Judas Priest, Romexpo, 22.07.18

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a large stadium-like concert (or in our case, parking lot concert, because apparently that’s the only place where we can host shows over 2000 people) and I now remember why I prefer smaller venues. There’s an undeniable energy and adrenaline that comes from a 10000+ crowd, but there’s also an undeniable waiting line that doesn’t seem to ever end. Or to be more accurate, 3 lines, one for the tokens, one for the drinks and one at the toilets. It amazes me that after so many years of organising large concerts, they still can’t reach a proper ratio of stands/people – or most likely, they just don’t care. So in 5 hours I drank one cup of water (I guess that’s appropriate for a mid-summer evening), because I refused to waste the show by standing in line and the breaks between bands simply weren’t enough to get a drink.  

On a happier note, they were perfectly on time. So much on time, that we missed Carthagods because we were used to organisers never respecting the starting hour and figured that there is absolutely no way that the first band starts on 18.15 if the doors open at 18.00. We were wrong. Sorry, Carthagods, I’m sure you were awesome.

Soon after we arrived, Rhemorha got on stage. They seemed to be having fun, but I wasn’t very impressed. I don’t care much for this genre and I wasn’t fully in the mood by the time they played, so I don’t have many memories of the event. They came, they sung, they said they’re from Siberia, they left, that’s pretty much all I can say.

Battle Beast were fun as always. Noora is an absolute beast, roaring her way through the show and being unbelievably sweet and down to earth at the same time, and the guys are all equally entertaining in their own way. Juuso was standing right next to us and kept smiling with the most contagious smile, it was impossible to not share it. I love standing close to the stage, there’s such a special feeling when the artists look at you (you the individual) and you can tell they’re happy that you’re happy. Time flew as we were singing along and headbanging and the show was over in what seemed a lot less than the 40 minutes that were theoretically assigned.

Almost equally fast passed the attraction of the evening, Judas Priest. I don’t think I’m ever going to get tired of going to their shows, this is the third time I see them and every time it’s just as epic and energising. Rob Halford is a god. Or a lord. Or both. The guy is a freaking legend and just watching him majestically walk up that stage is enough to give me the chills. When he starts singing… I don’t know if I was too thrilled to notice any mistakes or if he really was that good, but to my ears he sounded impeccable. Somehow he pulled off Painkiller even better than the last time (which was 7 years ago), in tune with the „god” label, one could swear he’s getting younger.

Richie Faulkner was also a delight. He’s a great addition to the band and his enthusiasm and little mischiefs perfectly complement Halford’s serious imposing aura. And when he was looking straight at us with that „I see you” stare, I almost felt embarassed to stop jumping and singing loudly. I guess that’s how I ended up barely standing at the end of the show, it’s all Richie’s fault!

I was particularly happy they played Night comes down, which is one of my favourite songs, but I would be lying to say I didn’t enjoy the rest of the setlist. I like that even though they always keep the classics, the tracks are still rather different from tour to tour and it’s not just because there’s a new album out. With how many iconic pieces they have, it’s pretty hard to leave the show without thinking „man, I wished they would’ve played that one too”, but at the same time it’s also hard to leave without being happy with the setlist.

However, the thing that I love the most is how well they handle the audience. Aside from Richie’s glare and the constant urging to sing along and clap, there’s a ton of little things they do to get you to feel like you’re really a part of the show and they’re really doing this for you. They’re so warm and friendly and they don’t have the slightest bit of swank, although they would be well within their right to be at least a little cocky. And despite of their lack of pretense, the overall show was epic. Usually it’s either one or the other (friendliness takes away from the epic factor and viceversa), but these guys somehow managed to pull it off. I suppose that’s Halford’s hand, he’s the one that can effortlessly go from being the most intimidating&badass singer and riding a Harley on stage to ooooo-iiing with the audience, and even with the other members’ contributions, he’s still the heart of both the band and the show.

I’m so happy I got to see them again, it was a very intense and exhausting recital, but I think I’ve said it before that to me the strength of a live concert is measured by how many days it takes to get myself back together afterwards. It’s hard for me to stand still when I’m enjoying something and the more I enjoy it, the wilder my manifestations are. And two days after, I could still use a good sleep, so I guess they passed the test with flying colours.