The Air Canada Centre in Toronto was hit with a metal onslaught on Thursday night, when Atlanta’s Mastodon and UK metal gods Judas Priest landed for a thunderous visit. Opening the show was the prog-metal complexity that is Mastodon. The venue was nearly at ticketed capacity when they hit the stage, a testament to how popular they are with the fans up here, despite having little to no conventional radio airplay. But truthfully, what is conventional airplay now anyway? People find their fix on demand now, which makes it harder to quantify how popular a band actually is without seeing the asses in the seats at their shows. From the first notes of “Tread Lightly” from the bands newest 2014 release “Once More ‘Round the Sun,” the fans were on their feet, fists high. Drummer Brann Dailor told the crowd, he’s been a fan of Judas Priest since he was 9 years old, and this short tour with his idols was a dream come true, and these shows are a perfect avenue to get their music out to large numbers of fans that might not have otherwise caught their work.
The setlist was heavy on their newest material, with 6 out of the 13 songs from that massive album. Their sound live is nothing less than punishing, with Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher’s wall of guitars, Troy Sanders’ thundering bass and of course the manmachine behind the kit, Dailor. Each also pulls vocal duties jumping in and out of the tracks, with their voices adding their own different textures to the overall vibe. Their songs really span the gamut from melodic to bombastic and back. Their hour long set was just scratching the surface for what these boys have to offer. Catch them on a headlining gig if you can.
The main event took off when the kabuki curtain dropped and Judas Priest hit the stage. Vocalist Rob Halford, dressed in his trademark head to toe studded leather stage gear and aviators howled out the anthem lyrics of “Dragonaut” from their latest release “Redeemer of Souls” to get things started. The band’s 18 song set touched on a few of the new tracks, but spent the bulk of the time spanning their hits as far back as 1976’s “Sad Wings of Destiny” release with “Victim of Changes.” Lead guitarist Richie Faulkner, as the youngest member of the band, showed he is every bit the guitarist they need to keep the train rolling. While Halford is the defacto centre of attention in the band, they actually give one half of the stage to Faulkner to wield his sword and get the job done. Fire and brimstone imagery flashed across the large video screens for much of the show, with iconic album cover art being displayed as each song began. Veteran guitarist Glenn Tipton engaged with the crowd, moving out onto the sidestage risers for a closeup look at the fans, while bassist Ian Hill kept court in his spot in front of the bass stacks. Faulkner and Tipton traded licks at center stage for some of the trademark Priest moments. Drummer Scott Travis commanded his huge kit keeping everything in line, throwing in a few rock ‘n roll high stick tosses as well. Halford made more wardrobe changes than Taylor Swift, I think, from leather, to denim and everything in between. Highlights from the main set were “Breaking the Law” and Halford riding his motorcycle onstage as they ended the set with “Hell Bent for Leather”.
After a short break they returned for a three song “Screaming for Vengeance” set, with “The Hellion”, “Electric Eye” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’.” Halford can still hit many of those operatic high notes even at his advancing age which is amazing after such a long and storied career in the business. The band left the stage again, but returned for two more, ending the night with “Living After Midnight” after Halford said “they’re telling us to quit, but how about one more?” This was the second time in the GTA on this tour, Halford told the crowd as he thanked them for over 40 years of dedication.
Judas Priest Setlist:
Dragonaut
Metal Gods
Desert Plains
Victim of Changes
Halls of Valhalla
The Rage
Turbo Lover
Redeemer of Souls
Beyond the Realms of Death
Screaming for Vengeance
Breaking the Law
Hell Bent for Leather
Encore:
The Hellion
Electric Eye
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Encore 2:
Painkiller
Living After Midnight
Mastodon Setlist:
Tread Lightly
Blasteroid
The Motherload
Chimes at Midnight
High Road
Aqua Dementia
Mother Puncher
Halloween
Bladecatcher
Black Tongue
Ember City
Megalodon
Blood and Thunder
We would like to thank Chip Ruggieri from Chipster PR for the credentials to review the show.
