Judas Priest & Uriah Heep FirePower 2019

Judas Priest returns to the Spokane area, it has been almost 3 decades since The Mighty Priest has blown up the stage here and they did it with a screaming vengeance, although that is one song among others that was left off the set list? A little holy water didn't stop the Spokane fans from seeing this rare opportunity to party with the rock gods and see them in action even if it meant getting a little wet.

The 2019 tour is to promote their new album Firepower which was played almost in it's entirety. The album is full of what Priest is known for and Rob Halford at the age of 67 can still scream as he did from his younger years he still has what it takes to live up to the term Rock God. Firepower is Judas Priest’s highest charting album ever, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard’s album charts it's like Priest woke up one morning and suddenly remembered how to be the greatest heavy metal band on the planet again. Although Glenn Tipton did not make an appearance at the Spokane show as he will sit out the rest of the tour due to health issues from Parkinson's, Richie Faulkner was shredding up the axe with some awesome riffs and guitar solos.

Judas Priest played a few of their decade old songs that the band is known for such as, "Hell Bent For Leather" where Rob Halford comes screaming on stage on a Harley and finishes out the song. Then they go right into, "Breaking The Law and finishes out the 90 minute set with, "Living After Midnight". The crowd chanted and cheered for an encore as Priest had left out some of their most popular songs such as, "You've Got Another Thing Coming, "Turbo Lover", "The Ripper", "Some Heads Are Going To Roll" and" Electric Eye" among others but how much can you fit into a 90 minute set when you have over 40 years of hits?

After the show I did hear concert goers state their disappointment that they didn't play a couple of the tunes mentioned above and Spokane's stop on the tour wasn't even listed on the the tour T-shirt or on the bands events on their Facebook page? Uriah Heep opened the show they also had not been to our area since 1983 when they toured with Def Leppard. Both bands tore up the Northern Quest Resort and Casino outdoor stage in the second concert of the Outdoor Summer Concert Series 2019. Priest promised they would be back, let's hope it is not another 30 years.