Judas Priest
in concerto @ Summer Arena, Assago (MI), 23 giugno 2015

And after four years, we return to the scene of the crime, or almost. Fresh off a new album (what is it? The seventeenth?), "Redeemer of Souls", the old lions of British heavy metal are, "only" forty-plus years since their debut, still roaming stages around the world, dispensing lessons in the hardest and hottest rock'n'roll history.

Accompanying them for the occasion are the Five Finger Death Punch, a band that, to the more seasoned (=if you're over thirty), might say little/nothing, but a leading formation of the new American metal of recent years, clear evidence that the Priest (or at least the thousands of managers behind them) always choose carefully who to bring on tour, and surely some of the more experienced still remember the Judas Priest + Pantera tour.

If the last album of our heroes was met with the most diverse comments, by those who see it as a half masterpiece and those who see it as just another "clocking in", it must still be acknowledged that, by now, groups like these really have nothing left to prove, and a new, far from essential album is more to be seen as a desire to continue challenging themselves (at sixty-five!!) than anything else, also because these Gentlemen, their masterpieces they wrote and published decades ago. Expecting more would be like asking a paraplegic to participate in the New York marathon.

We were saying earlier that we were returning to the "scene of the crime". Not quite, the last time I crossed paths with these studded over-sixties was at the Gods of Metal 2011, held in that obscene non-place that was/is the so-called "concert arena" of Rho Fiera, the parking lot of the Rho Fair, for friends. And since we, it is unclear why, are always handed the horrendous places in which to organize mega events, this time we have to endure the "Summer Arena" of the Assago Forum, in the "another round, another parking lot" series. For the four who didn't know, it is the place where, twenty days earlier, a humanitarian emergency was nearly missed, with thirty thousand and more (!!) poor Christians and non-Christians who, it is not known how, were left to their own in a clearing in the middle of nowhere to "enjoy" the Metallica and Faith No More concert, stuff that could have alerted Civil Protection, so much so that that day, according to those who had gone, was disastrous. Given the premises, if Rob Halford and company move no more than three thousand people, there is only gain, also because, at a quick glance, it is really hard to understand how that pitiful parking lot, uh, that arena can host tens of thousands of people without someone seriously risking to lose their skin.

While the Five Finger Death Punch do their job, which is appreciable by the way, the opportunity to wander among the official stands and wonder if we live in the province of Milan or in some posh neighborhood in the Beverly Hills area is given by the cute official T-shirts of the bands performing during the evening, offered to the generous audience at kidney-selling prices on the black market (35 euros for a T-shirt?!).

"Dragonaut," taken from the new album, starts the dances, immediately showing a well-knit and in-shape quintet. If Glenn Tipton and Ian Hill will stay aside and focused on their instruments for the entire time, it will be up to the good Rob Halford and the new recruit Richie Faulkner to be the stars of the evening, charismatic and involved. Scott Travis behind the drums is the usual metronome, little to add. The classics, old and new, flow seamlessly, drawing from those albums that really made the history of the genre, with a setlist that also gives some pleasant surprises, like "Love Bites." With a repertoire like this (a myriad of bands out there would really sell their souls to the devil to be able to write pieces like "Metal Gods," "Breaking the Law," or "Beyond the Realms of Death") it's really difficult to mess up a concert, but on the other hand, it is undeniable how the band in recent years, especially live, seems revitalized, more cohesive, and motivated, also thanks, indisputably, to the contribution of the young Faulkner: precise, technical, and a great entertainer, just what was needed for a formation that on some previous occasions seemed a bit short of breath. Halford, on his part, has sometimes given the impression, between one song and another, of being a bit tired, only to pull out a sulfurous voice as soon as the other four reignite the fire. Mysteries of faith, but after all, forty years on stage are worth more than a thousand singing lessons. You may not know this, or you may not even suspect it, but out there, there are many nostalgic for Tim Owens: "he was more technical," "he was younger," and blablabla. Surely, no one disputes it, but the charisma of good Rob remains unbeatable, and seeing him still run around the stage on the usual Harley is always a great pleasure. And if we want to be honest, it doesn’t seem to me that at the time of "Demolition," dear Owens was so loved, and in the various interviews of the time, the usual question about what they were waiting for a reunion was omnipresent. Oh well. Grand finale, of course, entrusted to the great classics, with a great version of "Painkiller" and everyone singing in chorus "Living After Midnight".

The discourse is always the same: these bands have been around for centuries, they have gone through a thousand line-up changes and trends more or less unscathed, but they are still here and, no one knows how, they continue to deliver performances that many younger musicians can only dream of. We could be in 1990, 2001, or 2015, Judas Priest are always a guarantee, undisputed torchbearers of a genre and among the few that live don't disappoint practically ever, alongside Iron Maiden, Metallica, Saxon, and a few others. Forty years in action and still at peak power: lucky them and lucky us.

See you on the next tour.

1. Dragonaut
2. Metal Gods
3. Devil's Child
4. Victim of Changes
5. Halls of Valhalla
6. Love Bites
7. March of the Damned
8. Turbo Lover
9. Redeemer of Souls
10. Beyond the Realms of Death
11. Jawbreaker
12. Breaking the Law
13. Hell Bent for Leather
14. The Hellion
15. Electric Eye
16. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
17. Painkiller
18. Living After Midnight