Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn !! Judas Priest Show

This song title sums me I think

My concert run has sadly come to an end. My last show of the year (that I know of) took place Sunday night at the Coliseum and I feel every show I see is better than the previous. I just keep having more fun and last night was just another example of metal from the 80's still kicking butt today.

I was fortunate to hook up with my same scalper friend and he lined me up with an $80 Row 2 ticket ($10 over cost) so I couldn't resist. One thing about all these shows, my wallet will be happy they're done.

My first dilema was how to get my camera in there - the security was doing major pat downs on everyone. I stuffed my camera down the front of my jeans ( yes it looked like I had a square crotch - some mutant thing) - The checked my sides and back and feet and I was in.

Usually I'm not a fan at all of reserved floor seating but when you have Row 2, it's way better than a mosh pit. I hopped over the front row seat to get to the railing and rocked out. We were allowed beers to our seat so I just kept getting up and down 2 fisting it.

Anthrax opened up for the Priest - They were better than the time I saw them last month as I knew more about them. I got a couple of guitar picks from them and their Set List posted on their monitors. That was cool.

Then Judas Priest came out - they haven't toured as the original band for over 13 years and it's been probably over 15 years since I've last seen them. This was going to be special.

The band was decked out in their signature leather outfits and Rob Halford (the singer) was also wearing a massive studded leather trenchcoat. They had a great stage setup. Stairs, raised walkways, elevators lifting Rob up and down, smoke and OK lighting. They opened with Electric Eye and went throught their catalogue with some of my all time favorites being played like Living After Midnight, You got another thing coming, Breaking the Law, Turbo Lover, Metal Gods, Hell Bent For Leather, Painkiller and one of their best tunes Victim of Changes.

The 54 year old singer can still hit all the wildly high notes - he was a tad slow moving around the stage and short of breath at times but that didn't stop him from delivering the goods. During the encore he of course came out on his motorcycle which drove the crowd nuts once again.

I got a guitar pick from KK Downing which was nice to get - hung out in the parking lot waiting for the band to appear - Glenn Tipton showed up and signed stuff - I got a picture but nothing signed. Wanted a picture with him but no time.

Went home and watched World Poker Tournament on TV into the wee hours. Had to get up at 6:30am - sigh.

The shows I hope to see in the future - they're just not on tour yet
Godsmack, Disturbed, Rob Zombie and Iron Maiden