This Halloween, headbangers gathered in the middle of Canada to experience the legendary heavy metal of Judas Priest. The band put on a concert in Regina, the capital city of the prairie province Saskatchewan. Priest made the October 31 stop on their international Redeemer of Souls tour, promoting their latest 2014 album. The show was at the Brandt Centre, which is normally a hockey arena—this was Canada after all. Attendees came dressed as ghouls, demons and beasts to honour the Priestly lords of metal, now in their 45th year of music making.
Priest bassist Ian Hill said he hoped fans would dress up for the evening. He spoke during an over-the-phone interview with Metal Injection prior to the show. He also said, in light of Halloween, the band might “summon the devil” on stage.
Photo by Stephen Simons
“We still got a rebellious streak,” said Hill about the band’s notorious image, “Attitudes have changed over the years. We’ve become more acceptable, considering we originally wandered away from what was normal.”
Priest has played Saskatchewan before, with their last show in 2008. Maybe prairie fans have had their fill. The crowd was treated to a budding local group, One Bad Son. The four-piece retro-rock band has been seeing steady radio play in Canada. Some commenters on social media questioned their spot on the bill next to Priest. Before the show, Ian Hill said they prefer “classic metal,” what some extreme metal fans might call rock these days. All said, One Bad Son seemed like a good fit.
Shane Volk (vocals), Adam Hicks (guitar), Adam ‘Granny’ Grant (bass) and Kurt Dahl (drums) started the show at 8 p.m. At one point, aware of his luck, frontman Volk stated, “I’m not sure how this happened, but we’re opening for Judas-fucking-Priest.”
One Bad Son played a 10-songs set for 43 minutes, and they were, well, pleasant. In retrospect, compared to Rob Halford’s insane vocals, Volk could not compare. But, slow-jam hits like “It Ain’t Right” and “Retribution Blues” gave One Bad Son the space to showcase what they’re good at: throwback rock. Think Guns N' Roses minus the band drama.
Photo by Stephen Simons
At 9:15, Judas Priest came out screaming with “Dragonaut” off their Redeemer of Souls album. Richie Faulkner (guitar), Glenn Tipton (guitar), Scott Travis (drums) and Ian Hill (bass) looked great. The younger Faulkner worked well with the experienced Tipton, trading solos on tracks like “Halls of Valhalla.” Travis and Hill delivered their iconic grooves. Rob Halford did as Rob Halford does: He crushed implausibly high notes in a way no 64-year-old man should be able to do. The audience went kooky and stood for the entire set.
The Halloween aspect of the show made things extra fun. As Priest dipped into classics like “Turbo Lover” and “You Got Another Thing Comin’,” the crowd amped up the usual concert debauchery: Lit joints were passed, beers were thrown, brief mosh pits broke out in some sections of the floor seating. But, there’s nothing funnier than watching a grown-ass man dressed as a clown being triumphantly escorted out by security. Thor, a zombie horde and a crew of pirates threw up devil horns to “The Rage,” and all felt right on Halloween night.
Halford came prepared with his own costumes. He changed into different trench coats and metal accessories for almost every song, and he road a motorcycle on stage during “Hell Bent for Leather.” Before Priest’s encore rendition of “Painkiller,” drummer Scott Travis told the audience, “Happy Halloween! We dress like this every night!” One critique regarding Priest’s visuals is some of their album covers appeared distorted on central digital displays on stage. Acoustically, Priest was all there.
For its closing song, it presented an extended rendition of “Living After Midnight,” and Halford donned a silver skull mask. They played 18 songs total for one hour and 37 minutes of old-soul metal. Like gentlemen, they came back on stage to gift souvenir drumsticks and guitar picks to the Regina crowd. Priest still has plenty of tricks and treats in its bag.
