If there ever was a truism that gets hammered home again and again over the years, it’s that you can’t go back in time, can’t relive the glory days, can’t ever really, truly go home again. But, if you stick around long enough, you find that there are a few things, on certain occasions, where you can go “full circle”. While you don’t get to rewind the odometer and re-experience the halcyon days of years gone by, you can re-live an experience in the present that harkens back to one of your milestone moments that occurred in those years gone by. And, buttressed by the years of experience (hopefully) that have occurred during the intervening years, those “full circle” moments can be, by turns, incredibly enlightening, gloriously re-affirming or demoralizingly disappointing. It was my great pleasure to have had one of the more re-affirming of those experiences last night when attending the Judas Priest concert in the new PPL Center in Allentown, PA.
Judas Priest is singular in my experience in that they were the very first concert I saw back in the summer of 1988 at Hershey Park Stadium. Priest was my “gateway band” as I transitioned from my first forays into hard rock into what could truly be considered to be Heavy Metal (they were, and are, “the Metal Gods”, after all). While the album and tour that got me there was the polarizing and somewhat controversial “Turbo”, it nonetheless served to get me into a band that, perhaps more than any other act ever, epitomized the Heavy Metal ethic. Even though they were preceded by Black Sabbath by more than a few years, I could argue that Priest had as much to do with inventing the Heavy Metal aesthetic as Sabbath (but that’s a subject for a whole other column).
1988 was, from a commercial standpoint, a very good year for metal of all shapes and sizes. While Def Leppard, Quiet Riot and Motley Crue had all cracked open the door of commercial success for this often peripheral genre of music during the years prior, by 1988, Bon Jovi had kicked the door wide open, selling millions upon millions of albums clueing the mainstream masses in on what metal heads had known for years – that nobody can entertain a crowd of adrenal-soaked, party-loving kids like a kick ass heavy metal/hard rock band. In the wake of Jovi’s wave of platinum success, it seemed like any band on the heavy-side of Cheap Trick could cash in on an album release and a summer tour. And many did. Often to the detriment of the long-term health and reputation of the genre itself. But in the Summer of 1988, many established metal acts, who had suffered through years of paying their dues and slowly growing a sizeable and steady fan base, could suddenly cash in on thousands and thousands of fun-loving youths willing to hand over $20.00 in cash (and $20.00 for the obligatory tour shirt) to party with thousands of their peers in front of whatever hard rockers happened to be in town that week.
Judas Priest was no exception. And to be clear – I find no fault in them, or any band, cashing in on the popularity of heavy metal while it lasted in the mainstream. What was not so apparent at the time, but is oh so clear in hindsight, is that this is what those people did for a living, and inasmuch as they had to suffer through the “lean years”, it is only natural and only fair that they get to “cash in” during the boom years. In my opinion, “cashing in” does not always equate with “selling out”, and I find no fault with what Priest did with Turbo and the subsequent tours. More power to them.
So, while the die-hard, true-believing Priest lovers were well represented in the crowd back on that summer afternoon in 1988, the crowd was also replete with young teeny boppers who were there as much to party (and see the opening act – Cinderella) as to worship at the altar of Priest. By this point, Priest’s last album (the aforementioned Turbo) had already been out two years and Priest was on their third incarnation of the Turbo tour, drawing it out ever longer to cash in on the inexplicably continuing popularity of metal. The band, thirty years younger, were in fine form, with Halford prancing around the stage and the deadly twin-leads of KK Downing and Glen Tipton grinding in synch at the edge of the stage and whipping the heavy metal throng into a fury. I lost myself a few times in that fury, pumping my fist, throwing the horns, and chanting “Priest” like I was at an early 1940’s rally in Nazi Germany. Though Halford was at the peak of his powers in 1988, I could tell his voice was tired and strained from the constant touring, and while his high-octave shrieks were hitting new heights, his voice had a weary, nasally quality when singing in the mid-ranges. However, it was a minor complaint, and I left the show sweaty, exhausted, and proudly declaring Priest as having been the best concert I had ever seen. Of course, it was the only concert I had ever seen, but after I took in a steady diet of acts over the next five years, Priest maintained their top position in my personal lists of “best live acts”.
However, Metal’s act began to grow old as the 80’s wore on, and by the end of the decade, the predominance of hair metal had turned the genre into something it was just hard to get behind anymore. My tastes drifted into more of a classic rock ethic, before I got swept up in the grunge revolution and the alternative wave that ensued. By that point, I had convinced myself that the “peak experience” I had at the 1988 Priest concert probably had as much to do with the fact that it was my first concert as it did with the prowess of the band. That being said, Priest always occupied a warm place in my music loving heart, even as my listening tastes strayed ever farther from their leather-clad aesthetic.
