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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
» INTERVIEWS
» LIVE REVIEWS
» SPECIALS
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JUDAS PRIEST - IN FLAMES
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Stadthalle - Offenbach (D)
March 11th 2005
http://www.judaspriest.com
http://www.inflames.com
Well, I was quite sceptical concerning the Judas Priest reunion, and that feeling didn't disappear after the current output "Angel Of Retribution", although the album isn't too bad in my opinion. I think the very reason for me being so insecure was, that Iron Maiden played only 80 minutes in Frankfurt on the "Dance Of Death" tour, the gig wasn't overwhelming and therefore the tickets were quite highly priced – 50€!! The next reason were the prices for the merchandise: 30€ for an ordinary shirt, just like Maiden, Slayer and Dream Theater... and then we wonder why the economy is so weak nowadays. There was several other merch-stuff, like coffee-cups, pins, patches, posters and a scarf, and several meters further, the next surprise was waiting: In Flames merchandising! I didn't know that the Swedish deathers were the support act for Priestbut that's a great promotion, although the two styles don't really fit together.
At 8pm In Flames entered the stage and they started off with their current single from the "Soundtrack To Your Escape" album "The Quiet Place". In spite of (almost) never ending "Priest"-chants from the crowd, the quintett did a good job, and there were some (younger) people who, as it seems, jsut came to see In Flames. The Swedish deathers played mainly songs from their latest records ("My Sweet Shadow" as another song from the current album, the superb "Cloud Connected" from "Reroute To Remain" and also "Trigger" and "System" from that record), and they did some trips into the past (one song from each "Colony" and "Clayman"), the obligatory "Episode 666", and after (only) 45 minutes the gig was already over ... well, but there was more great music to come!! I wouls have really liked to hear "Moonshield", which is my very fave song from In Flames but nevertheless the band played well. In the end, the band surely won one fan or the other, although they only had a very thin lightshow to play along to.
Very funny was singer Anders Fridén, who was talking a bit to a fan in the front row. He recognized him from the gig before, and due to the fact that he always looks "so fucking pissed", he gave him an In Flames shirt. He also said, that he hopes to see them on the next few gigs "..'cause I love you maaan!!" :-D
And another thing pro In Flames – they have the best t-shirts!! Whether they write their name in the "Carlsberg" logo, in Motörhead style ("jesterhead – in flämes") or like the way the movie "Indiana Jones" was written, in that way they are really creative!
After about half an hour, I could really tell that the hall was getting more and more crowded. Everybody wanted to see the living legend. On their few gigs in Germany in 2004, they must have done a good job, in very contrary to the Halford gig at the "Bang Your Head" festival in 2002 where he was walking listless around the stage. I just couldn't ban these thoughts from my mind...
At 20 minutes past 9, the time had come: the lights went out and the first tunes from "The Hellion" could be heard, and the fans went crazy! Of course, the intro was followed by "Electric Eye" where metalgod Rob Halford seemed a bit static... is that the way it shall be or is this a "Bang Your Head '02 revival"?? Next one was "Metal Gods", and during that song, everybody knows that Halford is doing that robotic-walk, and the music was ... well, Priest! The guitar-duo Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, just like bass-player Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis, played great and also Halford became less stiff for "Touch Of Evil" and used the crowd for his stageacting, just like the two guitarists. From the current output "Angel Of Retribution" they only played four songs, but maybe it was just the right dose. Besides the great opener "Judas Rising", that is on CD way better than on stage, we could hear the single "Revolution" (vice versa to the first song!), a live ass-kicker! The other two were the fast "Hellrider" and "Deal With The Devil"; just the right ones for a live gig. Uhm, what am I supposed to write about an excellent concert?!? The highlights before the encores were "The Ripper" (very cool intro), "Victim Of Changes" (yet another great intro), the great "Beyond The Realms Of Death" and the ballad "Diamonds And Rust". Of course, there were other songs, "Turbo Lover", "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)" and the very well known "Breaking The Law". There also were two songs that I didn't know before, the first one is "I'm A Rocker" and the second one is a song that I still don't know the title of ;-)
The encores were not only the celebrated song "Painkiller" (I really love this long guitar-duel in the middle!), but also "Hell Bent For Leather", where Rob entered the stage with a Harley Davidson (as usual, but I simply didn't think he'd do it that night...). The last songs were "Living After Midnight" and after some singalongs with the fans, the final "You've Got Another Thing Coming". After the gig, most of the fans were surprised – in a positive way!
No secret, that Halford is not getting younger, and the high parts were more screamed that but at least he tried, and that's the main thing! Another thing that everybody should know by now is that Halford needs a teleprompter for most of the songs, and although he read a lot from the screen (at least it seemed like), he did a great job, just like the rest of the band!
A nice evening, about two hours of Judas Priest, what else do we want ?!?
The only bad thing I want to mention, is that there was no beverages sold at all after the concert - I'd really like to know why...
submitted by Paddy 26.03.2005
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