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Concert Review – Judas Priest (Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, ON, 09/14/2024)

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The Metal Gods proudly raised the Invincible Shield in Niagara Falls on Saturday night in a celebration of the beauty and glory of our beloved Heavy Metal.

OPENING ACT: Sabaton

If you’ve never seen a concert at the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, go check their calendar and don’t miss the chance of visiting one of the best venues of the current Canadian landscape. It’s a beyond phenomenal venue with a great seating chart and excellent view from wherever you end up seating (or standing, if the concert you attend saves some space upfront for a small pit), therefore the perfect choice for the one and only Metal Gods JUDAS PRIEST, plus their more-than-special guests SABATON, to kick some serious ass during the second show of the new leg of the Invincible Shield Tour North America 2024. My friend Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi (who by the way had his photos shared by the Metal Gods themselves on their official Instagram) were obviously there to worship the Metal Gods in another night of the purest form of heavy music you can think of, and let me tell you that the show was beyond memorable, simply mind blowing from start to finish.

Once again, Swedish Power Metal brigade SABATON was the chosen band to warm up the avid Priest fans at a sold out OLG Stage, showing how strong the partnership seems to be between the two bands. Not only that, Sabaton are also becoming a fan-favorite worldwide, attracting countless fans to the show at the Falls this Saturday, and once they started playing it became crystal clear why they’ve already gathered such an immense fanbase. The band spearheaded by the charismatic Joakim Brodén was on fire during their entire show, delivering a solid hybrid of Heavy and Power Metal infused with warlike themes. Songs like Ghost Division, Stormtroopers, and in special the last three songs, Primo Victoria, Soldier of Heaven and To Hell and Back, inspired all fans at the venue to jump up and down nonstop, to raise their fists and horns, and to singalong all songs with Joakim and his henchmen, all of course boosted by a stage that transpired wars and battles. If you’re seeing any concerts of this tour, make sure you arrive in time for Sabaton even if you know nothing about them, because their live performances are as explosive as a hand grenade.

Setlist
The March to War
Ghost Division
The Last Stand
Swedish Pagans
The Red Baron
Bismarck
Stormtroopers
Carolus Rex
Resist and Bite
The Attack of the Dead Men
Primo Victoria
Soldier of Heaven
To Hell and Back

Band members
Joakim Brodén – lead vocals, keyboards
Thobbe Englund – guitars, backing vocals
Chris Rörland – guitars, backing vocals
Pär Sundström – bass, backing vocals
Hannes Van Dahl – drums, backing vocals 

JUDAS PRIEST

After a quick break, it was time for the Metal Gods JUDAS PRIEST to raise the Invincible Shield for the second time on this leg of the tour, one day after their also ass-kicking concert in Montreal, and let me tell you that what I had the pleasure of witnessing in Niagara Falls this Saturday was one of their best performances ever. After the flag dropped during the intro to Panic Attack, it was a wild and frantic feast of undisputed Heavy Metal by Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner, Andy Sneap, Ian Hill and Scott Travis, leaving every single person at the OLG Stage absolutely disoriented after all was said and done. As a result, the fans at the pit went completely mental from the very first second of the show, igniting some sick mosh pits until the very end, something not so common for a band like Judas Priest. Well, when you start the show with some fast-paced masterpieces like Panic Attack, You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’, Rapid Fire, Breaking the Law and Riding on the Wind, I think it’s fair to expect some action in the pit. To be fair, the pit during Rapid Fire was so intense it looked like a Death Metal pit, just to give you an idea of how rowdy the crowd was.

I believe there are three reasons for the band to be so tight, so heavy and so precise at this point of their 50-year career. First and foremost, Mr. Rob Halford, the one and only Metal God, the heart of the band, is delivering stellar vocal performances night after night at the age of 73, something so unbelievable it makes me wonder if he’s an actual god. I mean, guys like Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson are definitely role models for anyone who wants to enjoy a healthy and fun life after you turn 60 or 70. In other words, if I get to Halford’s age with one fifth of his energy, I’ll be a very happy man. Second, Richie Faulkner is now the soul of Judas Priest, blasting our ears with his electrifying riffs and solos nonstop, which I’m sure makes Glenn Tipton very, very proud of how he’s helping carry the band’s legacy forward. And third, Scott Travis continues to hammer his drums majestically, becoming the band’s engine, and all that power and speed always translates into more action on and off stage.