Fast forward a few more decades and here I am in my forties, with a professional, bureaucratic job, with a wife and a kid and a house in the suburbs. My musical tastes by this point had soared all over the place, from jazz to folk to country to death metal to ska to anything else in between in between that I may have forgotten to mention. A colleague from work calls me at home on a Sunday (oh shit), and I expected to have to run into the office to help handle whatever crisis may have flamed up. Instead, he invites me to see Judas Priest at the brand new PPL Center in Allentown, PA (his home town). After getting over the initial surprise that Priest was touring, and that they were actually playing within striking distance of where I lived, my obvious answer was, “hell yes”.
While the prospect of seeing Priest again after all these years intrigued me (and sure beat most ways I normally spend a Wednesday night at this stage in my life), I can’t say I was overly excited. Priest’s last album, “Nostradamus”, was a critical and commercial failure, and many of us who were bothering to pay attention at that point had pretty much written them off as a result. So, while the new album, “Redeemer of Souls”, was getting good reviews (and had left a favorable impression on me), most of us considered it to be a case of too little, too late. On top of that, founding member and major creative force within the band, KK Downing, had retired, his spot having been handed off to a new but talented young man in his thirties named Richie Faulkner. As such, I went to the show expecting to enjoy what amounted to not much more than a nostalgia act, tantamount to my parents seeing the Beach Boys in the nineties. Yeah, they’ll play the hits, and they may even sounds similar, but missing many of the original members and with the remaining ones well into their sixties, a transcendent metal experience just did not seem to be in the cards.
We ended up going with another colleague from work who had just been to the PPL Center to take in a show by Tom Petty and Steve Winwood (I was not surprised to hear that both had been excellent). While I was a Judas Priest “true believer” from way back, I think the concert was more of a musical curiosity for my two colleagues. For both of them, Judas Priest was the music that was always being played in their high school weight rooms growing up, and their experience with the band was decidedly different from my own. However, we were prepared for a good time and a competently performed show, if nothing else.
Steel Panther opened the show with a surprisingly entertaining set that simultaneously lampooned and celebrated everything that was both fun and ridiculous about the 80’s. As they exited the stage, they gave due respect to the headliners declaring the Judas Priest was, “one of the best bands in the world”. While it was gratifying to see the openers give due deference to the main act, it was a declaration that I didn’t take seriously.
Then Priest came on. After subtly notifying the crowd that the show was about to begin by blaring Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” through the PA system, the large black tapestry emblazoned with the band’s logo came down and the band, Halford-less at the very beginning, tore into the opening chords of “Dragonaut”, an aggressive and attention-grabbing slab of metal that opens their new album. The stage, both literal and proverbial, having been set at that point, Halford made his appearance to welcome chorus of cheers, decked in his now familiar long, black leather duster impressively arrayed with metal studs. While he seemed to be in good voice (this show was only their third date on this tour), his voice was much stronger and less “tired” than when I heard him almost thirty years earlier.
However . . . well, there’s no subtle way to put this. Halford, the “Metal God” himself, “doddered”. Like an old man. He was hunched over and obviously stiff and instead of pacing the stage like a general in command of his army, he baby-stepped back and forth while hunched over like a codger who forgot to take his arthritis medication. It was a bit hard to watch, and I said so to my colleagues.
Still, they sounded great, and as they moved into their second song (the classic “Metal Gods” – the track that coined their nickname), I noticed that Glenn Tipton, who was historically their “2nd Guitarist”, was handling most of the duties on lead. This struck me as not at all surprising, as Tipton was and is a hell of a guitarist and was every bit the equal of KK (who was historically the “1st Guitarist” of the band), and I figured they would leave the heavy lifting to him as they slowly broke in the new guy. In the meantime, Rob continued to “dodder” around the stage, his seemingly frail figure belied by the strength and majesty of his voice.
And then, as they went into the third song (the excellent “Halls of Valhalla”, also from the new album), something amazing began to happen. In a big way. Whether it was just a matter of getting warmed up or hitting their strides or Rob just needing a few songs to get loosened up, the band transformed before my eyes from a highly competent nostalgia act into an all-out metal monster. They growled. They roared. Rob shrieked, and began roaming the stage like a panther, slow but infused with latent energy, ready to strike. The new guitarist took over the rest of the lead roles in the set and transformed into an unholy hybrid of a young KK Downing in his prime infused with the resurrected spirit of Randy Rhodes. They tore the roof off the place. In a word, they kicked M&th#r F#ck*ng @ss!.
