It is 67 minutes before 12 oclock, when “Livin’ After Midnight” starts, and the last song begins with the closest Judas Priest will get to a hometown show, ever probably. But the real headline, had been made a little bit before. The opening riff to “Metal Gods” was preceded by Rob Halford – who by the way, was still hitting those high notes – saying to the crowd “Here’s the legend Glenn Tipton”, and just for a few minutes he was back on stage. Really, it was a fitting end to what felt like a celebration from the start.
Rewind about four hours before and Uriah Heep had arrived on stage. It’s says much for the strength of this bill, that’s a band with 50 years’ experience, and as many great song as Mick Box’s boys are opening.
But we are where we are and their 35 minutes (I’m just guessing here but it may have rankled singer Bernie Shaw, given how many times he mentioned the length of the show) is as well paced as you would expect.
They’ve had a milestone of their own to celebrate but not before they begin with “Save Me Tonight” from their most recent record. The organ work, is always integral to a Heep show and Phil Lanzon is at his best on “Graced By Heaven”.
There is, as Shaw points out, over 150 years of rock on this stage. And the reason for that longevity, is shown by the fact that “Rainbow Demon” is 52 years old. If it came out tomorrow you would still hail it as a classic. And there are some proper classics in any Uriah Heep show. “Gypsy” of course, and the singalong brilliance of “Easy Livin’”
it is perhaps somewhat fitting that a band that seems to have gone under the radar for much of the last half a century, is met with a kind of “oooh, aren’t they good” reaction. Those of us that knew them, always understood, just how good Uriah Heep are and maybe even at this late stage in their career, playing in an arena will open them up to a new audience.
It was not until Biff Byford said it that I realised. “I can’t remember the last time we played Birmingham,” he told the crowd. “It was probably at the old Odeon”. He has a point. I’ve seen Saxon countless times over the years but never have I seen these gods of metal, play its home.
And it might be because of that Barnsley’s finest appear so on it tonight. In recent years, perhaps more than many of their contemporaries, they have continued to put out so many great records as such, there is nothing trad or nostalgic about this lengthy set.
As if to prove the point, they open with a brand new one. The title track of “Hell, Fire and Damnation” no less. And it, like every other song they play here sounds exactly like you want Saxon to sound.
Whether they are new songs or old ones like “Motorcycle Man”, or something in between like “Sacrifice” you could pick one of these as a Saxon tune a mile off.
Of course there has been a big change this time around. Brian Tatler is in the band as a touring member, and when he plays the solo for “And The Bands Played On” he is truly exceptional.
Byford gives the audience a choice of songs and they pick “Dallas 1pm” and if “Denim And Leather” is meant to hark back to some golden age, then perhaps that neglects the fact, that metal appears to still be living it’s particular one. Songs like “747 (Strangers In The Night)”, “Wheels Of Steel” and “Princess Of The Night” certainly appear to suggest that anyway.
The latter, conclude things for Saxon. But they do leave promising to be back next year. And maybe they have a taste for playing in the second city now. Certainly, it is pleasing to have such a wonderful metal band delivering their material where it all began.
On an evening of icons, there is still one more. And they too have something new to say. Judas Priest, put a new album out just a couple of weeks ago and “Lightning Shield” sees its opening track “Panic Attack” perform those duties here as well.
In truth, it would not have mattered what Priest had opened with. It is so long since they played a proper tour (and we all know why) that the appetite to see them is pretty much insatiable by the time they arrive.
Cleverly, they toss out a couple of crowd-pleasers early on to keep the momentum up. “You Got Another Thing Comin’” and a wonderful “Breakin’ The Law” (are you ready to break something?” Halford had enquired….) would conceivably have been good enough to be encore songs in most sets, but not here.
Things take a darker turn on “Saints In Hell” while “Crown Of Horns” which begins with a solo from Richie Faulkner, and a bass groove from Ian hill (the other original member on stage with Halford) that shakes the whole stage, merely underlines the fact but the new songs belong in this company.
Although there is a clever video wall helping to augment songs like “Turbo Lover” there is a notable lack of the usual pyrotechnics, as if they just want to make the songs speak for themselves. And they do just that.
“Victim Of Changes” was unexpected and epic, “The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)” is one that they made their own a long time ago, while “Painkiller” sounds incredibly fresh.
If that ends the set, then it’s only so we can get to “Electric Eye” in the encore quicker, and “Hell Bent For Leather” sees Rob don the motorcycle gear again – indeed, he has more changes of costume than Britney Spears during the course of the show – that not being the most iconic moment of the encore probably underlines the magnitude of what happened next, which is where this review started.
It is around eight and a half years since Priest were in the West Midlands. Tellingly, they were in a much smaller venue when they played that night. This felt like one of the metal events of the year, maybe it was the absence that made the heart grow fonder, as it were, maybe it was the strength of the bill, maybe it was metal undergoing a renaissance. Most likely it was a combination of all those factors.
What is certain though, is that although all these bands only have a finite time left, not one of them is living on past glories. If they are 150 between them, then in cricket parlance it is very much 150 not out.
