Epitaph World Tour with Thin Lizzy, Black Label Society, and Judas Priest
Tonight the Venue in Hammond, IN was sold out for the last world tour for Judas Priest. Last time I was at the Venue was for Roger Daltrey for an epic night and was wondering if tonight would be the same. Arriving to pick up my credentials, I was greeted by the great staff at Horseshoe Casino; can’t say enough on how awesome they were.
As I walked in, I noticed all the seating was all lifted off the floor compared to the last show, leaving it all open for general admission. They had a local DJ playing all metal hits to get the crowd ready.
First up was Thin Lizzy, a band that has been around as long as Judas Priest, but with the loss of Phil Lynott on vocals and 70’s member Gary Moore on guitar, I’m not sure if this is more than a tribute band with one founding member, Brian Downey on drums. Playing for about 40 minutes and a 10 song set, they played all their old hits like Jailbreak, Killer On The Loose, and Cowboy Song. The crowd was into it and showed them a lot of love and I have to admit, they put on a good set as they closed out with the classic rock song, The Boys Are Back In Town.
After a set change, Black Label Society came on with a great, back canvas backdrop in the background and Zakk Wylde in a beautiful Indian headdress as he played, Crazy Horse. If you don’t know who Zakk Wylde is, then you’re missing out on one of the all-time great guitar players of our time. With a wall of Marshall amps behind him, I am sure all on 11 he played Funeral Bell, Bleed for Me, and Suicide Messiah.
Black Label Society is just pure hard rock to get your head moving. While I am not a fan of Zakk’s voice, him and his bands’ pure power on stage, you can’t help but love this band. Second guitarist, Nick Cantanese provides some nasty chops himself and has a great showmen ship on stage to compliment Zakk. Filling out the deep, underbelly rumbles are John DeServio on bass and new drummer from Breaking Benjamin band, Chad Szeliga to give the music its depth and chest pounding thumps. Playing for over an hour, he included Overlord, Parade of the Dead, Fire it Up, and the 10 minute plus guitar solo where he started from the middle and worked both sides of the stage to showcase his insane speed on the guitar. He ended the night with Godspeed Hell Bound, Concrete Jungle and my favorite song from BLS, Stillborn.
To close out the night in a fashion only in a way this band can was Judas Priest. Having been around for 40 years, 16 studio albums, subliminal message bullshit, and generations of influence over future rock bands, this was according to them the last World Tour. Only a few bands can transcend time and make you feel like you’ve been thrust into a time machine, bringing you back to when you first heard them or saw them live.
I will admit this was my first show seeing them and I was looking forward to it, and while VENUE could be considered too small for them, it was the perfect place to see and listen to them with great acoustic in the room. As the lights dimmed, they opened with Rapid Fire off the classic album, “British Steel” and following up with Metal Gods, with a backdrop of huge chains on the amps and huge vats on both ends, pouring out smoke like molten metal was in them.
Drummer, Scott Travis was up on a riser with a laser prism projector behind him that showed out different rays of colors as they went from small, to spreading out wide to cover the room. Having never seen Travis play before, he blew me away on the drums, taking drumming to a level that not many other I have seen live do. Bass player, Ian Hill who has been around since they first started, stayed to the right side in the back for most of the night and just played along with Travis, giving that perfect balance. Guitarist, Glen Tipton and new hot guitar gunslinger, Richie Faulkner took turns shredding. Tipton, even for his age, can still pull of the fast runs and insane whammy bar moves. Faulkner pumped in new blood in Priest as he was the most animated than the man himself, Rob Halford. Halford came out in all-black leather from head to toe and his spike black flowing jacket, with his brown long goatee and bald head - he was everything I pictured him.
Judas Priest is and why we have Heavy Metal along with Black Sabbath and he told the crowd it does not matter what type of genre of Metal it is, it’s still METAL! Halford’s voice was still able to reach the high pierce and the lows of a man half his age. Yes, I know it’s not the same as from when he was young but you still won’t find any other man his age to hit those notes. Playing for over 2 ½ hours and packing in over 21 songs, they continued with Heading Out To The Highway and the powerful sounding, Judas Rising that proved Halford’s voice is still in the top 5 metal vocalist of all time. During some of the song breaks, Halford talked to the crowd about their history and shared stories with the fans. Being this was my first time seeing them, I really enjoyed the interaction with the crowd.
At one point, Halford came out in a silver cloak that covered his face and a staff, as they played Prophecy - this was followed by one of the best songs off the album “Painkiller,” Night Crawler. Tipton’s playing sounded amazing as he went up and down on the fretboard, note for note, as Faulkner shared in the guitar assault. Playing classics such as Turbo Lover, Beyond the Realms of Death, The Sentinel, and one of my favorites of the “Ram it Down” album, Blood Red Skies.
One of the highlights of many was when they started to play Breaking the Law and Halford told the crowd to sing and they sang the whole song without Halford singing a note – that, I have to say was pretty freaking amazing. They ended the night with Painkiller and Electric Eye before a short break to come out for the encore of Hell Bent For Leather, in which Halford drove out on a motorcycle and the American and British flags drapped over him. This was followed by You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’.
Going past their 11pm curfew they played a 2nd encore that had the crowd rocking out to Living After Midnight. What an amazing night of music and I can now take Judas Priest of my Bucket list.
This tour will be running till the first of December in the US, so do yourself a favor and check it out.
For more shows at the Venue in Hammond, IN check out their website http://www.horseshoehammond.com/casinos/horseshoe-hammond/casino-misc/the-venue-detail.html
All Photos Provided by Peter Lizano
