; \u2018Riding On The Wind\u2019 featuring probably the first interesting drum solo I\u2019ve ever heard courtesy of Scott \u201cSkyscraper\u201d Travis, a gruesomely glaucous \u2018Green Manalishi\u2019, the deliciously disemboweling \u2018Ripper\u2019, and naturellement \u2018Victim Of Changes\u2019. The latter masterpiece sadly tarnished by feedback acknowledged by a disgusted Downing.<\/p>\n

Then, of course, there was a plethora of ankle-snapping anthems from the Painkiller<\/em> album in the form of a lunatic sprint through the title track, a lumbering \u2018Nightcrawler\u2019 \u2013 complete with Rob hilariously doing his darndest to persuade us he was the beast personified \u2013 and the quickfire \u2018All Guns Blazing\u2019, where Halford truly stamped his authority as the ultimate metal vocalist; the man\u2019s high Cs tonight surgically sharp and piercing every nerve end.<\/p>\n

Inevitable encores of \u2018Breaking The Law\u2019 and \u2018Living After Midnight\u2019 were rounded off with the chugging \u2018You\u2019ve Got Another Thing Comin\u2019.<\/p>\n

Judas Priest remain triumphant and confident. I\u2019m glad to see them back home! Long may they reign. Oh yes, Ian Hill was rumoured to be onstage too!<\/p>\n

Garry Sharpe-Young<\/strong><\/p>\n

Review taken from Metal Forces, Issue 60 (1991)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JUDAS PRIEST Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Birmingham, England March 19th, 1991 Rob Halford Pic: Matt Sampson The opening show of Judas Priest\u2019s UK tour attracted virtually every Brum-based rock singer ranging from Robert Plant to Andy Pyke. And what pray was Ronnie James Dio doing backstage? Without question this was Priest at a peak of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-judas-priest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4352"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4356,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4352\/revisions\/4356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}