After 50 Heavy Metal Years Judas Priest Hasn’t Forgotten About Kalamazoo

It's true that after 50 Heavy Metal Years, the Metal Gods proved that they haven't forgotten about Kalamazoo. After nearly 2 decades of absence since they played Wings Event Center for the Angel of Retribution Tour, Judas Priest returned in full force on Friday, October 21st along with Queensryche for a night of heavy metal.

Queens opened up the show and put on an excellent performance, although they did skip some of their better-known hits like Silent Lucidity, and only stuck to eight songs.

But when War Pigs started, the crowd roared as they knew it was time for the Priest. The Hellion started and the crowd erupted as they hit the stage and came out with all guns blazing with Electric Eye, moving right into the second track off Screaming For Vengence, Riding On The Wind. The back-to-back performances set the tone for a night that would be one of the best shows this author has ever seen from them

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Some of the highlights from the show were definitely their ability to go from a heavy-hitting song, only to slow things down and bringing incredible atmospheric vibes going into Beyond The Realms of Death. Then, like the phoenix, they rose right into Judas Rising.

A great back-to-back pairing of Genocide of the Sad Wings of Destiny album fit well with the hard-hitting Steeler, which may have been the loudest the band got that night. It was a phenomenal moment. Then, proving like a fine wine they get better with age, they played one of their best songs and a favorite among Priest fans, Halls of Valhalla.

Before Screaming For Vengence, Rob Halford took some time to mingle with the crowd and lead them all in an acapella sing-along, before ripping into the Fleetwood Mac cover of The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown). Finally, they tore into the end of the night with three favorites, in Hellbent For Leather, Breakin The Law, and Livin' After Midnight to end the show.

The video board at the end of the night read, "The Priest Will Be Back," leaving us to hope that next tour they'll once again return to another packed crowd in Kalamazoo and deliver the goods.