Sabaton is a band based out of Sweden if you have not heard of them. They are absolutely fantastic I’ve seen them several different times on tour. Unfortunately for this particular review and this evening, I was backstage and missed their performance. They very much remind me of Accept, a metal band from the 80s. I don’t know if it’s a fair comparison to draw, but that’s just something that sticks with me whenever I see them play live. There are a great band and a perfect opening act for Judas Priest.
I suppose you could call Judas Priest a legacy act but that’s not how I view them. They’re still continuing to release new music and as far as I’m concerned, they are continuing to move forward. They’re not just relying on the things that they put out in the 80s.
I’ve seen this band a dozen times over all of the years they’ve been touring. The first time they were a supporting act for kiss on their dynasty tour was in 1979. So, I go back a long way with this band. I never saw them any time that rob Halford was not in the lineup, so I have nothing to compare any of that to.
What I can tell you is they were fantastic tonight. They were in the Rochester Mayo Civic Center which reminded me of many of the venues I used to see metal shows in the 80s at. It’s like a concrete and brick hockey arena that vibrates the sound everywhere. The person running their sound is a genius because they sounded fantastic! The light show was also amazing as well. It felt like an old school metal show on all levels.
I’m not going to spend time telling you about the set list because it really doesn’t matter what they play. Although I would have loved to have heard them play a song that most true Judas Priest fans seemed to dislike that happens to be my favorite, Parental Guidance. I have also been informed many times over the years by their most intense fans that the turbo album is awful. I personally think that it is one of their better records. But the reason I’m touching on this is for all the people that seem to complain about it, the crowd sure seems to go crazy when the band breaks into Turbo Lover.
I know many of you that are reading this are Judas Priest fans, so I don’t have to go through the entire history of the band or the lineup. But I’ll leave it at this, Richie and Andy are both phenomenal guitar players. They play the songs with the respect they deserve note for note. This is the strongest lineup I’ve seen Judas Priest have since the late 70s. If you’re somebody who’s passed off that KK downing is no longer with the band, I understand. Then vote with your wallet and don’t go in and see them. But at the same time don’t discourage other people from going to see an amazing rock’n’roll band play based on your disapproval. Anyone that won’t go and see Judas Priest play live now is completely missing out and completely missing the point. This band is amazing and if you love metal, you owe it to yourself to go see the metal gods themselves, Judas Priest.
