Location: Belgrade / Arena / Serbia
Date: Friday, July 1, 2011
Judas Priest, the undisputed institution of heavy metal, are slowly saying goodbye. The metal community was badly shaken this year when the heavy metal elders announced their final big world tour, very fittingly titled Epitaph. The bitter moment of realization is sadly coming: legends won’t stay young forever, and they’ll slowly leave us, one after another. The little king of rock ‘n’ roll, Dio, has already gone, and Judas Priest and the others are slowly edging toward retirement too. Totally deserved, but what worries me more is that there’s (currently) no band on the horizon, in my opinion, that could take over their role. But enough lamenting. Judas Priest are still here and now, and they’re already deep into their monumental Epitaph world tour, which is supposed to last a whole two years. Priest sadly didn’t honor us with a visit on our home turf, so we made a mass pilgrimage to Vienna, the closest city to us, though even more tempting was the call of Belgrade, the White City. Somewhat hesitantly at first, since it’s now well known that Priest are “crippled”, missing half of the unique heavy metal guitar duo Tipton/Downing. That “old fart” swapped 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.
The arrival in Belgrade was full of anticipation and excitement, especially once we reached our destination, the magnificent Belgrade Arena, in front of which fans were packed almost in the style of the cult Heavy Metal Parking Lot. So a great turnout was in 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 bands were warming up the crowd before Priest, but acclimatizing to the Serbian way of life (“laid-back”, hehe) took its toll, and we missed the openers.
Judas Priest invited the legendary hard rockers Whitesnake along on the tour as guests. Not necessarily the best-fitting combination, but it was nice to see Coverdale and his gang of motherfuckers too. Whitesnake carved out a solid hour to present their iron repertoire of classics, seasoned with a few tracks from the new album Forevermore. But judging by what they showed, it wouldn’t hurt Whitesnake to start announcing their farewell either. The instrumental four-piece is beyond dispute, how could it be otherwise with names like Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach on guitars, the latter masterfully serving up sweet-heavy hard rock riffs. The rhythm section did its job quite satisfactorily too, while the bone of contention is without a doubt the eternal youngster David Coverdale. For the first few songs he showed off his sweet, seductive vocals very nicely, but they broke pretty soon. And they kept breaking more and more from song to song. Coverdale gets huge help from the mixing desk, painfully obviously in the higher range, and otherwise he limps along and rasps like a steam locomotive. Without hefty backing vocal support it would have come off even more pathetic. But Coverdale just won’t give up. So even in a relatively short set he treats himself to as many as two solo spots, which on top of everything weren’t anything special either. I personally expected a more thoughtful guitar line from Aldrich at least, which is why I think he did much, much better in the role of Dio guitarist. Even more soul-crushing was the drum solo, which showed absolutely nothing spectacular. 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 shamelessly teased us with just a few seconds of naughty Slide It In, which tipped over into Fool For Your Lovin’. The standout was above all the gripping title track of the new album, the ballad Forevermore. Whitesnake in 2011 leave quite a bitter taste, as Coverdale obviously can’t and won’t admit that vocally he’s pretty wretched. The advice of Milan Tarot could be quite reworded today: “Don’t grow your hair out like David Coverdale, shave it like Rob Halford and listen to Đ U D A S P R I ST!”
As soon as the white snakes cleared off the stage, a huge flag with the word Epitaph covered it, behind which the stage crew prepared everything needed for the Judas Priest show. Soon Battle Hymn thundered from the speakers and the silhouettes of the Judas Priest members took their places behind the flag. The excitement in the hall was explosive in an instant, and goosebumps crept up on their own (even more so for me, since I’d been stubbornly but unsuccessfully chasing the band for the past three, four years)! Priest sadly didn’t open with the logical follow-up to Battle Hymn, One Shot At Glory, but mercilessly set the place on fire with Rapid Fire. The sound was very good from the start, a bit muddy in spots, but everything was in its place: Travis’s double-pedal torpedoing, the encyclopedic heavy metal riffs sliced out by the new Tipton/Faulkner duo, Hill’s quiet but dependable bass, and yes, this time also the killer screams and excellent vocals of the metal god, Rob Halford. The “Metal God” really lived up to his immortal nickname this time and proved why he’s still one of the biggest vocal names in heavy metal. It’s clear that Halford can no longer pull off the killer-high vocal lines he was famous for in the eighties. But he nicely replaces the highest notes with slightly lower ones that are still venomously high, and for the heavenly screams the mixing desk obviously, but unobtrusively, gives him some help and accentuates the “scream” with reverb and echo effects. Going by reports, I expected a much weaker performance, but the Metal God shone from start to finish. The setlist was phenomenal from the first song to the last, and even though everyone has their own favorites and would have wanted to hear at least this one or at least that one, this was a perfect selection of classics that wrote the heavy metal genre, with room for a few real gems too. Among the ever-present classics, Heading Out to the Highway, the killer wrecking ball Judas Rising, the phenomenal Starbreaker, and Never Satisfied from the debut fit in perfectly, while 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. Live, that one came off even better than on the record, since Travis does a dazzling job compared to the synthetic-sounding drums on the album. The delivery of the dramatic tones in moments like that was chilling, Judas Priest know exactly how to put a song together and how to wrap a crowd of many thousands in its atmosphere. Unforgettable! Halford staged a real fashion show during the gig, changing his outfit for almost every song. At the start he clearly appeared wrapped head to toe in leather and studs, with the obligatory cap on his head, but the most dramatic entrance was surely when he marched onto the stage like a prophet with a 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, addressing them several times, egging them on and keeping them constantly on the edge of anticipation. This was a much better Halford performance than the staring at the floor and standing still that’s quite typical of him these days. Only during Hell Beant For Leather did he take a bit of a rest, belting it out sitting on his steel Harley. Judas Priest’s unforgettable heavy metal iconography is still incredible and immortal today! Judas Priest seem reborn on Epitaph, and some of the credit surely goes to Richie Faulkner, who had the courage 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 in constant contact with the crowd, headbanged mercilessly, and generally took over Downing’s persona and job superbly (and with respect!). On top of that, the kid truly masters his instrument, as every single line was played with surgical precision, there was no room for mistakes, and he fits right into that unforgettable hip-swaying, shoulder-to-shoulder routine with Glenn Tipton too! The band’s musical performance was superbly complemented by the metal stage, hung with huge chains, lots of pyro and smoke effects, lasers, and the obligatory Judas Priest crosses on both sides. Priest came back out for encores twice, and the total length of the show topped two hours! A big lesson for the younger bands from their godfathers! The closing anthem Living After Midnight was a great send-off for the rest of the night in Belgrade. The future of Judas Priest is still a bit shrouded in fog, even though they’re promising a new record. But if this was Judas Priest’s farewell, it won’t be bitter, it’ll be 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)!
author: Rok Klemše
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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
