Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Belgrade / Arena / Serbia
Concert date: June 30, 2011
Attendance: 10
Ticket price: €30.00
Judas Priest, the undisputed institution of heavy metal, are slowly saying goodbye. The metal community was badly shaken this year when the godfathers of heavy metal announced their last big world tour, very fittingly titled Epitaph. Sadly, the bitter realization is setting in that legends won’t stay young forever and will slowly leave us, one after another. The little king of rock ‘n’ roll, Dio, has already taken his leave, and Judas Priest and the rest of the old guard are inching toward retirement too. Totally deserved, but what worries me more is that, in my opinion, there’s no band on the horizon (for now) that could take over their role. But enough lamenting. Judas Priest are still here, right now, and deep into their monumental Epitaph world tour, which is supposed to last a whole two years. The Priests sadly didn’t honor our soil with a visit, so we made a mass pilgrimage to our nearest option, Vienna, but even louder than “Beč” came the call of white Belgrade. At first we were even a bit hesitant, since it’s common knowledge by now that the Priests are “crippled”, missing half of the unique Tipton/Downing heavy metal guitar duo. That “old fart” has traded his axe for a golf club, and his leather and studs for golf shoes and Lacoste polo shirts. But despite the slightly bitter aftertaste of his absence, we didn’t miss him nearly as much as you’ll read below.
Arriving in Belgrade, we were full of anticipation and excitement, especially once we reached our destination, the magnificent Belgrade Arena, where the crowd of fans out front looked almost like something out of the cult Heavy Metal Parking Lot. So a great turnout was on the cards, and you could really feel the positive tension in the air as we waited to hang out with the godfathers of heavy metal. This time two local support acts warmed up the crowd before the Priests, but acclimatizing to the Serbian way of life (“lagano”, hehe) took its toll, and we missed the openers.
Judas Priest invited the legendary hard rockers Whitesnake along as special guests. Not necessarily the most fitting combination, but it was nice to see Coverdale and his band of badasses too. Whitesnake carved out a solid hour to present their iron-clad repertoire of classics, seasoned with a few tracks from the new album Forevermore. But judging by what they showed us, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Whitesnake to start announcing their farewell too. The instrumental four-piece is beyond dispute, and it couldn’t be any other way with names like Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach on guitars, the latter masterfully dishing out sweet, heavy hard rock riffs. The rhythm section did a perfectly satisfactory job as well, but the bone of contention is without doubt the eternal youngster David Coverdale. For the first few songs he showed off his sweet, seductive voice very nicely, but it soon cracked. And it cracked more and more with every song. Coverdale gets a ton of help from the mixing desk, painfully obvious in the higher registers, and otherwise he limps along and wheezes like a steam locomotive. Without hefty support from the backing vocals it would have sounded even sadder. But Coverdale just won’t give up. That’s why he can treat himself to a whole two solo spots even in a relatively short set, and on top of everything, neither was anything special. I at least expected a more thoughtful guitar line from Aldrich, which is why I think he did much, much better as Dio’s guitarist. Even more soul-crushing was the drum solo, which showed nothing spectacular at all. Still, it was nice to hear immortal hits like the iron-clad Is This Love, Here I Go Again and Still of the Night, and Whitesnake cheekily teased us with just a few seconds of a naughty Slide It In, which tipped over into Fool For Your Lovin’. What really stood out was the moving title track of the new album, the ballad Forevermore. All in all, Whitesnake in 2011 leave a pretty bitter taste, since Coverdale obviously can’t and won’t admit that vocally he’s in rough shape. The advice of Milan Tarot could be reworked quite a bit today: “Don’t grow your hair out like David Coverdale, shave it off like Rob Halford and listen to J U D A S P R I E S T!”
