JUDAS PRIEST/SABATON – INVINCIBLE SHIELD TOUR – OAKDALE

JUDAS PRIEST/SABATON – INVINCIBLE SHIELD tour – OAKDALE

By Kat Gullage

JUDAS THE PRIEST BEGINS LEG OF INVINCIBLE SHIELD tour WITH SABATON IN SUPPORT.

Judas Priest, the godfathers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal musical movement, chose the Toyota Oakdale Theater in Wallingford CT for the first night of their US Invincible Shield tour. Their longtime die-hard fans answered the call by selling out the show.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Judas Priest formed 55 years ago, has released 19 studio albums and sold over 50 million LPs worldwide. Their latest, Invincible Shield, was released on March 8, 2024.

This quote I found from singer Rob Halford perfectly sums up how I felt watching the show. “The music that touches you in your youth magnifies as you grow older. Each record can be a virtual time machine – all you need to do is listen for a second or two and go back in time to when you first heard it. It's a wonderful feeling when music touches you so deeply and stays with you over time.”

Photos by Holly Roy Photography

At the time my room was plastered with logos of rock bands including Judas Priest. Sorry loyal readers, as I missed most of the Swedish power metal band Sabaton. Why do you ask? Because at every turn I run into classmates from middle and high school, people from the neighborhood I grew up in, and friends I've bonded with because of music. We were all there to bask in the musical glory of our youth.

As soon as I caught the Swedish metal group Sabaton, my eyes were immediately drawn to the drum kit. She has her own name, Audie, and belongs to the band's drummer Hannes Van Dahl. His kit sits atop a full-scale tank that weighs two tons and takes two people thirty minutes to build. Crazy to think how he transports this thing around the world!

Sabaton release new albums every ten seconds. Okay, ten albums in seventeen years. The quintet performed twelve songs from their discography and gave it their all as fans, obviously there for the main act, slowly trickled into the venue.

I have seen Judas Priest at least five times over the years. The last time I saw them was in the same venue and I was not impressed. I was glad I went, but my reaction was “Meh” and I probably wouldn't have watched this show if I hadn't been assigned to review it. Shame because this night was great, I had another thing.

A pre-recorded version of the beginning of Black Sabbath's War Pigs was played in the theater and as the crowd screamed in unison “Oh Lord, yes!” Judas Priest took the stage and immediately performed “Panic Attack” from their new LP Invincible Shield. Halford is on point, even with the high notes. This fucking metal icon is 72 years old! I mean can you imagine your dad or grandpa up there operating at that level?

One of the band's signature hits 'You've Got Another Thing Comin' from Screaming for Vengeance had fired up the fans. Two of British Steel Followed by “Rapid Fire” and “Breaking The Law”. The trio of guitarists, original member Ian Hill on bass, Andy Sneap and Richie Faulkner as co-drivers, delivered that familiar Judas Priest synchronicity developed by previous players KK Downing and Glenn Tipton.

Photos by Holly Roy Photography

This version of the band is as close as you'll get to the original. FirepowerHis “Lightning Strike” follows “Love Bites” from Defenders of the Faith. Judas Priest they're also British metal fashionistas, heavily embellished head-to-toe black leather, and Halford made several costume changes. Other Screaming for Vengeance The track “Devil's Child” was served before its interruption Colored class“, “Saints in Hell”.

There are the now-regular big screens as a backdrop, throwing the accompanying images, a standard and expected light show. A large version of the 'T' in the Judas Priest logo starts above the stage and slowly moves towards the crowd. Except when it begins its descent, it is crooked and oblique. Halford notices this and says “I hope you stay up there, bitch!”. He straightens it before his lights and his lights.

“Crown of Horns” another Invincible Shield the single is tied with a belt. Have you heard this track yet? I swear that the original sample of Eddie Money's 'Two tickets To Paradise'. I played them at the same time and it was a DNA race. A deeper one British Steel The cut is next with “You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise”. Turbo“Turbo Lover” and the title track “Invincible Shield” keep the party going.

Halford relies more on the crowd response as the night goes on, but his high note at the end of “Victim of Changes” Sad wings of fate fucking blew me away This is where Halford plays the fans with a back-and-forth sing-a-long. “Woah, woah, woah, yeah” “Yeah, yeah, baby, yeah, yeah” “Why, baby, why, why” and honestly, in the end, we couldn't even copy him.

Drummer Scott Travis beats “Hey Connecticut, how are you!” “It's the first night of the tour!” Halford states “and where did we choose? Wallingford Connecticut!” (did anyone ever say until now) He throws his heart hands out to the audience and the set ends with “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)”, which is an early Fleetwood Mac cover, followed by a damn almost flawless cover of the title track 'Painkiller'.

Fans clamored for an almost guaranteed encore that started with another Screaming for Vengeance favorite, “Electric Eye.” A killing machine“Hell Bent For Leather” featured the Judas Priest A staple of the live show, Rob comes out on his decked out Harley Davidson motorcycle.

A final costume change was Halford with this great full length denim jacket covered in rock band patches. British Steel“Living After Midnight” was the closer. The band lined up to take a well-deserved bow. You grew up listening Judas Priest? Take a date on this Invincible Shield tour to relive those glory days.

YOU KNEW THAT? (points in the history of Judas Priest)

Director Rob Reiner saw Judas Priest live to prepare for the making of the film This Is Spinal Tap.

In a 1990 court case, a judge ruled that Judas Priest they didn't have subliminal messages in their music that made two men kill themselves in a suicide pact. The families of the victims had filed a lawsuit claiming that the flashback messages contained in the complex Colored class it was the album's fault.

Halford left the band in 1991 due to communication problems and internal band tensions.

Judas Priest they picked a new singer, after years of searching, in 1996. They got Tim “Ripper” Owens from a JP tribute band called British Steel. This lineup released two studio albums, Jugulator and Demolition.

The 2001 film and box office failure Rock Star, starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston, is loosely based on the story of Owens joining Judas Priest. The band wasn't in the movie, it's fantastic.

In 2003, after eleven years apart, Halford and Judas Priest are reunited. The split with Owens has been described as amicable.

Guitarist KK Downing retired from the band in 2011.

Judas Priest appeared on The Simpsons in the 2014 episode “Steal This Episode”.

Guitarist Glenn Tipton stepped down from touring with the band in 2018 due to the progression of Parkinson's disease. He is still a member of the group collaborating on their new music. Judas Priest had to postpone their 2021 tour.

Guitarist Richie Faulkner (who is married to George Lynch's daughter. Lynch is best known as Dokken's original guitarist.) had a ruptured aorta while playing “Painkiller” live on stage. This is almost fatal. There was a hospital/heart center four minutes away to which he was rushed. Five parts of his chest were replaced with mechanical parts during a 10+ hour surgery. Faulkner had no previous symptoms and no history of heart problems. Urges all Judas Priest fans to get checked out. I was reminded of this miracle when I watched in awe as he acted as if nothing had happened.

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