On tour to support their 18th studio album, Firepower, Judas Priest hit the stage hard at The Anthem in DC last Sunday night. Delivering a heavy metal assault upon the District’s audience, the UK metal masters proved once again that they are still reigning kings of the genre they created.
Rob Halford took the stage decked out in a long purple cloak, a purple jacket and top hat, with a blinged out skull adorned staff and his commanding persona for the set opener “Necromancer.” “Heading Out to the Highway” and “Chains” followed as they blazed through their set. Some highlights of the night were classics, “Killing Machine” and “Victim of Changes,” but the peak arrived with the band’s “Hell Bent for Leather” as Halford rode his motorcycle out on stage to thunderous cheers from the audience. Judas Priest finished their set with true classics “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.”
Metal veterans, Uriah Heep served as the night’s openers and and set the tone quite ably. After 50 years in the music business, the road warriors’ musicianship is unmatched and their stage presence is a force all its own. Lead singer, Bernie Shaw lead their attack as they served the gathering crowd a big dose of—in your face metal.
URIAH HEEP
JUDAS PRIEST SETLIST
Necromancer
Heading Out to the Highway
The Sentinel
Spectre
(Take These) Chains
Judas Rising
Out in the Cold
Traitors Gate
Starbreaker
Steeler
Halls of Valhalla
Killing Machine
No Surrender
Victim of Changes
All Guns Blazing
Hell Bent for Leather
Breaking the Law
Living After Midnight
URIAH HEEP SETLIST
Grazed by Heaven
Too Scared to Run
Take Away My Soul
Stealin’
Between Two Worlds
Gypsy
Look at Yourself
Sunrise
Easy Livin’
