Judas Priest / Uriah Heep - Night #2 in Albany NY - May 19, 2019 - Review with Video and Photos

I didn't expect to be seeing Judas Priest for a third time on the current "Firepower" tour (on Sunday, May 19, 2019 at the Palace Theater in Albany, NY), but unlike most legacy metal bands on the road these days, Priest keep changing up the setlist as the tour goes on.  Also I won tix from Z93 DJ Tigman during his daily Big Hair Scare - make sure you tune in and give him a listen - Tig is THE ambassador of metal in these parts!

 

Back to the setlist changes, when this leg started in early May in Florida, fans were shocked to see 2/3 of the 18 song setlist were tour debuts with numerous songs not having been played in decades or ever!  Then within this leg of the tour, the band continues to throw in new surprises - one of which we would get tonight!

I've reviewed Priest before and much of what I said then I will say again - the band sounds amazing and Halford's vocals are fantastic.  

Opener Uriah Heep were on point as well (there's video and some shots of them towards the end of this review.)

This was the second night of a two night stand in Albany.  The Saturday night show was a sell out.  This show appeared to be about 2/3 full but the crowd was loud and rabid.

So let's take a walk through the setlist and I'll share some pictures and videos I shot that will let you know what it was like to be there.

The show opened with "Necromancer", one of 4 tracks off their newest album "Firepower" played this night.  

Halford's entrance was fantastic - backlit in shadow to be revealed to be in an outfit that I can only describe as half Heavy Metal Willy Wonka and half Screamin' Jay Hawkins!

"Heading Out to the Highway" off of "Point of Entry" was next and here's a video I shot of that one:

Next up was the sole track from my favorite Priest album, "Defenders of the Faith" with a killer "The Sentinel"

"Spectre" was next followed by the classic (and only track from) "Screaming for Vengeance" with "(Take These) Chains".  Here's the video I shot of this one:

"Judas Rising" from "Angel of Retribution" was then followed by "Out in the Cold" from "Turbo".  

It's great to see the band touching on all areas of their 50 year career with selections from 12 different albums on this night.

"Traitors Gate" came next followed by the "Sin After Sin" track "Starbreaker."  

Then came the first "British Steel" track of the night, "Steeler," which led into "Halls of Valhalla" from "Redeemer of Souls"

"Tyrant" off "Sad Wings of Destiny" (my 2nd favorite Priest album for those keeping track) then made a fantastic appearance followed by "No Surrender" and then the biggest surprise of the night, "Hot Rockin'" which had not been played since exactly 14 years to the day!  

Very cool, but I didn't get the video of it.  I checked YouTube to see if I could link to someone else's but as far as I can see, it's not yet uploaded by anyone.  My buddy filmed the whole show, so once that gets uploaded, I'll put in a link here in case it becomes some kind of tour one off 14th anniversary playing that doesn't get repeated.

Next was the "Victim of Changes" which is always an amazing highlight of any Priest show and I'm so glad it's back in the set.  Here's my video of it:

They finished the main set with a killer "All Guns Blazing" from "Painkiller"

There was a quick break and the band came back and did a non stop play through of the hits for the encore - "Hell Bent For Leather", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight".

Surprisingly no "You've Got Another Thing Coming" on this tour - but with all the fantastic deeper tracks, I don't think anyone missed it - perhaps only those who were seeing Priest for the first time, but you got the impression that was not the case for just about the whole crowd.

As I stated earlier, Uriah Heep opened the show.  Looking at setlist.fm, I see they did a nine song set.

I only knew their biggest hit "Easy Livin' (which they ended with and below is the video I took of it) and walked in during their seventh song "Look At Yourself", but that and "Sunshine" which followed before "Easy Livin' sounded great and the crowd loved them,  giving them a standing ovation at the end of the set!

The rest of their set was "Grazed by Heaven" to open.

Too Scared to Run

Take Away My Soul

Rainbow Demon

Knocking at My Door

Gypsy

It was a great way to spend a Sunday night and as I always say after leaving a Priest show, I can't wait til the next time!

