The set covered all of the classic material like Breakin’ the Law, You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’, Hell Bent for Leather, Painkiller, and The Green Manalishi as well as some more unusual choices like Dissident Aggressor and Hell Patrol. You can get a complete set list here. They chose a nice mix of songs. The audience seemed to respond.
I’ve seen Judas Priest (and Fight/Halford) many times. This was a very good show. Halford was far more animated and interacted with the crowd much more than some recent shows I’ve seen. The whole band, I think, was in top form. It was clear that they were excited to be on the road in support of some very good material.
We had third row seats on the left side of the stage as the crowd faces the stage. KK was right in front of us the whole time. The view doesn’t really get any better than that. (You might have noticed that third row is a little different from second row that I mentioned earlier. With the way WaMu Theater laid out the seats for this show it was effectively second row.)
One thing I think I will always remember from this show is Halford walking out on stage during the “encore” and upon reaching the Harley saying, “I’m such an idiot. I forgot something.” And then turning around and walking back off stage looking for his assistant. He had forgotten the American flag.
Testament opened the show. I’ve seen Testament before (oddly enough opening for Judas Priest the last time I had second row seats). Testament was, well, Testament. You either like Testament or you don’t. I don’t and their performance didn’t do anything to change that.
All in all, a very good show. Money and time well spent. Keep up the great work, guys!
P.S. I’d still love to see Judas Priest perform Nostradamus – The Opera.