Testament/Motorhead/Heaven & Hell/Judas Priest

As I sit here typing, voice is shot, my hearing is muffled, my neck is begining to hurt, my body is all stiff, I have sunburn on my right arm and my face, and a throbing headache. I must say that it was really WORTH it. Awesome concert and better than I thought it would be (considering I got a free ticket). I started on the lawn with no guarantee of me seeing with my binoculars past people's heads. Members of the staff came to us and told us we could take the empty seats in the last 10 rows! This guaranteed me views of the bands with my binoculars (the others who had to utilize the lawn when the seats were taken got to see everyting on a monitor, but I got to actually view the bands with and without the lens).

First up was Testament who had a great (albeit short) performance. Chuck Billy's voice was in top shape, Skolnick shredded, and Christian, Peterson, and Bostaph did their parts well too. From the new album they did the title track and More Than Meets The Eye. From their catalog they did Practice What You Preach, The New Order, and another song which I can't recall at this time.

Next up was Motorhead who did great as well. Lemmy, who started with his sunglasses but had to take them off because he couldn't "see a f*cking thing!", proved why he is a legend. Phil Cambell was outstanding and a shredmaster extrodanaire and has made a fan out of me. Mikkey Dee proved that he is one of the best drummers in metal and his drum solo was freaking awesome. Since I am not that familiar with Motorhead, I can't recall the names of all the songs but among them was Overkill, No Remorse, Killed By Death, and of course, Ace Of Spades.

Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell ) was next and the stage was set with a brick wall in the background and a gargoyle on either side perched on dead trees. Dio of course did an awesome job behind the mike (although he messed up at one point, but even legends fall short sometimes) and led the crowd througout the setlist. Geezer showed me what an awesome bassist he is espcially during Sign Of The Southern Cross. Iommi was spectacular on the guitar and I must mention HIS GUITAR IS FREAKING LOUD!!!!!!!!! I think he took out my hearing the most. The performance that blew me away more than any other that night was Vinnie Apice's drum solo. That man is a monster behind the kit and tore the hell out of that drumset. The coolest part was he had standing drums behind him and he turned around and just went to town on them. Definatly I would say he is one of the best drummers I ever heard. Setlist (not in order on any of them) had Sign Of The Southern Cross, The Mob Rules, Children Of The Sea, Die Young, Falling Off The Edge Of The World, Time Machine, I, Heaven And Hell, and as an encore-Neon Knights. The coolest part of the set was during SOTSC they had smoke come out of the gargoyls and during H&H when the light shown down on Dio and then the red light shown up at him followed by red smoke blowing up from the stage.

Judas Priest was the final performance of the night. In the background there was the cover of Nostradamus with red lights comming from the eyes and a platform with the drumkit and stairs leading to either side from the stage. They opened with Prophesy (the only track from the new album). Although I could hear Halford, I didn't see him at first but then I noticed a figure standing in the top of the platform to the left in a shiny gold robe (yes, Halford). He eventually took the hood off and finished the performance by lowering down from an elevated platform. When he popped back on stage for the rest of the performance, he walked through a hidden door in the middle of the platform. Tipton and Downing put in great perfomances as did Travis and Hill. Halford's voice was awesome though he used too much echo in some parts. The only thing unusual about Halford was that for the first four songs he kept his head bowed staring at the floor and making wierd rocking motions. It wasn't until Breaking The Law that he actually started making eye contact with the fans. He wasn't very animated but his voice is what is important and as I said, he did real well (although there were some parts after a long winded scream where he looked like he was going to pass out-age is catching up with him-although Dio is older and he was full of energy in quantities of people half his age). The setlist, apart from the two songs I mentioned was Devil's Child, Painkiller, Angel, Metal Gods, Eat Me Alive, Between The Hammer & The Anvil, Painkiller, Helion/Electric Eye, and The Green Manalishi. It looked like they were done but then you heard a motorcycle engine and then through the door came Halford on his bike and they broke into Hell Bent For Leather and the encore was You've Got Another Thing Comming and Rock Hard Ride Free.

Great concert, better that I could have ever hoped for with a free ticket. I got a shirt from each band which I might post pictures of later ($140-yeah pretty pricey huh?). The only thing that ticked me off was the drinks for sale ($4 for soda, water, or beer). I knew it wouldn't be cheap, that didn't bother me. What bothered me was that they took the cap off and gave you the drink. Of course the first soda I got went flat half-way through (which happens without the cap). My second soda was from a traveling vendor and with that I kept the cap. I went for a third one but he traveling vedors only had beer so I went back to the stand. I told them I wanted a coke and I wanted the cap. I was told it was against their rules. They make you spend $4 on soda and they keep the cap so it goes flat half-way through so you're forced to buy another. I've never seen such a blatant system of ripping patrons off, bastards! Anyway great concert and I plan on seeing the individual bands later down the line (and with closer seats).

Sounds like a great show!

Halford did the same "staring at the floor" thing during the last tour. I can't decide whether he's building up his energy for the rest of the gig...or he just thinks it looks cool.

I saw the first Black Sabbath reunion tour with Ozzy and Iommi could tear down buildings with his guitar sound.

