Judas Priest at Prudential Center, Newark

Ian Hill, Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton

Judas Priest initially formed in 1969 in West Bromwich, England, taking its name from Bob Dylan's song "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest," but the original band split in 1970. In 1971, Judas Priest's original vocalist, Al Atkins, teamed with Freight, a heavy rock band with guitarist K. K. Downing and bassist Ian "Skull" Hill, adopting the name of Atkins' former band. Atkins left in 1973, and the remaining musicians enlisted vocalist Rob Halford of the band Hiroshima and second lead guitarist Glenn Tipton from the Flying Hat Band. Although none were members of the original band, Halford, Downing, Tipton and Hill, along with a series of drummers, became the core of the classic Judas Priest line-up. The current line-up consists of Halford, Hill, Tipton, guitarist Richie Faulkner, and drummer Scott Travis. Judas Priest has sold over 50 million albums. The band's 18th studio album, Firepower, was released on March 9, 2018.

Prior to the start of the Firepower tour, Judas Priest announced that Tipton was retiring from live performances due to his battle with Parkinson's disease; Andy Sneap would replace Tipton on the road. At Prudential Center tonight, Halford sang up a storm, ranging from throaty growls to ear-piercing screeches, while guitarists Faulkner and Sneap provided the bolts of lightning, and the rhythm section of Hill and Travis supplied the booming thunder. Apart from three songs from the new album and one song from 1990, the rest of the set was from the band's golden decade, 1976 to 1986. Indeed, the band's peak was some 35 years ago, and for 100 minutes the band relived the glory days, even with Halford huffing for breath between songs. Once known for its S&M-styled wardrobe, the musicians dressed in more casual rocker wardrobe, while Halford frequently stepped off stage between songs to change jackets or vests, and yes, at one point reentered the stage on a motorcycle. Judas Priest is no longer breaking new ground, but the band's performance was a finely-polished exhibit of classic heavy metal excellence. To end the night with a blast, Tipton rejoined his band for the first time to perform a three-song encore. With exciting concerts like this, Judas Priest will continue to be ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time.

Visit Judas Priest at www.JudasPriest.com.

Setlist:

1. Firepower
2. Running Wild
3. Grinder
4. Sinner
5. The Ripper
6. Lightning Strike
7. Bloodstone
8. Saints in Hell
9. Turbo Lover
10. The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) (Fleetwood Mac cover) (tour debut; first since 2012)
11. Evil Never Dies
12. Some Heads Are Gonna Roll
13. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
14. Hell Bent for Leather
15. The Hellion
16. Electric Eye
17. Painkiller

Encore:

1. Metal Gods (with Glenn Tipton)
2. Breaking the Law (with Glenn Tipton)
3. Living After Midnight (with Glenn Tipton)