Unlike Tom Russell, I don't think Judas Priest were sensational tonight at the Barrowlands. They were good, but a number of things counted against them: they only played for 90 minutes and Rob Halford had a tendency to remain off stage at the start of numbers while he changed his jacket (which he did for every song). It felt odd to hear the singer and scan the stage to look for him only to find him wander on a few lines into the song. Maybe there was a reason for it. Maybe he was just tired. Or lazy. Or old. I was disappointed by the way he engaged the audience. He never spoke to us until forty minutes in and it took another twenty to address us directly, his Glasgow audience. He strutted the stage like a WWE wrestler, arm aloft, waving his hand to cajole the audience to love him, which we did. Then he'd pop off during some of the guitar solos, rather than interact with the audience or the band. His voice was in fine tune though. I felt he phoned it in a bit tonight though. The younger guitarist was fantastic and the band sound was great so it wasn't all bad.
The support act Michael Schenker's Temple of God are a tight outfit. Their lead singer, Doogie White (who's also sung with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Yngwie Malmsteen) is an experienced frontman with all the rock moves. At 55 years old, he confessed to the crowd that this was his first time playing the Barrowland and, as a local boy from Motherwell, he felt proud. They kicked off their set with UFO's 'Doctor Doctor', one of my favourite rock songs and the audience loved it too. They also played other UFO songs, some of their own and 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' by The Scorpions. A great band and a shame they only got 45 mins.
Highlights of the gig for me were: the last track played over the PA before Priest came on stage was 'Black Sabbath' by Black Sabbath. The lights dimmed as it started giving the crowd a sense of anticipation and then everyone began to sing along as one. Memorable, given it wasn't a Sabbath gig; the song 'Breaking the Law' - as it started, the youngsters in the crowd, of which there were a few, kicked off a mosh pit about five feet from me. So much energy bouncing around as they flew at one another and into the audience around them. It was wild: a mix of sweat, alcohol and aggression, boiling up in a circle. I thought one young lad was going to erupt into violence as he stared then lunged towards someone, only to be hugged and calmed down by his mate, who then shoved him away to kick off another bout of moshing. Wonderful stuff and amusing to watch security eye them for trouble.
'Living After Midnight' was great but my favourite tune of the night was 'Turbo Lover', just because it's a great anthem, it's easy to sing along to and I know most of the words. My voice is hoarse tonight.
This was the second time I've seen Judas Priest (the last time was at the Edinburgh Playhouse in the 80s) and I think that will be enough. I'm glad I went for the experience.
It still feels weird to leave the Barrowland not stinking of cigarette smoke with a voice two octaves lower.
Setlist
War Pigs (Black Sabbath song) (tape)
Battle Cry (tape)
Dragonaut
Metal Gods
Desert Plains
Victim of Changes
Halls of Valhalla
The Rage
Turbo Lover
Redeemer of Souls
Beyond the Realms of Death
Screaming for Vengeance
Breaking the Law
Hell Bent for Leather
Encore:
The Hellion (tape)
Electric Eye
You've Got Another Thing Comin'
Encore 2:
Painkiller
Living After Midnight
Beginning of the End (tape)
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