CALL FOR THE PRIEST.....

PRIEST FEAST, Manchester Apollo, 17/2/09
Testament, Megadeth and Judas Priest.
by H...

This gig was originally supposed to be held at the much larger Manchester Evening News Arena but the word on the street is that they couldn't sell all the tickets so hence the move to the much smaller (and better!) Apollo Theater!!!!



After a quick drink with some good old mates of ours in the pub round the back of the apollo (can't remember the name of it) we headed into the Apollo and could hear Testaments opening intro tape just starting so we watched them from up by the sound/light desk on the slope near the rear of the crowd and had an excellent view, see Testaments full setlist as posted by SJW on the last post.
Testament had a better sound this time around, but never had the intensity of the liverpool show last week, they had a 45 minute set which could have done with more old songs but they've got a new album to plug to the masses I guess, a very good new album might I add and still a good setlist!





We got right the front for Megadeth, it had to be done. I've never seen Megadeth play a bad show and with Testament sounding really good, I really couldn't wait for Megadeth!!!!
Megadeth were tight as fuck, that's the only way I can describe it, they played for an hour but left me wanting a proper headlining set!

Megadeth's set was...
01. Sleepwalker
02. Wake Up Dead
03. Take No Prisoners
04. A Tout Le Monde
05. Washington Is Next
06. She Wolf
07. In My Darkest Hour
08. Hangar 18
09. Symphony of Destruction
10. Peace Sells
11. Mechanix
12. Holy Wars

I'm not a big fan of "She Wolf" or "A Tout Le Monde" but they worked well with the rest of the songs.
I can't pick a favourite song of this particular set but "Take No Prisoners" and "Mechanix" made me bang my head the hardest!!! Mechanix's intro of Dave Mustaine saying, "If there's one thing i want you to leave here tonight with, it's that this is NOT the Four Horsemen...this is MECHANIX!!" Fucking Awesome, I hope Mustaine keeps this line up for a while longer!!!!



Megadeth were always gonna be a hard act to follow, or so I thought...


I witnessed Judas Priest's Graspop performance in belgium last year, it was quite disappointing, there was no energy, no power, band members looked knackered and looked like they couldn't be arsed playing, the crowd were shit and fast classics seemed slower than usual.
Priest have ALWAYS been in my top 3 metal bands since I was a kid, after Graspop I felt like I couldn't be bothered with them anymore, I kept saying to myself "If they can't be arsed then why should I?" A few weeks later when I gave them another chance with an airing of their classic 1984 album "Defenders Of the Faith" it did exactly what it said on the case and that was Defend The Fucking Faith!!!! I couldn't stay mad at them any longer. It's an amazing album and some of the tunes from it have been dusted off for their current tour!!!!



Judas Priest fucking ruled at Priest Feast, the energy, the speed, the effort and showmanship was back, it looked like they were having a ball up there which made the crowd feel more involved!!!
The setlist was the same as the Graspop but played with lots more enthusiasm and they had more leather changes! Halford had a different leather jacket for every song!!!!

Priest's Setlist was....

Dawn Of Creation/Prophecy
Metal Gods
Eat Me Alive
Between The Hammer And The Anvil
Devil's Child
Breaking The Law
Hell Patrol
Death
Dissident Aggressor
Angel
The Hellion/Electric Eye
Rock Hard, Ride Free
Sinner
Painkiller (the best live version I've ever heard of it!!!)
Hell Bent For Leather
The Green Manalishi (with the two pronged crown!!!!)
You've Got Another Thing Coming

That setlist contains some obscure tracks which seems to me it's been picked for proper Priest fans, I just wished they'd added "Freewheel Burning" and "Victim Of Changes"!!!!



They intend to play their new album "Nostradamus" in its entirety at selected shows on the next leg of their next tour, apparently complete with costume changes and actors on stage like a proper theatrical play and I'm not sure what to make of that rumour but I think Priest might make an amazing job out of it!!!!