Even the slower songs like Love Bites and Crown of Horns brought a lot of energy to the show, plus of course some heavy classics like Sinner and Turbo Lover; however, as expected, it was during the most hard hitting songs of the night, their new anthem Invincible Shield and the most metal song of all time, the unparalleled Painkiller, that the crowd had the biggest reactions of the entire show, with the pit during Painkiller going out of control to the point there were almost a few fights inside of it. It was a beautiful, memorable moment by a band that is not only celebrating 50 years of Heavy Metal, but that is the ultimate depiction of Heavy Metal. For instance, when a renowned guitarist like Rob Barrett of Cannibal Corpse is in attendance of the show as a fan, you can have a good idea of the importance of Judas Priest to the world of music. The encore with the timeless classics The Hellion/Electric Eye, Hell Bent for Leather and Living After Midnight simply proved that, and it didn’t matter if it was a 60, 70 or 80-year old veteran or a three-year old kid (who not only got the sunglasses of the vocalist for Sabaton, but also a pick, a setlist, and a special post on Instagram by Judas Priest), everyone at the OLG Casino was mesmerized by the Metal Gods in another celebration of the beauty and glory of Heavy Metal.

Setlist
War Pigs (Black Sabbath song)
Invincible Shield Tour Anthem
Panic Attack
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Rapid Fire
Breaking the Law
Riding on the Wind
Love Bites
Devil’s Child
Saints in Hell
Crown of Horns
Sinner
Turbo Lover
Invincible Shield
Victim of Changes
The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Painkiller

Encore:
The Hellion
Electric Eye
Hell Bent for Leather
Living After Midnight
We Are the Champions (Queen song)

Band members
Rob Halford – vocals
Richie Faulkner – guitar
Andy Sneap – guitar
Ian Hill – bass guitar
Scott Travis – drums

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Concert Review – Judas Priest (Prudential Center, Newark, NJ, 04/19/2024)

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The one and only Metal Gods raised the invincible shield in Newark this Friday night in a celebration of pure Heavy Metal magic.

OPENING ACT: Sabaton

Exactly 546 days after seeing Iron Maiden at Prudential Centre, I had the utmost pleasure of visiting the city of Newark, New Jersey again this past Friday to see one of the other pillars of my personal “metal triumvirate”, the almighty Heavy Metal institution JUDAS PRIEST (by the way, the other pillars are the aforementioned Iron Maiden, and Slayer, in case you’re curious about that), supported by the good SABATON, during their undisputed, visceral and absolutely hypnotizing Invincible Shield Tour USA 2024. And just like what happened in 2022, I met with one of my good friends from the IMFC before the show at Bello’s Pub & Grill for some quality chat and drinks. Well, that’s becoming a tradition for me, so maybe next it will be Slayer there?

Anyway, after getting to the venue and grabbing some merch (and let me tell you, the Metal Gods are offering some amazing shirts this tour), we got to our seats to enjoy the warlike performance by Falun, Dalarna, Sweden’s own Power Metal brigade SABATON as the more-than-special openers of the night. Although I’m not a huge fan of their music, I must admit they sound amazing live, and Friday night in Newark was no exception to that. Spearheaded by the charismatic frontman Joakim Brodén, Sabaton killed it with a solid and very entertaining show, each song having its own special war-inspired background story, with their setlist encompassing songs from their 2022 album The Symphony to End All Wars, like Stormtroopers and Soldier of Heaven, plus some classic bangers such as Shiroyama (my favorite of their setlist) and To Hell and Back. Everyone who was already at the venue loved their show, and I bet Sabaton will return to Newark soon headlining their own tour based on the warm reaction from all concert goes this Friday night.

Setlist
The March to War
Ghost Division
The Last Stand
Swedish Pagans
The Red Baron
Bismarck
Stormtroopers
Carolus Rex (Swedish)
Shiroyama
The Attack of the Dead Men
Primo Victoria
Soldier of Heaven
To Hell and Back
Dead Soldier’s Waltz

Band members
Joakim Brodén – lead vocals, keyboards
Thobbe Englund – guitars, backing vocals
Chris Rörland – guitars, backing vocals
Pär Sundström – bass, backing vocals
Hannes Van Dahl – drums, backing vocals 

JUDAS PRIEST

It was only 9pm when the main attraction of the night, my beloved, unparalleled, undisputed Metal Gods JUDAS PRIEST took the city of Newark by storm with one of the most metallic, headbanging and intense concerts I’ve ever witnessed. I’m not kidding, it was one hour and forty five minutes of nonstop Heavy Metal magic, courtesy of Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner, Andy Sneap, Ian Hill and Scott Travis, who was by the way phenomenal on drums as usual, taking their heaviness and power to a whole new level Friday night. From the moment the giant banner with the Invincible Shield tour “poem” went up, plus the awesome Invincible Shield tour anthem, until the very last second of the show, it was pure heavy music for the delight of a jam packed Prudential Centre, proving the Metal Gods still got it and that “they’re gonna rock us all ’til our metal hunger’s fed” (if you know what I mean, of course).

