Judas Priest/Queensrÿche - Ontario, CA - 11/7/22
British heavy metal legends Judas Priest announced the second leg of their North American tour. Last year, they had to stop halfway through the tour due to guitarist Richie Faulkner needing emergency open-heart surgery where five parts of his chest were replaced with mechanical components. Now that Faulkner has recovered, it was time for Judas Priest to head out on the road once again and continue their 50 Heavy Metal Years tour. Support for this tour was Queensrÿche. The Southern California stop on this tour was the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. Even before doors opened, fans were lining up outside as they were excited to see the heavy metal icons blast their ears with metal.
Queensrÿche was the first band up. They recently had a lineup change when their guitarist of twelve years Parker Lundgren left the band to pursue other ventures. His replacement was Mike Stone, who was previously with the band from 2003 to 2009. Lots of Queensrÿche fans were in attendance, and they were happy to see them again since they last came in 2020 just before the whole world shutdown due to the pandemic. It was great hearing Queensrÿche classic like Queen of the Reich, Operation: Mindcrime, Warning and Eyes of a Stranger. A great warmup to the show, it was time for the metal gods to take the stage.
One thing you’ll quickly notice about a Judas Priest show is that you see fans of all ages. From the kids to the young adults to the obvious old school fans. All of them anxiously waited and cheered once War Pigs by Black Sabbath started playing over the speakers. After that, the intro track The Hellion came on and the band’s signature trident rose from the stage and went up into the ceiling. The band members came out and started the show with Electric Eye. Everyone got on their feet and cheered now that the Metal Gods had taken their place on stage with their classic look with leather jackets. One thing to notice was that during the chorus of “I’m made of metal”, Faulkner would point to himself while singing the chorus, instigating that he, himself, was made of metal due to the metal plates in his chest. Judas Priest is a powerful band live, and it was only proven as they blazed through a bunch of classic songs such as Judas Rising, Riding on the Wind, You Got Another Thing Comin' and Beyond the Realms of Death. Drummer Scott Travis talked to the audience and mentioned how 2022 was the 40th anniversary of a killer album. That album was Screaming for Vengeance. Naturally, he announced the next song as the title track of the song, Screaming for Vengeance. The show seemed to come to an end and the stage remained quiet. After a couple of minutes, the familiar sound of a motorcycle started. Every fan in the venue should know what song is next. The first encore was Hell Bent for Leather. After the song eded, Judas Priest jumped into the next encore which is their most famous song and one of the greatest songs in metal, Breaking the Law. Halford always has the fans sing the chorus for him and having everyone in the audience sing in unison is a beautiful thing. Halford took a break to thank the fans for 50 years of metal and for supporting them for all these years. He then brought out the award from the previous night where Judas Priest were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which they should have been inducted many years ago. Now, it was time for the show to sadly come to an end. To end the show, Judas Priest played Living After Midnight. Fans cheered super loud once the show ended. Judas Priest thanked the audience, bowed to their audience and left the stage. The tour was celebrating 50 years of Judas Priest, let’s hope they last for many more years.
Photos and review by Misael Ruiz
Judas Priest
Queensrÿche
