Damn it, HRMG! I wanted to talk about Rob coming in with the riding crop!! HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah, well. There ya have it, Rob with the riding crop in the Super Happy thread. 
Now, then. On with the review of the concert at San Manuel Amphitheater, which is in, as Scottie said last night, “SAN BERNARD-FUCKIN-DINO!!!!””
Wish I could've posted this earlier today, but family members came over for a visit and was a bit busy.
I got to the venue (driving) pretty early and relaxed for a bit, watched some of the other concertgoers tailgate and listened to the music blasting out of their cars. When the venue opened at around 5 pm, the first thing I did when inside was check out the merchandise, buy an Epitaph tour shirt (beautiful work of art in the front, I recommend buying it) and buy a slice of pizza at one of the food stands. When I entered the seating area, I noticed that the pit was much bigger than the one for the Metal Masters tour…also that several of the first rows of seats were not the typical blue venue seats, but rather white foldable chairs tied to one another with zip-ties. I took my seat on Richie’s side and watched Lady Starlight "perform". She had her own little area on one side of the stage, with her DJ turntable and lights and everything. She played a wide variety of metal music from records, all the while headbanging, drinking from a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, and running around her side of the stage every once in a while with props in her hands (plastic shield and sword for Neon Knights, a couple of axes for Run to the Hills).Whenever it was time for a band to perform she would turn off the music and the light shining on her and disappear, coming back out when the band was done. Overall, quirkiest DJ I had ever seen.
First up was Thin Lizzy. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they sounded (probably shouldn’t have been considering that there were a lot of young members performing). The frontman had the audience participate quite a bit. Definitely a band whose music I’d like to check out one day. I give them a 9/10.
Next up was Black Label Society. Even now, almost a whole day after the concert, I still have no idea what to think of them. I mean, I liked their music, I really do. In fact I’d also like to check out more of their music. I just wish I could figure out just what was Zakk singing, as it was really hard to understand him. They didn’t take many breaks in between songs, which isn’t bad or anything. I just wish they had done that so that they can at least say what the name of their next song is, for the sake of noobs like myself in the audience. And don’t get me started on Zakk’s guitar solo. That was no solo. That was more like 5 minutes of “let’s see/hear how many noises my guitar can make”. It was confusing, and to a certain extent, boring. I did like the Native American headdress he had on for Crazy Horse, though, and his guitars. I give ‘em an 8/10.
Now then, on to Judas Priest
Now this was an interesting mixed bag for me. I was sooo friggin’ happy to see them, and sooo friggin’ pissed because I could not see SHIT due to the fact that I was surrounded by tall people.  I literally had to stand on my seat in order to see the band, or look up at the jumbotron screen above the stage. Out of the two other times I saw JP live, I feel as though this one was the one I could not sing along to the most, not because of the lyrics, but because Rob was freestyling alot. There were a handful of false starts, especially for Diamonds and Rust (it seemed as though playing the acoustic guitar at the beginning was a bit awkward for Richie), Glenn’s guitar sound screeched through my eardrums (and not in a good way), and Rob messed up a bit on Blood Red Skies. I can say for a fact, though, that it got MUCH better as they progressed. I can say for a fact that Rob has CERTAINLY not lost it, his performance on Painkiller was much better than in Metal Masters, and a HUGE improvement from the version in RITE. He is hitting those highs he didn’t make that last time. However, I feel that he should cut the freestyling a bit, as it seemed as though the rest of the band was having a hard time keeping up with him. There were tons of surprises, such as Richie’s solos in Victim of Changes (AWESOME!!) Hell Bent (ALSO AWESOME!!!) and YGATC (MUCH better than Zakk’s “solo”). And yes, Rob brought out the riding crop (holding it in his teeth!!!) for Hell Bent for Leather and started whipping Richie’s guitar!
I absolutely loved Scott’s drum solo before Painkiller, and his performance in BRS, and the fact that he’s been more active in revving up the audience for the encore (Living After Midnight). Rob did not sound as loud as I remember him last tour, but boy did his singing and screaming improve. He did make a mistake here and there, but it got better throughout the set. Glenn was great as always, I only wish that he change the way his guitar sounds, as it was too screechingly loud that night. I’m loving his longer hair (and his backside on the jumbotron  ). Richie did a fantastic job, making a few mistakes here and there but nonetheless keeping up with the rest of the band. I liked how he bowed to the audience, bending foward from the waist up and with arms extended toward them/us. His tricks with the guitar was kewl to see! I couldn’t see Ian too often from where I was at, but those few times I did he looked so damn adorable with that smile on his face.
I liked how there’s actually a combination of changing backdrops and use of projections during the set. I also liked the pyro!! Holy poop was that extremely cool to see, especially when the fire is shooting out continuously, looking like long, fiery fingers.  Judas Priest certainly used it to their advantage, along with the lasers. One thing I always liked about their stage setup was the wide variety of colors that they used in lights, and they did not disappoint. Best highlights for me would have to be Heading Out to the Highway, Victim of Changes, Turbo Lover, Night Crawler, Painkiller, YGATC, Blood Red Skies, Hell Bent for Leather, the Sentinel, Never Satisfied, Green Manalishi. I also give ‘em a 9/10, as I feel that this was an off day for them, but one with many great moments nonetheless.
Overall, though, this was certainly one of the more interesting concert nights I ever had, and one I won’t forget for a long while. My stomach hurt during Thin Lizzy’s set (no doubt the pizza caused it), found K2M (er rather, he found me), could not find my car in the parking lot, found it about 20 minutes later, and drove back home at around 1 am in dense fog.
Next concert: BAKERSFIELD!!!
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