Live: Judas Priest

I might slowly start thinking about renting a room in Oberhausen. Once again, I went there to celebrate a very special metal fair.

But first, patience was required: due to monsoon-like rainfall, it was initially impossible to walk the short distance from the bus stop to the arena without getting completely soaked. The Estonian “band“ known to all of us didn't miss this opportunity to annoy those waiting with their “album“...

Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons opened the evening musically. In half an hour, they played five good, but not particularly spectacular original compositions, and two Motörhead covers, which really got the mood going for the first time: In addition to “Going to Brazil“, Phil naturally served us “Ace of Spades“. We miss you, Lemmy...

Then Accept took to the stage. I'll be honest: since Peter Baltes left, I find it difficult not to refer to them as “Wolf Hoffmann & Friends“. Thanks to Udo and Baltes, there's more Accept in Dirkschneider than there is here.

Regardless, I largely enjoyed the hour-long set: you can't go wrong with immortal classics like “Restless and Wild“, “Metal Heart“ and “Princess of the Dawn“ – the audience rewarded this with the first really loud “ohohoh“ choirs of the evening, among other things. The fact that the sound wasn't optimal is just as much a point of criticism as the quality of the two new songs, “The Reckoning“ and “Straight Up Jack“ – I particularly dislike the latter due to its very pronounced AC/DC influence. Nevertheless, Accept are always an excellent support act, getting the crowd in the mood with a high-quality show.

After a short changeover, the Metal God made his appearance: at this point, I could repeat much of what I wrote about the Judas Priest gig in Hanover. The stage show, which tastefully and appropriately accompanied the songs, came into its own in the dark.

Rob was in top form, just like two weeks earlier – how many springs is he experiencing right now? The absolute highlights for me this time were “A Touch of Evil“ and “One Shot at Glory“ – here, the entire band played themselves into a frenzy. And what Faulkner and Sneap delivered on the guitars here was definitely no weaker than earlier performances by the legendary Priest duo Tipton/Downing. So if you put nostalgia aside, the current incarnation of one of the most influential metal bands of all time is extremely strong.

After a hand-timed 90 minutes, the show was over – and I have to say, I would even like to see Priest a third time this summer. Unfortunately, this is not possible, but I very much hope that we will see the gentlemen again soon. As with Iron Maiden, it has to be said that in this form, the old masters still blow almost every younger band out of the water. Yesterday there were 90 minutes of hits – without exception (only the terrific “Solar Angels“ from the criminally underrated Point of Entry prompted some to take a toilet break).

Finally, I would like to thank Skaldir (Ash of Ashes and Elane, among others) for driving me home after the gig. Due to Oberhausen's disastrous transport links, this saved me about two hours. In short: an all-round successful evening!