Metal Masters 2024: JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON, URIAH HEEP @ Stadthalle, Vienna (04/01/2024)
You can spend Easter Monday with your loved ones, looking for chocolate Easter bunnies in the garden and egg pecks, or you can go to the Stadthalle in Vienna and pay tribute to three rock legends. We’re talking about none other than JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON and URIAH HEEP, who are without question among the most important and influential bands in British hard rock and heavy metal and who came to Vienna as part of the Metal Masters 2024 tour.
Around 9,000 people probably thought the same as us and gathered in the very well-filled hall to listen to the forefathers, founded in 1969, around founding member and guitarist Mick Box at 6:45 p.m. URIAH HEEP are welcome guests in Austria and are almost part of the inventory at Clam Castle, for example. It is therefore not surprising that singer Bernie Shaw, who has been an integral part of the band for almost four decades, repeatedly spoke to the fans in German. The setlist left almost nothing to be desired and, in addition to newer songs like “Save Me Tonight” and “Hurricane” from the 2023 album “Chaos & Color”, also delivered the infamous classics.
In terms of quality, the latest numbers aren’t bad, but the mood only really came into being when the five men reached into the history bag and unpacked “Gypsy” with its magnificent opening riff and “Easy Livin'” from the early days. Bernie was in a good mood that evening, as is usual with him, and chatted casually between songs. So he thought it was shit that you only had 45 minutes and that you could marvel at 150 years of rock today. And so people waited almost in awe for the finale, which, how could it be otherwise, consisted of “Lady In Black”. If you couldn’t sing along, you were definitely in the wrong place, but I don’t think anyone could keep their mouth shut. A great performance that perhaps still had room for improvement in terms of mood, but left us wanting more.
[Andy Van Halen]
Setlist URIAH HEEP:
Save Me Tonight
Grazed By Heaven
Rainbow Demon
Hurricane
Free ’n‘ Easy
Gypsy
Easy Livin‘
Lady In Black
The men from SAXON had a somewhat easier time, musically alone they were of a completely different caliber, because “Motorcycle Man” and “Heavy Metal Thunder” play in a different speed league than their predecessors. The Yorkshire musicians also had a new work with them, “Hell, Fire And Damnation”, which was released last year, so in addition to the demonic intro, three songs made it into the setlist. The title track in particular was immediately convincing with its heaviness and fantastic guitar work and fitted in seamlessly. With their new releases, SAXON always manage to stay true to their line and still arrive in the here and now. Big praise also goes to the team who were responsible for the lighting that evening, because the countless spotlights always created wow moments and supported the bands visually during the individual songs.
You probably don’t need to say many more words about the classics like “Wheels Of Steel”, “And The Bands Played On” or the frenetically sung along “Crusader”, which was basically requested by the fans at Biff’s request, other than this: “They work perfectly live and are still fun even after many live gigs.”
The voice of Peter “Biff” Byford, who at 73 still has a full head of hair, convinced everyone present that day and if you didn’t experience it, you wouldn’t believe it, Biff presented himself so agilely that day. In addition, the frontman managed to get everyone present to stand up from their seats after the obligatory “throwing of the suit on the stage” and cheer loudly and clap along. Great and worthy atmosphere before “Princess Of The Night” ended the strong set from the Brits and the way was cleared for the metal gods.
[Andy Van Halen]
Setlist SAXON:
The Prophecy
Hell, Fire And Damnation
Motorcycle Man
Sacrifice
There’s Something in Roswell
And The Bands Played On
Madame Guillotine
Heavy Metal Thunder
Crusader
Broken Heroes
Denim And Leather
Wheels Of Steel
Princess Of The Night
The tension was enormous. You could almost feel a crackling in the air of the town hall, but the legend JUDAS PRIEST wasn’t long in coming and so the BLACK SABBATH classic was the first to lead „“War Pigs” started the gig before the in-house intro to match the new album „Invincible Shield” announced. A thick banner covered the middle of the stage and fell with a bang, but was immediately automatically pulled up, disappearing within a second and revealing JUDAS PRIEST. The men around Rob Halford spread out on a staircase around the drums and the sounds of the new hit began to sound „Panic Attack”. The atmosphere was immediately great, the sound was crystal clear and Rob’s vocals were more than confident that evening, even if the mix was a bit quiet at first.
With this new hit, which showed that the troupe has already been around for a long time on average – Priest has been around for an incredible 55 years – but they are still far from being a scrap. Nevertheless, you should now go with it „You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” and loudly shouted along „Breaking The Law” is quickly followed by two unmissable classics. Rob, still sporting a beard, remained quiet throughout the show (at least between songs), but strode across the stage in a stately and almost majestic manner, as befits a metal god, while Richie Faulkner provided more action . When soloing, the band’s fountain of youth, who was always in a good mood and always skillfully posed, got down on his knees, swept across the stage and was always well lit while soloing.
In general, the light show, including the legendary JP cross that was repeatedly lowered from the ceiling, was magnificent. In the background, visuals, videos or live views of the troops kept flickering on a large screen. However, there was no use of pyros or the like at all. The Brits didn’t need something like that anyway, because the fireworks of hits were worth much more. On the only cover song „The Green Manilishi”, the master encouraged the thousands of fans to play various sing-along games and Faulkner, like Glenn Tipton, was allowed to blast out many a solo in order to be more in the spotlight.
„Love Bites” was a surprisingly different sounding track that you hadn’t heard in the set for a long time, „Rapid Fire” was celebrated frenetically, the cool 80s synth piece „Turbo Lover” produced loud choirs and the inevitable „“Painkiller” was not only performed magnificently by Halford, but also effortlessly brought the fans from young to old into the next ecstasy before moving on, not without a few more tracks from the current work, but also a song from the previous one „Firepower”, passed for the time being. Interestingly, drummer Scott Travis was the first to address the fans, before launching into the legendary intro of the aforementioned „Painkiller” hammered out.
They didn’t have to wait long, because after just a few shouts for an encore, a rich Harley sound rang out and Mister Halford drove it onto the stage to join in „Electric Eye” to continue to impress. And then the rest was mandatory, because „Hellbent For Leather“ und „“Living After Midnight” should actually be taught in every primary school anyway. And so the time with the metal gods JUDAS PRIEST passed far too quickly and after a good 90 minutes the sounds of (deservedly) sounded „We Are The Champions” by QUEEN and they said goodbye to the frenetically cheering audience with a bow. And then a few words came out of Rob: „Thank you! We are f*cking JUDAS PRIEST!“
[maxomer]
Setlist JUDAS PRIEST:
(War Pigs)
(Invincible Shield Tour Anthem)
Panic Attack
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin‘
Rapid Fire
Breaking The Law
Lightning Strike
Love Bites
Saints In Hell
Crown Of Horns
Turbo Lover
Invincible Shield
Sinner
The Green Manilishi (With The Two Prong Crown)
Painkiller
–
(The Helion)
Electric Eye
Hellbent For Leather
Living After Midnight
(We Are The Champions)
What an evening! What a tour package! What great bands! The town hall shook several times under the Metal Masters 2024 tour and these legends from Great Britain. Hot, sweaty and extremely satisfied, you could start the journey home through the pouring rain and stuff yourself with the chocolate bunnies mentioned at the beginning or maybe even bring some snack egg bowls with you to end Easter with dignity.
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