As soon as the white snakes cleared off the stage, it was covered by a huge banner reading Epitaph, behind which the stage crew prepared everything for Judas Priest’s set. Soon Battle Hymn thundered out of the speakers, and the silhouettes of the Judas Priest members took their places behind the banner. The excitement in the hall was explosive in an instant, and the goosebumps crept up all by themselves (me even more so, since I’d been stubbornly but unsuccessfully chasing the band for the last three or four years)! To start, the Priests sadly didn’t give us the logical follow-up to Battle Hymn, One Shot At Glory, and instead set the place ablaze with Rapid Fire without mercy. The sound was very good right from the start, a bit muddy in places, but everything was where it should be: Travis’s double-kick torpedoing, the encyclopedic heavy metal riffs of the new Tipton/Faulkner duo, Hill’s quiet but dependable bass, and yes, this time also the murderous screams and excellent vocals of the metal god himself, Rob Halford. This time the “Metal God” really lived up to his immortal nickname and proved why he’s still one of the greatest vocal names in heavy metal. Sure, Halford can no longer pull off the killer high vocal lines he was famous for in the eighties. But he replaces the highest registers nicely with slightly lower ones that are still venomously high, and for the heavenly screams the mixing desk gives him some obvious but unobtrusive help, boosting the “scream” with reverb and echo effects. Going by reports, I expected a much weaker show, but the Metal God shone from beginning to end. The setlist was phenomenal from first track to last, and even though everyone has their favorites and wanted to hear at least this one or at least that one, it was a perfect selection of the classics that wrote the book on the heavy metal genre, with some real gems thrown in as well. Among the ever-present classics, Heading Out to the Highway fit perfectly, as did the killer crusher Judas Rising, the phenomenal Starbreaker, and Never Satisfied from the debut, but the biggest surprise was definitely the songs from the band’s most criticized albums, Turbo and Ram It Down: Turbo Lover and the crazy mini-epic Blood Red Skies. The latter came off much better live than on record, since Travis does a brilliant job compared to the synthetic-sounding drums on the album. The delivery of those dramatic tones in moments like that was spine-chilling, and Judas Priest know exactly how to put a song together and how to wrap a crowd of many thousands in its mood. Unforgettable! Over the course of the show Halford staged a proper fashion show, changing his outfit for almost every song. At the start he came out decked out head to toe in leather and studs, with the obligatory cap on his head, but his most dramatic entrance was surely as a prophet, hood over his head and a Judas Priest cross in his hand, during Prophecy. Besides the obligatory fashion accessories, Rob didn’t forget the audience either, talking to them several times, egging them on and keeping them on the edge of anticipation nonstop. This was a much better Halford performance than the staring at the floor and standing still that’s pretty typical of him today. Only during Hell Beant For Leather did he take a bit of a breather, singing it sitting on his steel Harley. Judas Priest’s unforgettable heavy metal iconography is still incredible and immortal today! On Epitaph, Judas Priest feel reborn, and some of the credit surely goes to Richie Faulkner, who had the guts to step into K.K. Downing’s shoes. You can tell Richie is by far the youngest member of the band, since he was also the liveliest and most energetic one on stage. He kept up contact with the crowd nonstop, headbanged without mercy, and generally took over Downing’s persona and job brilliantly (and respectfully!). On top of that, the kid truly masters his instrument: every single line was played with surgical precision, with no room for mistakes, and he even slots right into the unforgettable hip-swinging shoulder to shoulder with Glenn Tipton! The band’s musical performance was superbly complemented by the metal stage, hung with enormous chains, loads of pyro and smoke effects, lasers, and the obligatory Judas Priest crosses on both sides. The Priests came back out for encores twice, and the total length of the show topped two hours! A big lesson for younger bands from their godfathers! The closing anthem Living After Midnight was a great send-off for the rest of the night in Belgrade. Judas Priest’s future is still a bit shrouded in fog, even though they promise a new record. But if this was the farewell to Judas Priest, it won’t be bitter but sweet! Thanks to the metal gods who wrote the book of heavy metal. If this is the end, the band’s epitaph has already been written: “I can see my future/Writings on the Wall/Legend in My Lifetime/Stories Will Recall” (Leather Rebel, Judas Priest)!
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
WHITESNAKE: 1. Best Years 2. Give Me All Your Love 3. Love Ain’t No Stranger 4. Is This Love 5. Steal Your Heart Away 6. Forevermore 7. Guitar solo (Doug Aldrich/Reb Beach) 8. Love Will Set You Free 9. Drum Solo (Brian Tichy) 10. Slide It In 11. Fool For Your Lovin’ 12. Here I Go Again 13. Still Of The Night JUDAS PRIEST: 1. Battle Hymn (intro) 2. Rapid Fire 3. Metal Gods 4. Heading Out To The Highway 5. Judas Rising 6. Starbreaker 7. Victim Of Changes 8. Never Satisfied 9. Diamonds & Rust 10. Dawn Of Creation (intro) 11. Prophecy 12. Night Crawler 13. Turbo Lover 14. Beyond The Realms Of Death 15. The Sentinel 16. Blood Red Skies 17. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) 18. Breaking The Law 19. Painkiller —encore I.— 20. The Hellion 21. Electric Eye —encore II.— 22. Hell Bent For Leather 23. You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ —encore III.— 24. Living After Midnight
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