Nice review!

yeah iommi is a god of guitar. i have seen h and h and priest and h and h were way way better

That soda thing is total bullshiz.

only $4 for a beer? It's $8 where I saw them! Halford did the same thing at the show I went to - great show, glad you could go!

Great concert!!

Sounds awesome! Wish I could have seen that bill!

i wish i lived in america to see this although i have seen all the bands before except testament

I'm going this wednesday, I have been looking forward to this for quite some time. Halford has been doing that strange looking at the ground and rocking back and forth for several years now. He was doing that when they opened for Maiden on the Brave New World tour. He still sounds great, not exactly like he did in past years but still good.

I saw Heaven and Hell a couple years ago right after they reunited with Megadeth as opening act, they were fantastic, one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Glad you enjoyed the show and thanks for the review, I have been wondering what to expect this time around.

ditto h and h was one of the best shows i have ever seen. those guys know their shizzle

i only saw priest once asw well and halford did that weird thing also

I will be seeing all those bands for the first time on Thursday the 28 here in PHX.I am really looking forward to it.

In regards to what I said about Testament:

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and another song which I can't recall at this time.

It was Henchmen Ride from Fomation Of Damnation, dedicated to the bikers in the audience.

Checked the repective web sites and no news of this tour coming to the UK. This sucks, Priest a UK band haven't done a proper tour of the UK for AGES. I saw them on the Angel of Retribution tour wich was like 3 years ago now, Bull.

Yeah sure they recently played Download but I want a UK tour, their web site shows they have been all over the US and Canada recently and continue to do so throught the year so the earliest UK dates will be 2009, if were lucky, talk about pissed off.

I saw this show last night. What can I say, all four bands played great. Testament ripped it up right from the start. They played as much as possible in a half hour as they could but that really isn't enough time for a band with this much history.

Motorhead was exacty what you would expect. very cool. They are motorhead and they play rock n roll.

Heaven and Hell came on next, a fantastic stage presence. Their big gargoyles perched at the sides of the stage smoke effects with really dramatic lighting gave the stage a hellish look. Their set lasted right at an hour which in my opinion is just getting warmed up but other than that it was as good as it gets.

Priest came on around 9:30 and played like theywere still kids. Honestly, you would never know they were pushing 60. Halford sounded great, he has learned to substitute different ranges in for some of the real high screams but most people would never even notice. He rode the Harley out for Hell Bent for Leather and Green Manallishi.

This is a killer line up for a show in my opinion and a great time from start to finish. Two things could have made it better would have been to have it on a Saturday night and to have given each band more time. I recommend this tour to anyone that can possibly attend, the cost is pretty crazy and it was way short of selling out but I can't say enough about the quality of these bands.

I went to this concert last night here in Phx and since I suck at writing I will keep it short. It kicked ass!!

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The only thing unusual about Halford was that for the first four songs he kept his head bowed staring at the floor and making wierd rocking motions.

I've been wondering about that myself... I think he does it because it helps his singing (maybe he's concentrating). He never did anything like that until he returned to Priest. He also moves around the stage weird like a stiff robot.

How much is parking?

I'm actually going tomorrow to see this tour. I wish Testament had a longer set.

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The only thing unusual about Halford was that for the first four songs he kept his head bowed staring at the floor and making wierd rocking motions.

He only really did that at our show for maybe 1-2 songs and then he seemed pretty animated after that.

troublezone wrote:

How much is parking?

It was free for us but beers were $8 and shirts were $35

I wish Testament had more time too, I guess I will have to watch for them to tour on their own when they can play a full set. They are worth seeing again

i would like to see testament. they are the only band off the bill i have not seen

It was a great show. Judas Priest was best by far.

I was standing in line while Testament played so i missed their set and i missed half of Motorhead's set because the security staff guy wouldn't let me go in the aisle my ticket was for. I did see all of Heaven and Hell and Priest but i was slightly dissappointed with the overall sound quality. I opted for the Motorhead tour hat instead of a shirt this time.

Where did you see them play?

Metal Misfit wrote:

Where did you see them play?

San Bernardino, Ca @ the San Manuel ampitheater

Seen these guys in August as well and thought that Testament was the loudest of them all, since I am not a big fan (simply cause I don't know much of the stuff they have done) I was impressed.

Motorhead of course always entertaining had sound trouble when they was one and it got so muffled and distracted from them. I have seen them live before and know they can really kick butt, but the sound took away a bunch for them this night.

H&H - simply amazing. It was funny how a full moon was on that night and it was clear skies. The moon hung slightly to the left above the amphitheater and added to the creepiness. Words cant describe how good they were, but one thing is for sure, they may be old but they proved not to many bands out there today that can reach the caliber they are at, even in their 60's. What isn't RJD like 67, and you would never know it. He is so cool and ageless.

JP - same deal as you mentioned. The band was always top notch, but I could not help but think Halford seemed very reserved. Almost like he was to worn out to move around much. Though I never seen him live before to compare that just may be how he is. He did not move around running around like crazy but he still was on the move enough. His voice is like a fine wine, only getting better with age!

One of the most memorable concerts for me ever!