Last week I went to the Judas Priest and Uriah Heep double bill at Rogers Place in Edmonton. I wasn't sure if I was going to go to this show or not but after being able to score a ticket for twenty dollars through the Ticketmaster summer concert deal how could I say no. Especially a double bill like this. Between the two bands there is almost a hundred years of British rock n' roll to be celebrated. And not only that, the new Judas Priest album Firepower is a kick ass album.
Starting the night was Uriah Heep, this would be my second time seeing them in concert, having seen them play a club just last summer, and that was a great show. I was looking forward to seeing them play a big stage. When Uriah Heep hit the stage the place wasn't very full but it sure did fill up quick once they started cranking out the tunes. The band led by guitarist Mick Box the founding member of the band sounded great. Rounding out the band was Phil Lanzon on keys, Bernie Shaw on vocals, who does an amazing job, Russell Gilbrook on drums and Davey Rimmer on bass. For their hour long set they covered a lot of ground playing songs from their very first album ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble. Right up to their latest 2018 release Living The Dream. I thought they were awesome, and thoroughly enjoyed their set.
Uriah Heep setlist.
Uriah Heep at Rogers Place.
Next up was headliner Judas Priest. This would be my third time seeing Priest in concert. The last time being in 1990 on their Painkiller Tour. By this time the place and filled up, with a crowd of about 6,000. Opening the show with a song from Firepower called "Necromancer", and following that up with an oldie "Heading Out To The Highway", and holy shit we were off and running. Rob Halford's voice sounded amazing. As did the band which included original bass player Ian Hill and Richie Faulkner on guitar who has been with the band since 2011, Scott Travis on drums since 1989 and the newest member Andy Sneap on guitar. Next song up was "Sentinel" from the Defenders Of The Faith album. If you have a look at the setlist it was a set of mostly deeper cuts, as there were a lot of songs I would love to have heard, but it was cool to hear some of these songs that I really wasn't expecting. And the four new songs they did fit excellent with the old stuff.
For the encore the three songs they did were "Hell Bent For Leather", "Breaking The Law" and closing out the night with "Living After Midnight". Holy fucking shit, what a great encore. a fun night of old school heavy metal. Good times!!!
Judas Priest setlist.
Judas Priest at Rogers Place.
