The final Friday of July saw me back at the O2 for the biggest ever UK headline show of the mighty metal gods Judas Priest. A co-headliner, strictly speaking, given that shock-rockin’ stalwart Alice Cooper had equal prominence. In any case, this was an easy sell for me, being a firm fan of both as musicians and performers.
Arriving early enough for my usual merch swoop, I ended up having to hunt and queue for my desired garms longer than necessary, my first port of call, the merch stall outside, having fuck-all I wanted in my size. I at least managed to grab my favoured Priest shirt from the O2’s perma-store at the entrance, but I was totally out of luck when it came to Alice. A gander at Level 1’s merch store proved similarly fruitless. It was there, however, that I ended up bumping into some familiar faces from my forays further underground, including, in an especially pleasant surprise, none other than the Fistress of the Jaded Lungs herself, Melissa of Adorior. A brief catch-up, covering last-minute ticket purchases, seating queries, and then-upcoming seaside gigs, ensued, during which, I asked her the question I always ask myself whenever I see a Priest or Cooper gig on sale these days: Why the fuck is this, a metal gig, an all-seater?
Still, all-seaters have their benefits, not having to rush for the barriers being a firm favourite. That said, the unexpected merch odyssey had me strolling into my Level 1 spot just as Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, the support, started to play. As such, I failed to grab their theme tune ‘We’re the Bastards’, a rambunctious opening number that summed up the essence of the band, formed, as it says on the tin, of the ex-Mötorhead axeman and his three sons, with Joel Peters joining the party on vox. Other notable tracks included ‘High Rule’, a spirited shot across the bows at the political class, and, of course, their almost-obligatory rendition of ‘Ace of Spades’. A short ‘n’ sweet opening burst.
Then came Alice and his band, putting on another extravagant show for the London assembled. Having seen them headline at the Apollo back in October, I wondered what would be trimmed off of this shared-spotlight set. Not too much, it turned out, though I lamented the omission of favourites like ‘Snakebite’ and ‘Billion Dollar Babies’. (I also found myself deflated by the lacklustre crowd participation around me; the perpetually unclaimed seat to my left taunted me, in hindsight, with how the vibe might’ve changed had I snuck in someone I’d bumped into earlier.) Still, they kept recognisables like ‘I’m Eighteen’, ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’, ‘School’s Out’, and, of course, ‘Poison’ (which especially perked up the surrounding inert), and the stageshow didn’t suffer in any significant way, with the simulated stabbings, decapitations, and Frankenstein’s monsters showcased in full. Nita Strauss—last seen bouncing plectrum off my bonce at the Apollo in October—got to do her solo shred, and the original members of the Alice Cooper band put in a guest appearance for the obligatory ‘School’s Out’ closer.
On a more sombre note, the band added a cracking cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’ to mark the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, the latter’s original frontman, just days prior, with Hollywood Vampire and superstar Johnny Depp adding some guitar licks to the mix. A memorable addition to an unfortunately truncated set.
Priest, likewise, paid their own respects to the Prince of Darkness, adding him to the collage of fallen icons during their performance of ‘Giants in the Sky’ (initially, I freaked out upon seeing the face of someone I initially thought was Bonnie Tyler, who I’d seen exactly a year before at the smaller and better Indigo venue elsewhere in the O2, wondering what the fuck had happened to her; closer inspection, however, revealed the face in question to be that of Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, who had indeed kicked the bucket back in 2022).
“This is what he would want us to do,” Rob proclaimed in reference to Ozzy. “He would want us to be here together, celebrating.”
I was certainly in a celebratory mood when Halford and co. opened the set with’ All Guns Blazing’, a surefire favourite from their sterling 1990 release, Painkiller; even better, they followed up with the storming’ ‘Hell Patrol’ from the same album, even more of a favourite. Of course, both were heartily (if artlessly) sung-along to by yours truly, more so than usual on account of it being the first time I’d heard the band play them live.
From there progressed a set that was pretty heavy on Painkiller material, with a few numbers from other albums sprinkled throughout, despite the name of the tour, Shield of Pain, implying an equal weighting of material from their most recent album, Invincible Shield. In the end, only two songs from Shield made it onto the setlist: the aforementioned ‘Giants in the Sky’ and the infernal ‘Gates of Hell’. Not that I’m complaining, ultimately, given that Painkiller carries stronger salience with me. As well as the two aforementioned bangers that kickstarted the set, I also very much appreciated the presence of ‘Night Crawler’ (🎵Beware the beast in black!🎵) and slow burner ‘A Touch of Evil’. Notables from other albums included an energising performance of ‘Freewheel Burning’ from Defenders of the Faith, setlist mainstay ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’ from Screaming for Vengeance, and their biggest hit, from British Steel, ‘Breaking the Law’, which,despite its ubiquity, I never quite get tired of hearing.
Speaking of staples, and given the focus of the tour, of course Painkiller’s title track put in an appearance before the encore, complete with its own animated video. Also to no one’s surprise, Halford rode in on his chopper (as in motorbike, not knob!) for the encore double strike of ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ and ‘Living After Midnight’, closing out a solid set in style.
Less expectedly, veteran Priest axeman Glenn Tipton also saw fit to grace the stage with his live presence!
I could go on about the tracks I would’ve liked to hear (from Painkiller and elsewhere) and how my first time seeing the Metal Gods at Victoria Park has yet to be topped, but putting too much weight on that would undersell how much I enjoyed the show as it was, even with the unfortunate all-seater setup. Instead, I’ll just hope for my next Priest show to be curated closer to my unspoken setlist, (non-)seating, and cohort preferences.
Under blood-red skies, we’ll see what the desert plains bring.
~MRDA~
