28-12-2009Live reviews - Judas Priest
Supported by Testament and Megadeth, thrash fest!
Kicking off the night's metal extravaganza were on form Bay Area stalwarts Testament. Having seen the band many times in various guises over the years, I was keen to see if they could follow the last show I saw them play at the sadly now defunct Bradford Rio's. The rapidly filling up Apollo was treated to a superb set mixed with classics, old and new, taking in material from '87s debut The Legacy right up to current opus The Formation Of Damnation that came out last year.
A thick and heavy sound enabled the faithful to soak up every single note played, with personal standout faves 'DNR (Do Not Resuscitate)' and 'Practice What You Preach' really making the younger uninitiated ones in the die hard Priest crowd really sit up and take notice. With an impressed looking Nick Barker watching over them stage left, Chuck Billy remembered his bands' humble beginning right on those stage boards when they supported Anthrax on their '87 'Among The Living' tour. Tonight, Testament further cemented their 'outstanding live act' tag.
Where Testament oozed personality and charisma with their massive sound and equally massive stage presence, grinning like lunatics whilst aurally punching us all in the face, Megadeth slithered onstage and slid into a very solid workmanlike set of 'Deth tunes. It took a couple of numbers for the full force of Mustaine's twin axe attack to reach full power however I found that the guitars lacked depth and came over a little weak, but that's just a minor opinion. It was great to hear old classics like 'Wake Up Dead' and 'In My Darkest Hour' rubbing shoulders with 'Take No Prisoners' and the immortal 'Hanger 18' along with later material like 'Symphony of Destruction', all played tighter than the lid on a Heineken bottle. The Deth did what the Deth have always done - play with high standards of musicianship, utmost proficiency, professionalism and, these days, obvious enjoyment especially of the great reception they were greeted with. If only they could acquire a generous helping of the character they so desperately lack in the live setting, even building on Mustaine's (sour grapes?) snipe of saying if we took only one thing away from tonight, it would be 'Deth tune 'The Mechanix' NOT being Metallica's 'The Four Horsemen'. The modern day 'Deth deliver a smooth precision drive more akin to your neighbour's 08 plate Audi rather than the rough, good time, unpredictable ride you get with your old R plate Sierra that's seen better days but you just can bring yourself to sell.
The Priest are back in Manchester. And everyone who needed to know were there judging by the pre show buzz. After a twenty minute delay due to 'technical difficulties', the lights dimmed, the dry ice billowed and finally the curtains came back to reveal the lavish Priest stage set overlooked by Nostradamus himself. Impressive. Most Impressive. The Nostradamus intro tape signalled the entrance of Messrs Travis, Downing, Tipton and Hill followed by the magical appearance from the ramparts of the Metal God himself Rob Halford along with his mate, Mr Goat E. Beard and we were off with 'Prophecy' from Nostradamus itself. The metal flowed thick and fast, as did a plethora of outfits to go with each tune. Now that's how you recognise a metal show. The capacity crowd were treated to gems such as Metal Gods, Breaking the Law, Devils Child, Eat Me Alive, Sinner, Electric Eye, Painkiller etc and the Apollo lapped them all up with arms outstretched and devil horns aloft on demand. Sir Rob of Halford even tipped his hat to the Apollo venue as being legendary around the world as did Lemmy when I saw the mighty Motorhead there a few tours back
I've never managed to see Priest live so I went into this show with a 'lets see what they're like' attitude and I loved the experience. They tended to stick to the mid paced material which at times I felt needed a bit of an acceleration injection, especially after Angel Of Retribution's ballady' 'Angel' (yes, mine and Blackest Jim's lighters were out) however they definitely Delivered The Goods in Manchester.
Review By Scott Gabriel
