Judas Priest Live in Virginia Beach

Judas Priest brought their 50 Years of Metal tour to the Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater Virginia Beach (I bet you can’t say that 5 times really fast) on September 9th. Judas Priest, who’s lineup is currently comprised of bassist Ian Hill, guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap, drummer Scott Travis and the Metal God himself, Rob Halford gave Virginia Beach what was basically a history lesson in Heavy Metal. 

Priest, who’s catalog is so extensive at this point with 18 studio albums, 6 live albums and 29 singles, somehow managed to pull together a setlist of 18 songs that revisited most of the bands history. I couldn’t even imagine how that setlist discussion went down. Seems like an almost impossible task, doesn’t it? Regardless, they did it. Check this out this insane setlist…

Virginia Beach setlist:

One Shot at Glory
Lightning Strike
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Freewheel Burning
(Tour debut)
Turbo Lover
Hell Patrol
The Sentinel
A Touch of Evil
Rocka Rolla
Victim of Changes
Desert Plains
Blood Red Skies
Invader
Painkiller
Encore:
Song played from tape
The Hellion
Electric Eye
Hell Bent for Leather
Breaking the Law
Living After Midnight

With a solid 50 year career there is not much I can add to here that you don’t already know. Scott Travis and Ian Hill are still the backbone of the Priest sound. Ian still holds the fort down in front of his amps and keeps this band glued together. Scott Travis is still Scott Travis..one of the best drummers in the classic heavy metal genre and still hits as hard as ever. Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap are riff masters. Andy who has stepped in for Glenn Tipton, who is battling Parkinson’s disease, is a solid addition to this current lineup. The bands other guitarist, Richie Faulkner, is a showman’s showman. Richie somehow manages to rip blistering solos all while taking on the role of the bands own hype man with nonstop crowd interaction. Not the usual pointing out into the crowd pretending to point at someone. This guy is an in your face performer which I really dig. Rob Halford. Where do I even try to start? I mean, Metal God. That title alone says it all and still holds true. Mr. Halford’s voice sounded fantastic his stage presence is still as menacing as ever. A true metal showman. Legend, actually.

The tour is really just ramping up so check out the dates with this link  If the tour isn’t coming close to you, take a road trip or grab a flight like I did. The stage set and light show themselves are worth it! 

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