Having recently released the majestic opus Invincible Shield, the Metal Gods delivered an ass-kicking mix of timeless classics the likes of Rapid Fire, Love Bites and Sinner, with the brand new songs (which by the way sound like classics too) Panic Attack, Crown of Horns, and my favorite song of the night, the title-track Invincible Shield. Moreover, let’s say that the 72-year old Metal God Rob Halford didn’t want to waste too much time talking, focusing on a stellar vocal performance that made me (and most concert goers) wonder if he’s actually 72, because he sounded decades younger when blasting his soaring, high-pitched vocal lines. Seriously, Halford was flawless, sensational, and so on, making it hard to describe his performance in just a few words. Hence, don’t miss the chance to see him kicking some serious ass on stage this tour, as it’s worth every penny.

One thing I gotta say about the fact that the floor section had seats instead of general admission is that, if you’re going to have seats, make sure people will respect their seats. The crowd was simply rowdy and wild during the entire concert, no one was respecting the seating map, people were standing anywhere they wanted, beer was flying all over people, security was absolutely useless, plus a few minor incidents. That’s why I hate seats. Why not giving everyone the pleasure of standing wherever they want, instead of charging high prices for upfront tickets if no one was going to obey that, right? It was the purest form of “breaking the law, breaking the law” you can think of, so maybe next time in places like Newark the band could avoid offering the seated floor section and just let the crowd go wild.

Anyway, back to the concert, after the band smashed our damned souls with the pulverizing Painkiller, where once again Scott Travis sounded monstrous, I was really hoping for Glenn Tipton to show up during the encore for a couple of songs, which unfortunately didn’t happen. Well, if Glenn was not feeling well enough to do so, that’s more than fine, as long as one of the most important guitarists in the history of heavy music stays strong and keeps fighting against his disease with all his power. No surrender, Glenn! Also, that doesn’t mean the encore wasn’t a real banger, as everyone had the time of their lives enjoying Electric Eye, Hell Bent for Leather, and Living After Midnight, three songs that transpire Heavy Metal, plus of course Richie and Andy made sure they brought Glenn’s energy and passion to the stage during the entire show.

As I mentioned before, there wasn’t a lot of talking during their performance, apart from Halford reminding everyone that the band was celebrating 50 years of Heavy Metal as they released the cult album Rocka Rolla back in 1974, and five decades later here they are still rockin’ hard with Invincible Shield. Damn, time flies, and so did I back to Toronto (pun intended) after an amazing visit to New York and Newark, with my only regret being not having bought tickets for more Judas Priest shows during this awesome tour. Hopefully they’ll announce a new leg soon including Toronto and other Canadian cities, then I’ll make sure I’ll attend multiple concerts to worship the one and only, headbanging, unstoppable Metal Gods. This metalmaniac loves you, guys! Thank you once again for an unforgettable show, and see you on the road!

Setlist
War Pigs (Black Sabbath song)
Invincible Shield Tour Anthem
Panic Attack
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Rapid Fire
Breaking the Law
Lightning Strike
Love Bites
Devil’s Child
Saints in Hell
Crown of Horns
Sinner
Turbo Lover
Invincible Shield
Victim of Changes
The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Painkiller

Encore:
The Hellion
Electric Eye
Hell Bent for Leather
Living After Midnight
We Are the Champions (Queen song)

Band members
Rob Halford – vocals
Richie Faulkner – guitar
Andy Sneap – guitar
Ian Hill – bass guitar
Scott Travis – drums

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Concert Review – Amon Amarth (Sound Academy, Toronto, ON, 10/10/2014)

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The most powerful Swedish Viking horde in the world attacks Toronto once again, setting the city on fire on a chilly night.

OPENING ACTS: Skeletonwitch and Sabaton

Amon-Amarth-PosterAs the fans of Game Of Thrones like to say, “Winter is coming” pretty soon, which means it’s getting colder and colder here in Toronto and, of course, in the entire Canada. So why not turning up the heat with some brutality, Viking music and good beer on a Friday night at the Sound Academy? The bands chosen to make our lives a lot warmer were American Thrash/Death Metal band Skeletonwitch, Swedish Power Metal band Sabaton and the main attraction of the night, Swedish Melodic Death Metal icons Amon Amarth.

Opening the night with the same energy of a stampede of raging bulls and still promoting their latest album, the insane Serpents Unleashed, the ‘Witch were absolutely awesome from start to finish, even with very limited time to deliver all their havoc. Chance Garnette’s unique devilish vocals and Dustin Boltjes killing everything on drums were the highlights of their wicked performance, with songs like I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived), Serpents Unleashed and Within My Blood being so brutal I’m pretty sure most of the people who were already at the venue during Skeletonwitch might have an “interesting” pain in their necks and bodies until today. Chance said they’re returning to Toronto in the Spring, so I guess we have enough time to recover until we break our fuckin’ necks once again with more of their demonic metal.

