I was quite happy to have the opportunity
to see Judas Priest, as I missed them last time out when they toured with
Anthrax. This trip to see The Priest in Poughkeepsie was nowhere near as
challenging as it was when I traveled in a blizzard to see them supporting
Jugulator a few years back. In
fact, upon entering the club I realized it was going to be the complete opposite
weather-wise. After about ten minutes, I began to sweat bullets. I never
sweat so much standing in one place. It must have been over one hundred degrees
in the club. Can you say 'air-conditioning'? Obviously, the owners couldn't.
I was pleased to see that we walked in just as the band hit the stage, opening
up with "Metal Gods." I was relieved that I wouldn't have to sit through
some horrid opening act, and the dreaded 'endless space' between acts. Ripper
was oddly dressed like Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, wearing a tight baseball
cap and baseball jersey. Despite the fact that the jersey and hat had Priest
emblems, and he was wearing leather pants, I didn't think his choices fit
the Priest image at all. Musically though, things were primarily on target.
They thrilled me by pulling out "The Sentinel" from
Defenders Of The Faith, an album
they unjustifiably overlooked on the
Jugulator tour, and they just
killed with "The Devil's Child," a hidden gem on
Screaming For Vengeance. On the
negative side of things, the band played "One On One" and "Hell Is Home"
from Demolition, songs that just
paled in comparison to their classic material. The main problem is that the
songs are so bottom heavy that they just come off as one-dimensional. Where
are those classic melodies and twin-axe leads? I guess they're trying to
compete with the nu-metal bands. This is a bad choice in my opinion. The
band did balance the new stuff with an acoustic turned electric version of
"Diamonds and Rust" and a less synth version of "Turbo Lover." I was very
surprised when they broke into "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," a song
that they avoided when I saw them supporting
Jugulator. Expected and somewhat
overplayed tracks like "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law" also
got air-time, which was okay since the band didn't forget the early years
either, delivering "Exciter" and "Victim Of Changes." All in all, this was
an enjoyable performance, although Ian Hill hid behind a speaker cabinet
for the entire night, and the band didn't move around much at all. Maybe
the heat had something to do with their lethargy. I do remember the
Jugulator set list to be a bit
longer and also with a few more surprises. And it just seems wrong seeing
these legends in a club. The Civic Center across the street would at least
be a bit more appropriate. The problem is though, as long as Rob Halford
isn't part of the band and they continue to release sub-par albums like
Demolition, Priest may not be
able to attract enough fans to play the bigger places. Although Ripper has
proven to be a fine vocal replacement in the live setting, I think it's safe
to say that older fans haven't really embraced the band's new material. And
just seeing Ripper cover Rob's songs isn't going to take Priest onto the
next level. Nothing against Ripper, but I think it's time for a reunion,
don't you? (Chris Dugan)
I was quite happy to have the opportunity
to see Judas Priest, as I missed them last time out when they toured with
Anthrax. This trip to see The Priest in Poughkeepsie was nowhere near as
challenging as it was when I traveled in a blizzard to see them supporting
Jugulator a few years back. In
fact, upon entering the club I realized it was going to be the complete opposite
weather-wise. After about ten minutes, I began to sweat bullets. I never
sweat so much standing in one place. It must have been over one hundred degrees
in the club. Can you say 'air-conditioning'? Obviously, the owners couldn't.
I was pleased to see that we walked in just as the band hit the stage, opening
up with "Metal Gods." I was relieved that I wouldn't have to sit through
some horrid opening act, and the dreaded 'endless space' between acts. Ripper
was oddly dressed like Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, wearing a tight baseball
cap and baseball jersey. Despite the fact that the jersey and hat had Priest
emblems, and he was wearing leather pants, I didn't think his choices fit
the Priest image at all. Musically though, things were primarily on target.
They thrilled me by pulling out "The Sentinel" from
Defenders Of The Faith, an album
they unjustifiably overlooked on the
Jugulator tour, and they just
killed with "The Devil's Child," a hidden gem on
Screaming For Vengeance. On the
negative side of things, the band played "One On One" and "Hell Is Home"
from Demolition, songs that just
paled in comparison to their classic material. The main problem is that the
songs are so bottom heavy that they just come off as one-dimensional. Where
are those classic melodies and twin-axe leads? I guess they're trying to
compete with the nu-metal bands. This is a bad choice in my opinion. The
band did balance the new stuff with an acoustic turned electric version of
"Diamonds and Rust" and a less synth version of "Turbo Lover." I was very
surprised when they broke into "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," a song
that they avoided when I saw them supporting
Jugulator. Expected and somewhat
overplayed tracks like "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law" also
got air-time, which was okay since the band didn't forget the early years
either, delivering "Exciter" and "Victim Of Changes." All in all, this was
an enjoyable performance, although Ian Hill hid behind a speaker cabinet
for the entire night, and the band didn't move around much at all. Maybe
the heat had something to do with their lethargy. I do remember the
Jugulator set list to be a bit
longer and also with a few more surprises. And it just seems wrong seeing
these legends in a club. The Civic Center across the street would at least
be a bit more appropriate. The problem is though, as long as Rob Halford
isn't part of the band and they continue to release sub-par albums like
Demolition, Priest may not be
able to attract enough fans to play the bigger places. Although Ripper has
proven to be a fine vocal replacement in the live setting, I think it's safe
to say that older fans haven't really embraced the band's new material. And
just seeing Ripper cover Rob's songs isn't going to take Priest onto the
next level. Nothing against Ripper, but I think it's time for a reunion,
don't you? (Chris Dugan)