The Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown hosted a night of metal history – Judas Priest’s Epitaph Tour.
The crowd shared good-natured camaraderie among dads and sons, daytime insurance workers, and leather-clad bikers. Sure the beer was warm and the food prices were extortion. But we were there to hear the gods of metal. And praise be to those deities.
Despite the bad boy image of Thin Lizzy, the bad ass persona of Black Label Society, and dark reputations of Judas Priest, you never saw so many big smiles on stage. These guys were having a blast. The audience felt it and heard it.
A view from the stage showed a full floor, side stands well-populated, and the back sparse – evidence that nearly every ticket holder hoped for a chance to get close to their legends.
Thin Lizzy delivered old school rock and roll – no fancy stage sets or theatrics, extreme costuming, or recorded background. Just the clean, Celtic-influenced sound for which they’ve been known since 1969, and an energetic stage presence. Long-time member Scott Gorham gave a standout performance on lead guitar in best-loved numbers like “Jailbreak,” “Emerald,” and (of course) “The Boys are Back in Town.”
Black Label Society brought up the volume and the pace. Their animated set began with “Crazy Horse” in full regalia, progressed to a frenzied guitar solo ala’ Zakk following “Fire it Up,” before guiding us down to “Stillborn.” Their material may be dark, but these guys are anything but rooted-in-place hair-slingers. They are pros at engaging their audience.
Between sets, DJ Lady Starlight, spun metal-themed tunes dating back to Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” lots of AC/DC, and a fair amount of thrash – with sword-twirling aplomb.
If a bit less cardio than BLS, Judas Priest left no doubt of what was created on the eight day and who was the maker. Halford’s inhuman range and clarity defied amplification. The pounding teamwork of bass (Hill) and drums (Travis) provided a full-sensory backdrop for Tipton’s and Faulkner’s twin guitar leads – a Priest signature sound.
The take-away – after hearing the original metal gods pour their souls into 150 minutes of timeless, heart-pounding, ear-shattering, emotion-wrenching notes and lyrics, we remember all over again what’s wrong with hip-hop, pop, and country and how we grew from those strong metal roots to be the adults we are today. Kids, pay attention.
(A big shout-out to Tag for making sure press got great treatment!)
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