Judas Priest – Armory – Minneapolis MN – April 2nd 2018

Live Nation and The Armory present Judas Priest.

Was looking very forward to this show for a long time. First it was the first time at the Armory. I have been walking by this building for years saying they need to get this back up and running.

First walk in I was impressed. Huge space with two levels on each side. Vip is located up on top and the second level. On each side is a bar that goes all the way down. There were 20-30 bartenders on each side. No delay on getting anything you needed. Any the Priest crowd can drink. They have made this place look fantastic. Easy to view anywhere in the place, easy to get around. Next up was how is this place gonna sound?

Black Star Riders opened the show. Formed in 2012 and they have 3 albums under their belt. Heavy Fire being the latest. Formed from members of Thin Lizzy, The Almighty, Brother Cane, and other great rock n roll veterans. They are a great straight forward rock n roll band. If you like the clqassic rock n roll sound you will love these guys. Tonight was a set of all originals and Jailbreak from Thin Lizzy.

Saxon was next. I love these guys. One of my favorite bands of all time. This is their return to Minnesota after 30 years. Last time here they played First Avenue with Paul Dianno’s Battlezone.

I was at that show also. Thunderbolt is their latest release and rocks. Check out the review here.

They opened with the title track of the new album. The energy these guys have is amazing. Nibbs is a crazy man on bass, spinning his head all night while not missing a note. All night everyone I talked to said they were blown away by them. My friend Dan even said I should have started listening to these guys a long time ago.

They do what they do and do not go out to far. They make metal records and support them. It is hard to find a bad one in the bunch.

Tonight was a full set from Saxon with 12 songs. Hard to find a headliner that will give you that much time. But they have toured with Judas Priest quite a bit over the years.

They had 4 songs from Thunderbolt and 8 classic songs tonight. Including Denim and Leather where Biff got someones Denim Jacket and sang the tune with it on.

Judas Priest is on tour for their latest album Firepower. Check out our review here.

This is the first time Judas Priest has been on tour with out both KK and Glen. We all wish Glen Tipon on his fight with parkinson’s. Andy Sneap has stepped in for the tour.

Most recently Glen did show up for the encores in New York. Hopefully we will see more of him on the tour this year.

Priest ripped it up right away with their title track also, Firepower. Running Wild is next and I don’t think I have ever seen them do this live. What a treat. Grinder has always been a staple in the tour cycle. We got a couple more tunes of the new a,bum and the rest were all Priest classics. Including Saints in Hell played for the first time ever on this tour.

Huge stage set with a massive video screen in the back. As always they had some great metal videos going on. Saints in Hell had way creepy video,loved it.

Rob  Halford’s voice has to be something of wonder. How can he sound so good after all these years? Richie and Andy did a perfect job on guitars. They are keeping the band going and salute to them!! Ian and Scoot keep it all intact all night. THis is a tour that can not be missed. Go go go.

And the sound at the Armory? Well it is loud as Hell cause it is Priest. I took my ear plugs out here and there and it was amazing. Can’t wait to see more shows here.

Review and photos by Kyle Hansen.