Judas Priest back to rock Birmingham
in 1973, joined in the following year by Glenn Tipton. Current drummer Scott Travis joined in 1989.
Halford left the band in 1991 and was replaced by former tribute-act vocalist Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. In 2003 Halford reunited with his former bandmates, releasing the studio album Angel of Retribution in 2005.
‘‘It’s great to be back with Rob,’’ Glenn admits. ‘‘I won’t take anything away from Tim, he’s a fantastic guy, a great friend and a great singer.
‘‘He came in and did a wonderful job, a job no-one else in the world could have done, but, of course, at the end of the day, everyone wants the original line-up back.
‘‘The thing with Rob is that we are a great writing team together – myself and Ken [Downing] and Rob.
‘‘We are fortunate that there’s a great formula there and the five individual members of Priest have great character. It’s something you should never underestimate.
‘‘If you’re in a band, you can get a bit blasé as the years go by if you’ve had a certain amount of success, but it’s all down to the formula and character in that band. We’ve got a formula that works on a writing basis and a performing basis. That’s something very valuable and we appreciate that it’s so good to be in Judas Priest.’’
After 40 years, is the appetite for touring and playing still there?
‘‘We’ve still got the energy and enthusiasm,’’ says Glenn.
‘‘Travelling can definitely get you down sometimes, as can the dead time spent in airports or stuck in hotel rooms but every night, when we eventually set foot on stage, it’s just as exciting as it ever was.’’
This year could see the group return to the United States where they are still considered to be one of the biggest bands on the planet.‘
‘We did some long stints in America in the early days, some really gruelling tours.
“On one tour, we were out in Texas for nearly two months. They weren’t all big venues. We did some big shows supporting some other bands but a lot of those dates were club dates which eventually takes its toll.
‘‘But it’s what made the band successful over there. We were fortunate in that we weren’t just an East Coast band or a West Coast band like some, we were successful all over America.’’
* Judas Priest/Megadeth/Testament, February 14: LG Arena, NEC, Birmingham: £37.50 plus booking fee from 0844 33 88 000 or www.theticketfactory.com.
More:
>The Home of Metal - website dedicated to the role of the West Midlands in the heavy metal story.
>JudasPriest.com> - official Judas Priest website
>lgarena.co.uk - what's on at the LG Arena
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