JUDAS PRIEST LIVE AT THE WARFIELD IN SAN FRANCISCO, CA ON 4/19/18
The fury that is Judas Priest was once again unleashed on the San Francisco bay area. This comes after the announcement that guitarist Glenn Tipton has stepped down from performing on tour because of dealing with Parkinson’s disease. Tipton did also stated that he would join the band on stage when possible.
This meant that the band would have to bring in an alternate player to take his place on tour and that spot was filled by musician, producer, mixer, and engineer Andy Sneap. Sneap was handpicked by Tipton to take his place on tour.
This would be an interesting event at the Warfield since there was buzz that Glenn Tipton had recently joined the band on stage for a couple earlier shows and we were all hoping the same.
The time was now to not worry about Tipton but to see how the mighty Judas Priest would be with Sneap performing. The band came out and hammered the crowd with Firepower, Running Wild, and Grinder. I will have to say both Faulkner and Sneap were sounding great together and that Rob Halford’s voice was impeccable (along with the rest of the band). Judas Priest had a new stage lay out since they recently released their album ‘Firepower’, it was expected.
The crowd was enjoying the show as was I but still something was missing. The presence of longtime member Glenn Tipton not being there did put a factor into it and we the fans had to accept that new guitarist Sneap would take time to fully adjust to. We accepted Faulkner replacing K.K. Downing and this too shall pass.
As the show went on so did that slight uneasy presence and it was time to just let go and have fun as Halford and the crew ripped through songs like ‘Turbo Lover’, ‘Some Heads Are Gonna Roll’, ‘Bloodstone’, and ‘Electric Eye’. Judas Priest has gone through its up and downs through the decades but they definitely earned their spot back on top of the hard rock/metal food chain.
Like most bands with a long set, Judas Priest left the stage and the crowd chanted for their return because that hadn’t played ‘Breaking the Law’ and a few other classics. As the chants continued, prayers to the Metal Gods were answered at Glenn Tipton came out to a standing ovation and enormous roar of cheers from the crowd. (Unfortunately pro photography was only allowed to shoot the beginning of the show so no photos of Glenn). Tipton and the rest of Judas Priest including Sneap played ‘Metal Gods’, ‘Breaking the Law’, and ‘Living After Midnight’ to finish the evening.
The evening felt complete with seeing Tipton play. We the fans will have to accept that going forward that Andy Sneap will be the man on stage and hope that Tipton’s health stays the best it can. All in all, it was a night of high energy, great music, and another chance to see the Metal God’s Judas Priest in action.
To View The Full JUDAS PRIEST Photo Gallery Click HERE
Leave a Reply