LIVE: Judas Priest / Queensryche @ MVP Arena, 10/15/2022

ALBANY – British metal gods Judas Priest roared into Nippertown Saturday night to make a stop at MVP Arena.  Judas Priest are currently celebrating their golden jubilee with the second leg of this world tour to commemorate fifty years of heavy metal music. 

I was 12 when the mighty Priest made the trek up I-87 to the Glens Falls Civic Center in 1984 for my first concert. I am fifty now, with many shows and miles under the wheels, and Judas Priest always makes me want to raise a leather studded fist. 

The evening raged to order with a blazing set from Seattle’s Queensryche. Queensryche’s combination of technical savvy and vocal gymnastics are the perfect complement to Priest’s stained class work ethic. 

“Queen of the Reich” led off the near-hour set in statement-making fashion, and lead vocalist Todd La Torre exemplified the true meaning of paying homage to your heroes. His voice soared on the opening scream and would not come down from the rafters until the band left the stage. They performed like a band with something to prove, not one with a forty-year career like they have navigated.

Guitarist Michael Wilton and bassist Eddie Jackson are the only remaining original members, but drummer Casey Grillo and guitarist Mike Stone complement the OGs with their own power metal prowess. 

Songs “Warning” and “Take Hold of the Flame” laid the ground and pound for the ensuing attack of “Screaming in Digital”. The band ended with the heavily rotated “Eyes of a Stranger”, from their album Operation Mindcrime. At the time, the video for this song was in heavy rotation on MTV. You know, the station that used to show music videos and not just trashy TV. 

A lot has changed in the fifty years since Judas Priest kicked over the motor and headed out to the highway. Just the last three years alone have seen us become victims of change and clearly, we have all taken notice. 

When the lights went down to the sound of Sabbath’s “War Pigs” you could tell you were in the presence of heavy metal royalty. As the band emerged to the riffs of “The Hellion” and tore into “Electric Eye”, Priest ascended and was soon “Riding on the Wind”. 

“You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”, “Jawbreaker” and “Heading out to the Highway” highlighted the guitar playing of Richie Faulkner. The thunder of bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis kept the freewheel burning throughout the night. 

Lead singer Rob Halford needs no introduction to metal fans anywhere in the world. His voice is one of rock’s most distinct, and the fact that he is an openly gay man in metal makes him not only an anomaly, but a pioneer. Halford’ s guiding hand took us through some of the more recent Priest offerings, like “Never the Heroes” and “Firepower”. Halford does show a little age in the voice but not in his metal ambassadorship. 

Ending the main set with “Screaming for Vengeance”, the post-apocalyptic Birmingham-inspired stage set went dark. The sound of a Harley Davidson shattered the night and Halford took the stage upon his iron horse to usher in a three-song combo that hit harder than Deontay Wilder did on the same night with his first-round knockout. “Hell Bent for Leather”, “Breaking the Law” and “Livin’ After Midnight” have been the staple encore for most of their career, since British Steel was released in 1980. AOR radio helped make those anthems part of the soundtrack of our lives. 

Legends never die, their stories just embed into our narratives. Judas Priest have proved for fifty years that you don’t have to be old to be wise, but we can age like a fine wine. And we don’t need Nostradamus to predict that Priest will go down as one of the greatest imports from Birmingham, England. You always need a Priest for Sabbath.

Photo Gallery of Judas Priest by Dakota Gilbert

Photo Gallery of Queensryche by Dakota Gilbert