Setlist
1. More Cruel Than Weak
2. I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived)
3. From a Cloudless Sky
4. Burned from Bone
5. Beyond the Permafrost
6. Unending, Everliving
7. Stand Fight and Die
8. Serpents Unleashed
9. Within My Blood

Band members
Chance Garnette – lead vocals
Nate “N8 Feet Under” Garnette – guitars
Scott “Scunty D.” Hedrick – guitars
Evan “Loosh” Linger – bass
Dustin Boltjes – drums

IMG_2975Having recently released their seventh studio album, entitled Heroes, Sabaton had the tough mission of entertaining a crowd extremely avid for Amon Amarth. Well, although I myself consider their music somewhat generic, they did a pretty good job and got a great reaction from the audience, especially during songs such as 40:1, Swedish Pagans and Metal Crüe. Frontman Joakim Brodén has a very limited vocal range if compared to many other Power Metal singers, but his interaction with the fans, in special his jokes about Canada always beating Sweden in ice hockey, were sufficient to avoid any negativity from the crowd and to keep everyone awake and pumped up for the main attraction. The only problem is, as aforementioned, their generic lyrics and musicality: how many other bands, and you can limit your analysis only to Sweden if you prefer, have songs with the words “pagan”, “warrior”, “fight” or “metal” in their names, and those more-than-generic galloping riffs? If they fix that, they can go a lot further in their career.

Setlist
1. Intro (The March To War)
2. Ghost Division
3. To Hell and Back
4. Carolus Rex
5. 40:1
6. Swedish Pagans
7. Resist and Bite
8. The Art of War
9. Primo Victoria
10. Metal Crüe
11. Outro (Dead Soldiers Waltz)

Band members
Joakim Brodén – vocals, keyboards
Pär Sundström – bass, backing vocals
Chris Rörland – guitar, backing vocals
Thobbe Englund – guitar, backing vocals
Hannes van Dahl – drums

AMON AMARTH

IMG_2983Perhaps one of the most stable band formations in the history of heavy music, with the same band members being together since 1998 (and three out of five since their beginnings in 1992), Swedish Viking horde Amon Amarth delivered almost everything their fans were asking for, except for their Viking ship and fireworks, which couldn’t be part of their performance due to venue limitations.

However, the absence of fireworks and other theatrical items was completely forgiven and forgotten when the band started playing their unique epic metal. It was pure brutal headbanging, fists and horns in the air, beer drinking and lots of singing throughout their whole concert, with everything getting even heavier and more fun during classics like Death in Fire, Guardians of Asgaard, Cry of the Black Birds, and of course the highly anticipated Viking hymns Twilight of the Thunder God (where frontman Johan Hegg entered wearing a Viking helmet and holding the Hammer of the Gods as usual) and The Pursuit of Vikings, with all fans screaming as loud as possible its famous epic chorus nonstop, for the band’s total delight. The sincere smile on Johan’s face was priceless.

IMG_2984In addition, their newer songs from their latest albums, Surtur Rising (2011) and Deceiver of the Gods (2013), also worked really well, with highlights to For Victory or Death, Father of the Wolf, Destroyer of the Universe and War of the Gods. I love metal music when it’s played as fast as the band is capable of, which was the case for all those songs. I just thought there were very few mosh pits, maybe because it was getting really late and all fans were exhausted after a long day at school or work, and after so many hours of energetic heavy music. Being a headbanger demands a lot of our bodies, especially when you have such electrifying bands like Skeletonwitch and Amon Amarth playing live in front of you, don’t you agree?

Anyway, during one of his many fun interactions with the crowd (while drinking beer from his horn), Johan Hegg also spoke about ice hockey and the NHL, which makes me wonder if this is the biggest connection between Canada and Sweden, or if Heavy Metal is indeed what makes these two cold but totally amazing countries be so close to each other. Based on the happiness and level of energy spread among all fans that attended the concert at the Sound Academy, and as a true heavy music lover, I have to go with the second option without a shadow of a doubt. And now, all that’s left for us fans is the never-ending wait for another Viking invasion of Canada.

Setlist
1. Deceiver of the Gods
2. Runes to My Memory
3. Death in Fire
4. Free Will Sacrifice
5. As Loke Falls
6. We Shall Destroy
7. For Victory or Death
8. Varyags of Miklagaard
9. The Fate of Norns
10. Father of the Wolf
11. Guardians of Asgaard
12. Warriors of the North
13. Destroyer of the Universe
14. Cry of the Black Birds
15. War of the Gods

Encore:
16. Twilight of the Thunder God
17. The Pursuit of Vikings 

Band members
Johan Hegg – lead vocals
Olavi Mikkonen – guitar
Ted Lundström – bass
Johan Söderberg – guitar
Fredrik Andersson – drums