LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: Judas Priest at Worcester Palladium 03.23.18
One of the most difficult aspects of the music industry is being able to maintain your identity while staying relevant for decades and consistently putting out successful albums. In the history of popular music, only a small handful of bands have been able to sustain for nearly five decades. One of the few bands who has managed to pull this off, the mighty Judas Priest was in Worcester, MA on Friday night, where they played to a very sold out, intimate crowd of over 2,000 fans. Priest’s road is a bit different though, as their ride nearly ended eight years ago. In 2010, the band embarked on what was to be their final world tour. Founding guitarist K.K. Downing, however, would not finish out the tour, electing to retire in 2011 before the completion of the band’s farewell tour.
Enter Richie Faulkner, a guitarist that was playing in a band with Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris’ daughter. Faulkner joined Judas Priest and would go on to reinvigorate the band to the point they elected not to retire after all. With Faulkner on board, Judas Priest forged onward, writing and recording their seventeenth studio album, Redeemer of Souls. The album debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and was considered a major success and breathed new life into the band. Since then, the band has gone on to write, record and another album, Firepower, which was released early this year. Firepower hit No. 5 on the Billboard charts, making it the highest charting of their 18 studio albums. Now Judas Priest are back out on the road once again, touring to support their new hit album.
On Friday night, they were in Worcester, Massachusetts to play one of only a small handful of shows on their tour that isn’t being held in an arena. The show was a throwback heavy metal show, complete with all the bells and whistles, including Judas Priest’s Rob Halford riding a motorcycle onto the Palladium stage. It was the kind of concert that made rock concerts such huge, bombastic events in the 1980’s. The crowd made up mostly of classic Priest fans who have been following the band for decades, but also a few younger fans undoubtedly were drawn in by the new album. Playing through hit after hit, with all the choruses being sung back to them, Priest commanded the Palladium stage for a full 90 minutes. Judas Priest remains, to this day, a powerhouse in the live entertainment world.
See dates and purchase tickets for Judas Priest’s Firepower North American Tour by clicking HERE
Purchase Judas Priest’s new album Firepower by clicking HERE
Photos – Black Star Riders, Saxon, Judas Priest – 03.23.18 at Palladium in Worcester, MA
