The ‘Metal Gods’ Judas Priest Rock The Izod Center
On Friday night November 18th Judas Priest brought their 'Epitaph Tour' to the Izod Center in East Rutherford with special guests the legendary Thin Lizzy and New Jersey's own Zakk Wylde & his band Black Label Society. The 2 & 1/2 hour set took Priest fans on a journey through the bands' album library, playing at least 1 song off every album and adding plenty of fire, lasers and smoke to enhance the metal experience. The setlist covered their hits and some surprise deeper cuts as well: The setlist was as follows:
Rapid Fire
Metal Gods
Heading Out to the Highway
Judas Rising
Starbreaker
Victim of Changes
Never Satisfied
Diamonds & Rust (Joan Baez cover)
Dawn Of Creation
Prophecy
Night Crawler
Turbo Lover
Beyond the Realms of Death
The Sentinel
Blood Red Skies
The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)
Breaking the Law
Painkiller
Encore:
The Hellion
Electric Eye
Hell Bent for Leather
You've Got Another Thing Comin'
Encore 2:
Living After Midnight
Frontman Rob Halford did a phenomenal job on vocals, whether it was on the high pitched hits such as 'Victim of Changes' or 'Painkiller' to the softer 'Diamonds & Rust,' Halford still has the range to make every song sound like you were still sitting in your room listening to the original album.
'Epitaph' also marks the first tour for Judas Priest with new guitar player Richie Faulkner, who has done a tremendous job replacing long time guitarist K.K. Downing.
From the the opening notes of 'Rapid Fire' to the final chords of 'Living After Midnight' the band had everyone on their feet and put on nothing short of an amazing performance. What is your favorite Judas Priest song? You can comment below.