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PAUL SIMON Queens NY 9/22/18 FINAL SHOW review with videos

This past Saturday, September 22, after riding the 7 train from Grand Central for 30 minutes packed in like sardines we arrived at the stop for Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens at about 4:00pm.  There was an hour to go before the gates would open for Paul Simon's final concert.

 

We walked about a mile to just past the famous Unisphere built for the 1964 World's Fair to the security gates and then a short wait until 5:00 on the dot when the tickets were scanned.



Lots of folks sprinted to the general admission standing room only area in front of the stage, while those of us with blankets (not allowed in front of the soundboard unless you bought VIP) found a spot on the lawn.  We were early enough to get a great spot centerfield against the fencing separating the two areas.  Close enough to actually watch the performers on stage, but this was aided by a giant video screen behind the musicians and two large video screens to the each side.



Over the next hour, the majority of the park behind us filled with blankets  and the standing section filled to capacity.  The show was expected to start at 7:00 (it would actually begin at 7:20 and end at 10:00pm) and this last hour before showtime seemed as if the flood gates opened with people filling any available square foot of grass between all the blankets.  An announcement was also made asking those with blankets to condense them as much as possible to make room for these later arriving fans.  

At 7:20, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz came out to introduce Paul Simon (video below).

The lights dimmed a few minutes later and he opened the show with "America", one of five Simon and Garfunkel songs to be played that night.  (video below)

He followed this with his own "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover".  He had the entire crowd in the palm of his hand right out of the gate and they would stay there for the whole night.  He then addressed the crowd and played a game of catch with the audience while humorously calling out the ongoing planes taking off and landing at nearby LaGuardia airport throughout the night.  (video below)

Of the 26 songs that would be played, about 2/3 were well known classics while 8 or so were ones that while not everyone in the crowd knew them, and many were hearing for the first time, they worked well within the set.  Simon and his amazing band sounded fantastic.

The set continued with "The Boy In The Bubble", "Dazzling Blue", "That Was Your Mother", "Rewrite", "Mother and Child Reunion" and then everyone dancing to "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard." (video below)  Simon brought out Edie Brickell for the whistle solo in the middle of the song (she nailed it!) and afterward he mentioned how much fun it was to sing about "Rosie - the Queen of Corona" actually in Corona Park.  This was one of the major highlights in a set filled with them.

The classical musicians of yMusic joined Simon for the next three songs starting with "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War", then "Can't Run But" and Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."  The first half of this classic had a bit of a jazzy arrangement until the full band kicked in mid way through having a very powerful effect and bringing the closing of the song to the next level.  Prior to playing it, Simon talked about how for this final tour he was taking back ownership of this song that he previously had given away.  He thanked Aretha Franklin afterward for her version, but Art Garfunkel was never mentioned at all throughout the night, just semi referenced here.  (Though he would show up in a couple of pictures in a video montage during the final encore section of the show).

"Wristband", "Spirit Voices", "The Obvious Child", "Questions For the Angels" and "The Cool, Cool River" were next before ending the main set with the dance the night away one two punch of "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" and "You Can Call Me Al".

The first encore set opened with "Late In The Evening" which I wish I filmed as it was another of the highlights of the set in my opinion.  This was followed by "Still Crazy After All These Years" and ended with a joyous "Graceland" which also featured the full band bows and ovations as the second encore set would end on a more personal and somber, but fitting note. (see Graceland video below)

The final five song encore set contained three Simon and Garfunkel classics starting with the namesake of this show "Homeward Bound"(The giant "Welcome Home" banner which hung on the stadium just to the right of the stage was a nice touch).  The last full on dance along number of the night was next with "Kodachrome" and then an almost slightly countrified arrangement of "The Boxer" with the full crowd helping out on the "Lie-La-Lie" section. A great "American Tune" followed somewhat ending the show (before the final song) with the same theme with which it began.

And then it was just Paul on the stage alone with his acoustic guitar for a moving version of "The Sound of Silence."  When it ended, there was no long speech, everything had already been said.  Just heartfelt waves to the audience and his final words of "It means more than you could know." video below

If this truly is Paul Simon's final performance, he could not have gone out on a higher note.

