Review by Tommy Tear
Photos by Ron Lyon
With iconic singer Rob Halford out front, the hell-bent-for-leather Judas Priest put the whip in whiplash for a rocking Saturday night show at the San Manuel Amphitheater, site of the US Festival.
The very beloved Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society, featuring former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, opened the show. When Judas Priest hit the stage, all ages of metal lovers kept the head-banging momentum moving for two solid, thumping hours.
Guitarist Richie Faulkner, who joined the band earlier in the year, made his Southern California debut, stepping in for retired KK Downing and giving the audience pure satisfaction. Original bassist Ian Hill, guitarist Glenn Tipton (with Priest since 1974) and drummer Scott Travis (with Priest since 1989) round out the rest of the lineup.
The set began with two classics from the celebrated British Steel album — “Rapid Fire” and “Metal Gods.” From there, choice cuts from over 30 years of metal came tumbling out — many from the recently released compilation CD The Chosen Few, which features some of the band’s most popular songs, as chosen by a select panel of heavy metal contemporaries like Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica and Alice Cooper.
Consequently, the night was filled with a vast variety covering the distant past (anyone up for “Starbreaker” from 1977’s Sin After Sin?) to the more recent (“Judas Rising” from 2005’s Angel Of Retribution and “Prophecy” from 2008’s Nostradamus).
With close to four decades plus, this magnetic group can still find enough energy to send the space shuttle to the moon and back. With that in mind, they didn’t forget their biggest hits — “Heading Out ToThe Highway,” “Breaking The Law,” “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” and the final song of the night, “Living After Midnight.”
Nor did they neglect playing some of their legendary covers like Joan Baez’s “Diamonds & Rust” and Fleetwood Mac’s “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown).”
As the Epitaph tour continues to roll on with no end in sight, no one is quite sure what the future holds for Judas Priest. More albums? Maybe. More shows? Likely, but very selective. A reunion with KK Downing? Who knows. The only sure thing was that the band came to Southern California and banged more than a chosen few heads.
