Judas Priest Newcastle City Hall October 1978
In many ways Judas Priest as the ultimate heavy metal band. When they returned to the City Hall in October 1978, their image had developed from the standard heavy rock band with flowery shirts and flares, and they we starting to become heavy metal gods. Rob Halford in particular was starting to wear more studded leather gear, with undertones of S&M, and he was using his incredible vocal range to greater effect on songs like The Ripper in which he would scream the vocals in his high pitched operatic style. I don’t remember at which point, or on which tour, Rob started to ride a motorbike on stage, but it wasn’t that long after this. 
A couple of years later Priest released British Steel, an album which in many ways defines the heavy metal genre. More than any other band I saw in concert, Priest developed from what I would class a solid rock band like many others in the mid 70s, to a top rate metal band, pushing at the boundaries and setting a standard that many others would attempt to match over the years, and to this day. This change was very evident in their live performances, which saw them graduate from clubs, through ballrooms to concert halls (and soon onward to arenas). Along the way I witnessed them deliver an excellent, and well received, performance at the Reading festival in 1975. Support for the late 1978 tour came from the multi talented Lea Hart who has been a producer, singer, songwriter, and (currently) manager (of Maiden’s Paul Di’Anno). Hart had been in Slowbone, and went on to join Fastway in the 80s.
Archive for the ‘Queensryche’ Category
8 Sep
Dio Newcastle City Hall 1984
Dio Newcastle City Hall 1984
Support from Queensryche
This concert in 1984 was the last time I saw Dio in a concert hall setting. I did see Ronnie and the band a few years later at the Monsters of Rock festival 1987. This gig had strong support from up and coming act Queensryche, who had just released their second album and were building up their own strong following. Dio had also just released their second album “The Last in Line”, and the set featured a collection of songs from that album, their previous album “Holy Diver” and a few Rainbow and Sabbath songs. The evil, but cute. looking guy on the programme is “Murray”, who appeared on the band’s album covers, as well as in the backdrop for the live shows. Note Murray sports the devil’s horn salute that was the trademark of Ronnie. 
Setlist: Stand Up and Shout; One Night in the City; Don’t Talk to Strangers; Mystery; Egypt (The Chains Are On); Holy Diver; Heaven and Hell; The Last in Line; Rainbow in the Dark; Man on the Silver Mountain / Starstruck; Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll. Encore: We Rock; The Mob Rules. A DVD of performances from two Dio concerts in 1983 and 1984 was released a few years ago, and gives a great write-up of Dio’s rock stature at that time: “Ronnie James Dio remained at the forefront of hard rock for over twenty years and his position as the powerful voice, driving force and front man to rock gods ‘Dio’ is the stuff of legends. The finest hard rock album to come out of 1983 (Holy Diver) and a second serving of rock genius in 1984’s ‘The Last In Line’, Dio found themselves in embarking on a sell-out world tour. Delivering concert performances of the highest calibre and putting on the kind of value-for-money show that had become something of a lost art, the Holy Diver world tour won the band adulation from fans, critics and fellow musicians alike.”
7 Jan
AC/DC: Monsters of Rock Donington Park 1991
Monsters of Rock, Donington Park, 17 august 1991
Line up: AC/DC; Metallica; Mötley Crüe; Queensryche; The Black Crowes
This is the last of my ramblings on AC/DC and it brings me up to date with my concert memories of the band. The 1991 Monsters of Rock festival was the last time Iwas to see the band for almost 20 years; as the next AC/DC concert I attended was at Manchester MEN Arena in 2009. It was also the last time I attended a Monsters of Rock festival. That particular my daughter was getting into rock music, and her and her friends were big fans of Mettalica, and that was our primary reason for attending. So I drove her and two friends to the festival. Highlights for me were The Black Crowes, Metallica and AC/DC. I don’t remember much about the other bands.
Metallica had just released their “Black” Metallica album, which had been heavily played in our house. I hadn’t rated the band up until then, although I had seen them at an earlier Monsters of Rock in 1985, but that lp got me into them. My favourite track was Enter Sandman, which was the opening song at Donington that year. Metallica were at the top of their game at that time, paying some of the best heavy rock of the time. We made sure that we arrived in time to see The Black Crowes, as I’d heard a lot about them. I remember being impressed by them, particularly by their cover of Otis Redding’s Hard to Handle. My friend John lives in the US and is a massive Black Crowes fan, and he keeps me up to date on them. I really must get to see them again some day soon. AC/DC closed the day with a set which closed with one of the biggest firework displayed I’ve ever seen. I then spent some time finding the others, which was not easy in a crowd of 60,000+ people all of whom were aiming for the exits, and then we drove back home. AC/DC setlist: Thunderstruck; Shoot to Thrill; Back in Black; Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be; Heatseeker; Fire Your Guns; Jailbreak; The Jack; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Moneytalks; Hells Bells; High Voltage; Whole Lotta Rosie; You Shook Me All Night Long; T.N.T.; Let There Be Rock Encore: Highway to Hell; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). I’ll move on from AC/DC now, and will ponder on which concerts to reflect on this coming week. Back tomorrow.
24 Jul
Judas Priest Newcastle Metro Arena 20 July 2011
Judas Priest Newcastle Metro Arena 20 July 2011
I went along with a group of mates (Will, Will’s on Jack, Ter and Ritchie) to see Judas Priest last week. Priest are part of our collective youth; a band that we all went to see lots of times throughout the 70s and early 80s. This tour, the Epitaph tour, has been billed as their last world tour, so we all figured that we should catch them this time. Ter, Will and I saw the Priest a few years ago at the arena, and were looking forward to this one. Support came from Rival Sons(?) and Queensryche, who are one of Ter’s favourites, so we made sure that we arrived on time for them. Queenrsyche lived up to Ter’s memories, but it was the main band that we had all come to see. Priest came on stage around 8.45 and launched into a set whch covered, as promised, something from every album in their 40 year career. So we got favourites such as Victims of Change and their great covers of Diamonds and Rust and The Green Manalishi. Singer Rob Halford left the singing entirely to the crowd for Breaking the Law. Quite a few good songs were missing; why no Ripper? In some ways, Priest have become almost a parody of themselves, with lots of chains and metal on display and Rob Halford taking a number of costume changes, each one being completely over the top. And the music is super crafted metal, with great guitar from Glen Tipton and a new guy (K K Downing retired just prior to the tour) and incredibly strong vocals and screams from Rob. Rob still rides his Harley onto the stage, and we all still lapped up the old rockers. Great stuff from a great band; it’s sad that this may have been the last time we will experience the Priest. We all went home fully satisfied; they don’t make bands like this any more.
Setlist: Rapid Fire; Metal Gods; Heading Out to the Highway; Judas Rising; Starbreaker; Victim of Changes; Never Satisfied; Diamonds & Rust; Dawn of Creation; Prophecy; Night Crawler; Turbo Lover; Beyond the Realms of Death; The Sentinel; Blood Red Skies; The Green Manalishi; Breaking the Law; Painkiller
Encore: The Hellion; Electric Eye; Hell Bent for Leather; You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’; Living After Midnight
I hate printed tickets
programme
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