They tore through the hits one after the other. “Love Bites”. “March of the Damned”. “Turbo Lover”. And then the title track off the new album, “Redeemer of Souls”. While the veteran members of the band played with a flawless, technical precision (“in perfect synchronicity, of which so many speak”), it became obvious that they were making the new guy, Richie Faulkner, the center piece of the live show. And boy did he rise to the occasion. Clad in the traditional black leather which was the band’s calling card for years and wielding a Flying V guitar (who plays a Flying V anymore for crying out loud!?!), it was obvious Richie was living the dream, playing the living shit out of songs you just know he grew up listening to in his bedroom, parents banging on the wall telling him to turn that infernal noise down, channeling every heavy metal guitar hero from Iomi to Satriani. He smoked, and really gave the band a physicality on stage that the original members haven’t shown in years. Scott Travis, the band’s current drummer (original drummer Dave Holland had to retire from music for less than honorable reasons back in the 90’s), was a pleasant revelation on a night filled with them. While Holland was a competent enough rock drummer back in the day, Travis is a fully-qualified , “blast beat” speed metal drummer and backs the band with a speed and ferocity that lifted the older, slower-grinding classics to new heights of heavy metal power.
However, while Judas Priest has always been a band through and through, it’s becoming increasingly obvious in their later years that it’s really all about their front man – Rob Halford. In the closing moments of “Jawbreaker”, Halford shrieked the titular lyric on three consecutive occasions, hitting high notes that his colleagues in the field of heavy metal haven’t hit outside of a studio in decades (I’m looking at you Dickenson and Tate). It was enough to lift me out of my seat, throwing the horns with both hands, to scream “F&ck%ng Yeah! Judas F*ck#ng Priest that’s what I’m talking about F*ck Yeah!!!!” It was a metal moment. Those of you who have experienced it know what I mean. To those of you who haven’t - witnessing Rob hit those notes live in concert at this point in his career was like if Ken Griffey Jr. was brought out of retirement to play in the World Series and hit three homeruns in a row. Or if Joe Montana was brought in to play the Super Bowl and took the winning team on a last minute TD drive. It was the kind of moment you always dream about but so infrequently witness. The old man who was “doddering” early in the show was singing the paint off the walls and made a believer out of this old metal head all over again.
Despite these transcendent moments, the bands age did show through slightly, though they smartly took steps to minimize its impact. A little too often, Rob relied on the crowd to sing the familiar refrains of “Living After Midnight” or “Breaking the Law”, taking those opportunities to rest his voice. Tipton, who’s lightning-fast fingers could always shred with the best of them, was a little too comfortable sitting back in the shadows when he should have been up with front with the new guy, laying down licks that the Priest faithful know by heart. However, the band had defied the odds beyond anyone’s expectations and the crowd was all too willing to forgive these minor considerations.
For a brief period of time last night in Allentown, PA, a classic British Heavy Metal Band took on Father Time and, at least for a few rounds, defied the odds. It felt like the 1980’s again. And while I know that it was all a matter of a very talented, very experienced and very well-managed band of musicians plying a craft that they perfected long ago, deep down in my heart there’s a 15 year old, denim clad, mullet-crested kid who believes that it was due to Faith – Faith in the ancient Tradition of Heavy Metal, and it’s Metal Gods, that made it all happen. As if it was the fans’ energy and faith that transformed the band and they, in turn transformed us in a truly miraculous, heavy metal moment.
As for my colleagues, well, let’s just say that as we exited the venue, I was gratified to see that wide-eyed, solemn expression that so often results from being impressed so far beyond one’s expectations. I don’t think they were sure how to react at first. Impressively stunned is probably the best way to describe it. One of them even made the somber admission that it just may have been the best concert they ever witnessed. Even I, the true believer in the group, found myself stunned at just how great the show was. The guys in Steel Panther did not exaggerate – this is one of the greatest bands in the world. And the thing is, they’re touring right now, playing medium-to-small venues, probably not far from your own hometown, with tickets at a bargain price compared to most acts in this day and age. Treat yourself. Surprise yourself. Go see them. Despite their seeming ability to defy the odds, Father Time is undefeated, and it is inevitable that the time will come when this band no longer tours or does shows. Now is a great time to go see them in an intimate setting and witness the power that is Judas Priest. Even if Heavy Metal really isn’t your thing, I know you remember the hits – Living After Midnight, Breaking the Law, You’ve Got Another Thing Coming. Not only do you know them, but you know the words well enough to sing along with them as well.
This is a metal band that played more in the soundtrack of your life than you probably realize or have ever been willing to admit. Even if you’re not into the real heavy stuff, they play enough of the familiar hits to keep you entertained. They are Metal Gods and they won’t be around much longer. Do yourself a favor and go see them. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. If anything, you’ll walk away at least slightly amazed at how great this band is and more than a little dismayed at how little you realized it your whole life.
The Metal Gods still rock on – and there is still some room for metal magic in this world.
Full circle indeed.
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