Judas Priest And Sabaton!

 

Head banging at my age is not easy. But if you get the opportunity to do so, especially when metal gods like Judas Priest come to town, by all means conjure up your 20 something self and go for it. Priest came to the Baxter Arena last night and blew the roof off the place.

Opening act Sabaton, with whom I've become familiar with over the past few weeks, is a Swedish metal band whose songs are based on historical events, mostly wars. Their 1-hour long set was crazy. With a fake tank onstage, which held drummer Hannes Van Dahl at its top, Sabaton hit the stage with Ghost Division and Last Stand, songs about a German Panzer division in WW II and the Battle of Thermopylae, which the movie 300 was based on. Yeah, these guys are heavy duty history buffs who turn head banging into an art. Lead singer Joakim Broden belts out the lyrics with a force that makes your ears tingle. The band itself is loud and proud and never stops coming at you like Stormtroopers, another song about WW II. You get Joakim playing a pink Hello Kitty guitar during Resist and Bite, yet another song about WW II Belgian fighters resisting the Nazis. You get Joakim coming out for Attack of the Dead Men in a gas mask and a firing smoke at the crowd in reference to WW I gas attacks by Germans. This is a band that is obviously ready to rock AND teach you something about history if you want. They are yet another Swedish metal band that opens for rock legends. Much like when I saw Ghost open for Iron Maiden, I must check out Swedish metal. It's smart, it pierces your ears, and it slams you in the grill with a force that you can't help admire. 

Judas Priest hit the stage to a recording of War Pigs and immediately went in to Panic Attack, You've Got Another Thing Comin and Breakin the Law, getting some of the better-known songs out of the way early. Priest is legendary. Lead singer Rob Halford is one of the best front men of all time and at age 73 he proves it. His piercing voice and energy is still there, he doesn't do much talking and leaves the stage through a curtain often, presumably to change outfits and drink lots of water (Sabatons lead singer also left the stage a lot, but presumably to read a history book). All the Priest classics are there. My personal favorite, Turbo Lover, involved a captivated crowd to sing along. The head banging never let up for an hour and 45 minutes. The encore got the crowd involved also with a sing along to Livin after Midnight and then, it was over. It went like that. This is great stuff.

Sabaton and Judas Priest, touring together, is an event you must not miss. Look, my tastes are all over the board. Just this summer I've seen Lionel Ritchie , Earth Wind and Fire, Steve Winwood, the Doobies and Ringo Starr. As great as those artists are, it's not head banging. Keep yourself honest. You cant head bang every night any longer, at least I can't, but the energy saved from just enjoying great, diverse music, means you CAN head bang once in a while. Standing for 3 hours is stressful. Head banging is stress relieving. Between the two of them it doesn't matter, my knees are killing me today.

I cant wait for the next one.