Okie dokie! Just got back from Bakersfield a couple of hours ago. For those who are interested, here’s my review of the Judas Priest concert on 10/25 at the Rabobank Arena Theater and Convention Center.
I drove through wind, rain, and fog (really!) to get to Bakersfield early and crash at my sister’s place. After eating at a restaurant nearby we walked to the venue. She left and I went inside, camera at hand. First thing I did once inside was buy the epitaph tour book and look at the pretty concert pics of the band (just like the tour shirt, I highly recommend buying it, especially for the Sinful gals  ). I then went into the seating area and found my seat. This was my first time seeing Judas Priest in an indoor venue, and noticed that it was freezing cold. I found my seat on Glenn’s side (on the fifth row) and listened to whatever record Lady Starlight was playing.
At 6 pm, Thin Lizzy started playing. There was almost no one in front of me (yet), so I stood up and screamed to support the band. Once again they sounded great and were energetic, running around while playing the songs and getting the small crowd in the venue to stand up and clap. At the end of the show, I got a guitar pick from Damon Johnson, one of the guitarists.  Overall, I give ‘em a 10/10 (and it’s NOT because of the pick).
Next up came Black Label Society. By then the venue really began to fill up. This set I really liked, probably because I already had a vague idea as to what they would play. HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The crowd got rowdy, and a lot of people began to occupy the main aisle to see the band up close (a very dangerous fire hazard, BTW). The band itself did great, even though I still don’t know what Zakk was singing and his long guitar solo still needed to have some sort of order to it, methinks (although I do recognize that he is a very talented guitarist). The other guitarist was prett cool. He interacted with the audience a lot, and the bassist reminded me of Gene Simmons because he frequently showed off his tongue. Overall, I give ‘em a 9/10.
On a side note, during Priest’s setup, I was observing someone who reminded me of a certain Iron Maiden fanboy here, some guy wearing an IM Final Frontier shirt. He kept standing on his chair and tugging his shirt to the rest of the venue, as if to show off the design on the front. When Lady Starlight was playing Stealin’ the Night from Whitesnake, he started booing her and giving her the thumbs down, again standing on the chair. Eventually she responded by playing The Trooper. THEN he got excited, again showing off his shirt to everyone in the vicinity and pretending to play the bass ala Steve Harris. Security guards kept telling to get off the chair.
Then came Judas Priest. Now…I don’t know if it was because they had the day off the day before, the venue was small and cold, it was Glenn’s birthday, or I was really close to the giant hanging amps, or because it was the last time I was going to see them. But holy shit did they perform so well. This was not the Judas Priest I saw at San Bernardino. They. Were. Amazing. No other way to describe it.
The people around me were rocking hard, yelling the lyrics and screaming at every opportunity. This was a much better crowd than the one that was present at San Bernardino. I also didn’t get too many tall people right in front of me (thank God), so I was able to see the whole stage very well (that is until near the end, when everyone was scrambling to fit into the rows, including said tall people). That night, everybody in JP was at their absolute best; Scottie beat the drums extra hard, Ian’s bass was loud and Ian himself rocked out quite a lot. The hair on my arms was standing on end due to the vibrations from both their instruments. EXCELLENT sound was coming from the amps/speakers. Rob was walking to from both sides of the stage, singing those highs as if it were nobody’s business. Richie was playing exceptionally well, doing much better at playing the acoustic part of Diamonds and Rust. Every song was a highlight, I swear!!! Especially right before Green Manalishi, when we all got to sing Happy Birthday to Glenn. During the whole set he was jumping around in front of us and telling us to “show our teeth”, almost always maintaining eye contact with all of us. It almost seemed like an illusion, really. I couldn’t help but drop my jaw a bit while he was playing a solo, still not believing that he was playing only a few feet away from me. During the slow part of Victim of Changes, he was eyeing this pretty blond girl a couple of rows in front of me while Rob was singing, “Once she was beautiful…once she was mine”. It was kinda funny, actually. Rob was walking from side to side, singing to all sides of the venue, again sang Painkiller extremely well. Once again he got out on his motorcycle for Hell Bent and with his riding crop in his teeth, using it to whip Richie’s guitar during YGATC. 
At the end of the show, after playing the encore, the whole band came out and was handing out guitar picks/drumsticks, then got together near center stage and bowed and waved. Birthday Boy Glenn took a tumble, though! He was waving and walking backwards but didn’t see the wedge amp behind him. He fell backwards in a split second. There was a collective ‘Oooh!” from the audience (and myself). He got up with the help of his guitar tech and looked to be OK. We all cheered for him once he gave the thumbs up. Poor thing. 
For this set, for its element of epicness and the band's superb performance, I give ‘em a 15/10.
Once the band disappeared behind the backstage curtains and all the stage hands came out to tear down the stage, I couldn’t help but feel gloomy. I’m really hoping that this is not their last tour. But if so, I’m grateful that I got to see them one last time, and to even know about them at all. Thanks to them I now have a reason to buy and listen to music, a reason to keep going when things got tough. Thanks to them I have new and great memories to cherish, and friends with whom to talk about their awesomeness. Thank you so much, Judas Priest! That was an incredible show that you put on last night. Hope you have many more great ones!!
ALL HAIL THE METAL GODS JUDAS PRIEST!!!  
PS: I took some pics at the concert!! Anyone wanna see 'em? 
Edited at: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 6:45:14 PM |
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