Above : Judas Priest poster, ca. 1981. You know, before Rob Halford (center, in Village People attire) was gay. Also shown : guitar heroes K. K. Downing (blonde hair, black leather) and Glenn Tipton (brown hair, red leather). From The Driver's private collection.
Turning 57 today : Robert John Arthur ("Rob") Halford, legendary frontman (insert joke here) of Judas Priest.
And what better way to celebrate in a purely coincidental fashion than to witness the "Metal Gods" live in concert on Friday, August 22?
The Driver -- accompanied by Mrs. Driver, another married couple (read: a fellow man-child and his equally resigned wife) and our pal "Joseph" (name slightly altered) -- paid good money to watch Mr. Halford amble about the stage and sing to the floor. But hey, let's see you try to stand up straight (insert joke here) and belt out "Eat Me Alive" (insert joke here) while wearing 50 pounds of leather -- including a full-length duster and biker boots. And let's not discount the massive goatee that seemed to be pulling his face closer to the ground with each note of every song.
Photo : Rob Halford ca. 2005. Friends of The Driver will appreciate the uncanny resemblance to The Driver's friend, Jeff. Everyone except Jeff himself, that is.
It takes a lot of energy to put on a show like Judas Priest. Many of today's bands rely on fancy lighting, distracting video screens and other technology to make up for a low-fi stage presence. Not these guys. Instead, "The Priest" employ old-school theatrical set design (plus the aforementioned costumes) -- and they complete the presentation with some good old-fashioned amplification. In other words, the guitars are metaphorically turned up to 11 -- at which point the symbolic knob is metaphorically ripped off.
Then there's the patented (or should be) choreography -- which features guitarists K. K. Downing and Glenn Tipton (sometimes joined by Halford for maximum effect) rocking out in a rhythmic sort of up-and-down or side-to-side motion, axes swinging to and fro with the beat in a powerful tribute to their ground-breaking dual guitar approach. Why does your favorite band have two guitar players? Ask Judas Priest. Better yet, ask the guitarists in your favorite band. Odds are they'll tell you about the times when they would put "Unleashed in the East" on the turntable, plug in the headphones, turn up the volume and play the entire album on tennis racquets -- one guy taking K. K.'s solos, and the other playing Glenn's parts.
Or maybe that was just The Driver and his buddy, Brian.
Today's Judas Priest concert still delivers 80 - 90% of its former metal punch. Rob Halford's geriatric lumbering is more about his need to focus in order to deliver his famous ear-splitting high notes. He still can, and does. So he's got that going for him.
The set list hasn't changed much on their last three tours. And yes, The Driver knows this from personal experience. The 38-year-old band does a good job of playing what the fans want to hear. Only about a third of the show's 19 songs, for example, were recorded more recently than 1985. And they continue to surprise by dusting off at least one great oldie per tour. In 2006, it was "Beyond the Realms of Death." This time around, it was "Dissident Aggressor" -- a tune more recently immortalized by Slayer.
Noticeably absent from the show were all but one of the tracks from the new double-length concept album "Nostradamus." The Driver was not upset by this. He purchased "Nostradamus" in preparation for the concert. Let's just say it's no "Hell Bent for Leather," if you catch The Driver's drift.
And chances are, you don't.
But The Driver thinks you owe it to yourself to check out Judas Priest's "Unleashed in the East," "Hell Bent for Leather" or "British Steel" records. He also dares you to resist the urge to air guitar.
For more on the "Masters of Metal" show, Judas Priest, or Rob Halford's big gay facial hair, please enjoy the following links :
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