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Metallica - Uniondale, NY - May 17, 2017 (Plus NJ 5/14 too) Review, Videos and Photos

This past Sunday, Mother's Day, I saw Metallica play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ on quite possibly the largest stage I've ever seen any band play on and most definitely with the biggest set of video screens at any concert I've been to.  This was a good thing since my seats for that show where almost as far away from the stage as possible.  I'm pretty sure I saw folks around me guided up to those far away heights by Sherpas while taking hits off oxygen tanks because the air up there was so thin.  This did not diminish the great time we had because it was an awesome spectacle with plenty of classics mixed with (just slightly too much) new stuff (an adjustment they would make at the show I'm actually going to review in full here...although I'll talk a bit about that Mother's Day show too). (All photos and videos are from the NY show)



So three days later, just as my ears stopped ringing, it was time for round two and a show I knew was going to be very different.



Last night, Wednesday May 17, 2017, Metallica performed at NYCB LIVE, Home of The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum - I believe the only ARENA show of the tour.  Instead of the 50,000 plus they are typically playing to on this US Summer STADIUM tour, this was more like 15,000.  Instead of the largest stage with the tallest video screens I've ever seen, I knew they were playing in the round at the center of the arena at this show, so what would they do about all the video which was such a big part of the stadium show from the weekend?  It would surely be different, but would it be as good without all the spectacle?



The answer for those lucky enough to get tickets (and with pockets deep enough - the cheapest seats for this show were about $160 with all charges...ours were $193...and those are Ticketmaster, not scalper prices) was a resounding yes.



We walked in as VOLBEAT were about halfway through their set (Avenged Sevenfold was not billed for this show) and we were pleased to see how close we were.   The stage was square but placed like a diamond in the middle of the arena with Lars' drum kit covered in the middle while VOLBEAT played it.  Otherwise the stage was bare with the amplifiers hanging from the ceiling.  No video screens were visible as expected.

VOLBEAT ended their solid set and there was a short break during which the cover was removed from Lars' drum kit.  Then before we knew it, the lights dimmed and Metallica's standard opening music, "The Ecstasy of Gold," started playing.  There was such an excitement in the room as everyone stood and cheered and looked down at the stage which suddenly came to life...with video.  Basically the stage was the video screen and the static intro to Hardwired started playing.  Then the crowd roared again as we saw James, Lars, Kirk and Robert running from out of nowhere along one of the barriers up onto the stage and they kicked into the standard opening salvo of this tour -  "Hardwired" followed immediately by "Atlas, Rise!"



After the stadium experience it was amazing how this setup, open on all sides made it feel like you were at a club show!  The band seemed to feel the same way and I think enjoyed being surrounded by their "family" as James consistently addressed the crowd throughout the night.



Next up was the first classic with an amazing version of "For Whom The Bell Tolls" which had everyone singing along at the top of their lungs.  Then the fun of going to any Metallica show began...how would they change up the set?



Metallica know many of their fans will go to multiple shows on the tour and always create a standard setlist with numerous spots where they will switch up the songs. While every show on this tour so far has opened with the three tunes I just mentioned, the fourth slot is one of those mystery slots and we got treated to another classic from their second album "Ride The Lightning", in this case - the title track!  (FYI - at the Sunday show we got "Fuel" in this slot)



Here's video I shot of it:

They went back to the standard setlist for the next three songs, first up giving us all a bit of a breather after that opening with "The Unforgiven"



Next up would be the first of another double shot of new tunes starting with "Now That We're Dead"...and the drum jam.



About half way through the song Lars starts doing a bit of a drum solo and then suddenly appearing on stage are giant drums for each member of the band and they proceed to spend a few minutes doing a sort of drum circle with Lars as conductor.



When they busted into this at MetLife on Sunday I thought it was just cheesy and when they did it again up close, well my opinion didn't change.  I find it silly and it doesn't add anything to the song but I will say all my friends seem to have a completely different opinion of it than me and thought it was cool...oh well minor complaint and only one of two I had.



