Judas Priest plan special shows to celebrate 40th anniversary
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Judas Priest plan special shows to celebrate 40th anniversary
http://www.sundaymercury.net/enterta...6331-22598906/
THIS year marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of Judas Priest – and guitarist Glenn Tipton hopes it is celebrated with some extra special shows.
The 61-year-old who was born in Blackheath, Birmingham, but now lives in Worcestershire, says there are plans for the band's latest album, Nostradamus, a concept double album, to be performed in its entirety.
''Our ambition is to perform Nostradamus from start to finish when everyone's got used to it and they all know it,'' says Glenn who is joined in the band by vocalist Rob Halford, guitarist Ken 'KK' Downing, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis.
''We'll certainly pick some special venues as we'd like to make an event of it. We'll be looking at venues around the world that would contribute to the classical and operatic side of the project.''
Glenn says he's unsure where in Birmingham the 100-minute record could be showcased.
''The Bull Ring would be a good place to do it – it's probably there in his prophecies if we look,'' he jokes. ''Nostradamus visits Birmingham Bull Ring!''
Symphony Hall would be the obvious place to emphasis the operatic qualities of the double album but Glenn says the band's reputation may deter the hall's owners from hiring it out.
An incident on their 1984 Defenders of the Faith tour means they're unable to play at one of the world's top arenas.
''Madison Square Garden banned us for life,'' he recalls. ''The audience went berserk and ripped all the seats out. They cost more that quarter of a million dollars to replace. Me and Ken went back there to see a tennis match which John McEnroe was playing in. We went incognito, wearing hoodies so no one would recognise us but the ushers came up to us and said 'Thanks for the new seats, guys'.''
Before the full Nostradamus shows Judas Priest join Megadeth and Testament for the 'Priest Feast' at Birmingham's LG Arena at the NEC on February 14.
Glenn reveals that there will be snippets from the latest album on display: ''The intro tape will be Dawn Of Creation from Nostradamus, then Prophecy and Death, and for our playout there's the title track so the fans will get plenty of Nostradamus as such.''
He adds that there will also be plenty of oldies, including some that haven't been played live before.
''There's Hell Patrol, Devil Child, Sinner – classic Priest, plus the unmissable Painkiller and Hell Bent For Leather.''
As for the next project...
''We might do a live album . We've recorded quite a few shows so we have to get together and listen to those and a think about that.
''But with us you never know what's around the corner. We never really plan. We finish a tour, take a break, then we go into a room and start to write. We're very lucky in this band that we have a great writing formula, we never know what we're going to come up with.
"That's the beauty of Priest, you never know what's coming next.''
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Kerriann posted this out on my space.. so I thought I would post it here..
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