“Who’s ready for some of that Judas Priest heavy-sounding metal?” Rob Halford yelled at the end of their second song, “You got another thing coming”. The crowd of around 5,000 Gen-Xers yelled and cheered for the metal gods. Judas Priest was formed in 1971 in Birmingham, England by their bassist, Ian Hill, and guitarist, K. K. Downing. They ripped through a 105-minute set at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minnesota, last Tuesday. The crowd experienced a classic night of traditional heavy metal from one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time, Judas Priest.
The first song played by Judas Priest was “Panic Attack” from their newest album, “Invincible Shield,” which was released in 2024 and is the album on tour. Judas Priest has seen a lot of members come and go, particularly due to the drama with K. K. Downing. His replacement, Riche Faulkner, has been with the band since 2011 and has recorded 2 studio albums. He was able to get the crowd engaged and rocking out with a series of handclapping and fist-pumping. Ian Hill, who is the only original member of Judas Priest, was hidden in the background on the stage during the concert. You can tell his age as he didn’t move around a lot and mostly stood in the same spot, but was head-banging all the way through. Andy Sneap, the replacement for Glenn Tipton, has not toured since 2018, due to his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. Andy Sneap and Richie Faulkner fit right in and were both having the time of their lives! They looked like they had been with the group since the beginning!
Scott Travis, who has been playing drums for the group since 1989, was on point and looked to have never missed a beat even while being 63 years old. At the beginning of the iconic track ‘’Painkiller,” Scott travis asked the crowd, “you guys want one more song or 3 more songs?” The whole crowd cheered for three more. Then Scott ripped right through the iconic drum introduction to the track. “Painkiller,” the opening track from the iconic album, with the same name, was able to get everyone in the venue on their feet and head-banging. Don’t believe me? Just check out the track and you’ll understand.
Rob Halford, who has been with the group since 1973, could still belt out those high notes just like he could when he was in his 20s. His vocal range really showed on the track “Painkiller.” Halford is often considered one of the greatest metal frontmen of all time and he defended that honor even while being 73 years old. Going from high-pitched notes to deep and moody notes, Halford can do it all.
One particular aspect that surprised me was that this was the first metal show I had been to that did not have any pyro. There were plenty of strobe lights and graphics, but it lacked flames shooting up in the air. Even though pyro wasn’t used, Judas Priest played an 18-song set stacked with all the hits and some surprises! During the encore, before the song “Hell Bent for Leather,” Halford rode the famous motorcycle on stage. This has been a tradition for 40+ years and was arguably one of the greatest parts of the show. Overall, this Judas Priest concert showed that age is just a number and you can still rock and be cool, even in your 70’s!
Here is the full 18-song set played:
