Judas Priest Brings the Firepower Tour to the Showare Center

The line waiting to get into the accesso Showare Center in Kent, WA wrapped around the building hours before the doors were set to open. Many lifelong Judas Priest fans, many with their children who are now also Priest fans, were patiently waiting for an awesome night of hard rock and heavy metal.

Judas Priest is touring in support of their eighteenth studio album, Firepower, which was released March 9, 2018.  The band is currently made up of Rob Halford (vocals), Ian Hill (bass), Scott Travis (drums), Richie Faulkner (guitars) and Andy Sneap (touring guitarist). Long time guitarist Glenn Tipton was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and has decided to not tour. 

A large curtain with the signature Judas Priest logo covered the stage. The house lights dimmed and “Guardians” played through the sound system. As the band jumped right into “Firepower” the curtain ripped away underneath the drums – which quite a sight to see – there was a large LED panel serving as the band’s back drop, which was filled with video clips or animations which were related to the theme of each song.

The band then launched into “Running Wild” and then into “Grinder”. Priest were playing many selections from their near fifty year career and everyone in the crowd were eating it up. “Sinner”, “The Ripper”, “Bloodstone” and “Saints in Hell” had everyone in the crowd head banging, fist pumping and singing along. Halford’s signature voice and high pitched shrieks never sounded better. Faulkner and Sneap performed exceptionally and complimented each other’s style. Scott was ferocious on drums his playing made it look easy. Hill kept the bottom end and rounded out the rhythm section, with him staying in his area stage right as he has done for many years and tours before.

The audience was a sea of leather and denim, and the audience was on their feet from beginning to end. The audience sang at the top of their lungs and played their air guitars with classic Priest tracks such as “Freewheel Burning” (which hasn’t been played live since 2009), “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll”, “Turbo Lover”, “Electric Eye” and “Hell Bent for Leather” – which saw Halford riding onto the stage with his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

After an amazing performance of “Painkiller”, the band left the stage. To everyone’s surprise and amazement, Glenn Tipton made his way to the stage and joined the rest of the band as they performed “Metal Gods”, “Breaking the Law”, and “Living After Midnight”. As the band made their curtain call, Judas Priest Will Be Back flashed on the large screen behind the stage. The evening was a perfect blend of classic Judas Priest along with their awesome new material.

In direct support were Saxon, one of the pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal which took place in the early 1980s. Saxon are touring in support of their latest release, Thunderbolt, and they put on one hell of a performance. The band is made up of Biff Byford (vocals), Paul Quinn (guitar), Nigel Glockler (drums), Nibbs Carter (bass), and Doug Scarratt (guitars) and their set consisted of material mostly off of Thunderbolt, such as the title track, “Sons of Odin”, “The Secret of Flight” and “They Played Rock N Roll”. They also included classic tracks such as “Denim and Leather”, “Dallas 1 PM”, “Heavy Metal Thunder” and “Princess of the Night”.  If someone came to the show and they weren’t a Saxon fan, guaranteed they were by the end of the band’s set.

Getting the evening started were Black Star Riders, who’s made up of Scott Gorham (guitar), Damon Johnson (guitar), Ricky Warwick (guitar / vocals), Robbie Crane (bass) and Chad Szeliga (drums). Black Star Riders put on a stellar forty minute set that got the early evening crowd out of their seats.

Judas Priest Set List
Guardians (Intro)
Firepower
Running Wild
Grinder
Sinner
The Ripper
Lightning Strike
Bloodstone
Saints in Hell
Turbo Lover
Freewheel Burning
Evil Never Dies
Some Heads Are Gonna Roll
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Hell Bent For Leather
The Hellion / Electric Eye
Painkiller

Encore
Metal Gods (with Glenn Tipton)
Breaking The Law (with Glenn Tipton)
Living After Midnight (with Glenn Tipton)

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