Artist: Judas Priest
Venue: The Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY)
Opener: Steel Panther
Date: 10/9/2014
Label: Legacy Recordings

As excited as I was to be able to see Judas Priest this evening for what amounted to the very first time in Brooklyn, I was exhausted. You see today was the beginning of the 2014 NY Comic Con at the Javits Center and I’ve been attending that for the past few years bringing all its wild colors and diverse activity to the masses on the once side presence to my website “PiercingMetal Musings”. This year the event falls right into my main content based on all the changes I have put into place but that is a tale for another already posted narrative. After inhaling what I felt was the biggest soft pretzel I had ever seen I headed over to the Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn and believe it or not this was going to be my first ever time at the arena. The Priest was on their “Redeemer Of Souls” tour and had only one support band with them on the run by way of the raucous rockers Steel Panther. Here is how the night went down for those who might have missed out.

Steel Panther: So I’ve enjoyed the presentation that Steel Panther has been putting out there for I think about five or six years now and I always find their shows to be nothing less than a gut busting experience. They’ve headlined shows out here at either the Gramercy Theatre or Irving Plaza and the audience around them is generally another interesting part of the overall spectacle. That being said I was not too certain that the diehard Judas Priest fans would “get” that this is part parody and part high energy Metal band and I felt this way from the moment that they were announced as the direct support for the new Priest tour. Some personalities lambasted this in the public press online or via the radio and magazine outlets and since I enjoyed them already I felt let’s just see how it goes even though I would have preferred a truer to the Metal band like Kamelot or even Sonata Arctica if I could point out some worthy favorites. That being said the band was exactly what I expected them to be and that was not only musically proficient, but acting like something out of a sexually charged fraternity house with their antics. Now I am used to this having seen them a number of times but I think for the most part the Priest purists were in shock by some of the banter going on and being directed at them and their wives, girlfriends and even daughters. One comment by singer Starr found me noticing some people closer to the front with their jaws dropped based on what they had just heard. My thoughts were that many were not aware of the level of comedic shtick that this band brings to the table. Set wise they would deliver their fan favorites like “Asian Hooker” and “Community Property” along with a couple of numbers from their latest album “All You Can Eat”.
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