Next up was "Moth Into Flame".  As you can see the early part of the setlist is heavily stacked with new tunes, four out of the first seven songs at this point, but overall the audience stays right there with them through this and next up comes another mystery slot in the setlist.  Now on Sunday we got "Wherever I May Roam" in this slot (one of five songs from the Black album on that night), but tonight we got our first (and not last) taste of the "And Justice For All" album with "Harvester of Sorrow".  The crowd of course approved!



Now the big surprise and my other complaint from the Sunday show.  We're up to the ninth song of the set and on Sunday we got "Halo on Fire" in this slot.  That was the only time on Sunday I saw the crowd participation wane.  For a band with so many classics, five of the first nine songs to be new ones was just too much and there was a pretty decent size mass exodus to the bathrooms and/or beer lines during this on Mother's Day.  Tonight would be very different.



When those first notes of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" rang out, anyone who was sitting jumped to their feet.  Hands down "Master of Puppets" is my favorite Metallica album and this was a fantastic surprise as I didn't expect this to even be another mystery slot in the setlist as "Halo on Fire" was played in this spot on every other show of the tour so far.  It was awesome.



Here's the video I took of it:

Now we reach a turning point in the set.  All the new songs, as good and well received as they are, are out of the way and we're going into the home stretch to hear some classics, but first there is a Guitar/Bass jam with Kirk and Robert which leads into Robert's bass solo which on this tour is basically a cover of Cliff Burton's "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)" and at this point in the set we always get to hear a mystery song off "Kill 'Em All".  On Sunday we got "Whiplash" which was awesome as "Anesthesia" is the natural lead-in...tonight I was hoping for either "The Four Horsemen" or "Phantom Lord" and my prayers were answered when we got "The Four Horsemen".  Man I was loving these mystery slots tonight!



The last five songs before the encore have been standard starting with an ultra heavy version of "Sad But True" followed by an epic performance of "One"



The title track of my aforementioned favorite Metallica album "Master of Puppets" was next and was another highlight in a show filled with quite a few of them.



"Fade to Black" was next and then the main set ended with a huge sing along of "Seek and Destroy" with James talking to the crowd quite a bit before hand and it was one of the most heartfelt talks I've ever seen James have with a crowd (I've seen Metallica 14 or 15 times).  He joked around and then pointed out an 11 year old at his first Metallica concert and told him how he had cool parents.  He asked the crowd how many of them were attending their first Metallica concert by show of hands and I was shocked to see almost half the crowd because tickets for this show were much harder to get and pricier than the stadium shows, but then again, having not seen the band before doesn't mean you're not hardcore, some of us are just old bastards with years of opportunity!  When James saw all the hands he jokingly said "What took you all so long...we've been around 36 years!"  Just a great attitude and you could see he was loving the up close interaction.



There was a quick encore break and the last mystery slot of the night would be the first song of the encore.  In NJ we got "Fight Fire With Fire" but here we got one that was totally unexpected, the opening track off "And Justice For All" - a brutal "Blackened"!



Here's the video I took:

The encore set closes out with more or less Metallica's biggest two hits starting with "Nothing Else Matters" and of course ending with "Enter Sandman"



I'm glad I got to see both shows and experience the spectacle of the stadium show and the intimacy of the arena show (which definitely sounds like an oxymoron).  I thought there was a better balance of songs at the show last night.  Both sets were 18 songs, but on Sunday the breakdown was 5 new ones, 5 Black Album, 3 Ride, 2 Kill, 1 Justice, 1 Master, 1 Reload.  Last night it was 4 new, 4 black, 3 Ride, 3 Justice, 2 Kill and 2 Master.



Metallica are one of those bands at this point you're always going to leave going "Man I wish they played..." because they just have so many albums, but I got to hear 23 different songs across the two shows, so I can't complain.  (Okay...one complaint...how is "Creeping Death" not a standard...the "Die! Die! Die!" chant is always such an awesome live experience)



So hopefully in the winter Metallica will bring this setup back around to the area arenas and I'll get to do it a few more times.  If you're a fan, I'd suggest you check it out too, the band is on fire on this tour.



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Click any photos to enlarge them to full screen.  Also follow on twitter @MostPeopleBlank   Then, of course, as always - Rock on and Enjoy - Paul