JUDAS PRIEST Frontman ROB HALFORD On Follow-Up Album To Firepower - "I Don't Know When, But It's Going To Happen"

May 9, 2019, 4 years ago

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JUDAS PRIEST Frontman ROB HALFORD On Follow-Up Album To Firepower - "I Don't Know When, But It's Going To Happen"

Speaking with Consequence Of Sound, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford discussed the band's new setlist, which features some treasures and deep cuts that haven't been performed live in recent years, or not at all. He also revealed that a new studio album from the band will surface in the future. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

On picking the setlist

Halford: "You’ve got to really go where your heart leads you. We’ve always had an understanding with each other. If there’s a particular track that’s not connecting for whatever reason with any of us in the band, then we move on. We find a song that we all agree that we want to play live. It’s vitally important that you do that as a band because everybody has to be really playing it true to heart or you’re just not getting the genuine, organic vibes out of it. There’s a lot of respect and care for each other in this band, so we go through all the discussions and we have all the talking’s and we decide on this song or that song, and then we agree to agree that this song or that song is going in. And that’s how we build the set. It is difficult, with 18 studio albums and a hundred and some songs later rolled up into our latest release, which is the Firepower record, but we wrapped it up. It’s going to be a really good setlist."

On guitarist Glenn Tipton's health
 
Halford: "Glenn’s doing great. This whole f*cking Parkinson’s, you don’t know from one day to the next how it’s going to work with you as far as how it’s going to affect your critical ability, and that’s how it is with Glenn as a guitar player. What a cruel thing to happen to a guitar player. It’s a cruel thing to happen to anybody, but for a guitar player who needs their fingers in their hands to do something they love passionately and have done all their lives suddenly have that taken away from you. I can’t even think of how Glenn feels, but he’s a hero you know. Some days he has the strength to go out on that stage and play the songs that he wants to play. It’s all done to Glenn’s choice and his decision. We love him so much and he’ll tell us it’s that show or this show and he does that purely on his own feelings. He’s a heavy metal hero, Glenn Tipton."

On working on a new album

Halford: "This is what this band’s done forever. Whenever we hit the road, it’s generally in the support of our latest release. We’ll wrap up this tour at some point, take a break then Glenn will give a call out to come hang out and he’s started noodling with some new songs and ideas. Glenn’s just going through the massive archives of riffs and ideas that we have right now, as well as coming up with his own brand-new Priest riffs. It’s going to happen. I don’t know when, but it’s going to happen."

Read the complete interview here.

In celebration of the release of their 25th studio album, Living The Dream, classic rock icons Uriah Heep join fellow British rock icons Judas Priest on an extensive North American tour. Kicking off on May 3rd in Hollywood, FL, the trek will run through June 29 in Las Vegas. Judas Priest dusted off a few old tracks that haven't been played live for decades, as well as "Necromancer", "Spectre" and "Traitors Gate" from their latest album, Firepower, which have never been performed live before. Fan-filmed video is available below.

The setlist on the night was as follows:

"Necromancer" (live debut) 
"The Sentinel" 
"Heading Out To The Highway"
"Spectre" (live debut) 
"(Take These) Chains" (live debut) 
"Judas Rising"  
"Out In The Cold" (performed for first time since December 16th, 1986) 
"Traitors Gate" (live debut) 
"Starbreaker" 
"Steeler" (performed for first time since October 17th, 2010) 
"Halls Of Valhalla" 
"Killing Machine" 
"No Surrender" 
"Victim Of Changes" 
"All Guns Blazing" (performed for first time since August 19th, 1991) 
"Hell Bent For Leather"

Encore: (with Glenn Tipton)
"Breaking The Law"  
"Living After Midnight" 

The current tour itinerary can be seen below.

May
9 - Kent, OH - Kent Stage *
10 - Kent, OH - Kent Stage *
11 - Kent, OH - Kent Stage *
12 - Washington, DC - Anthem
14 - Huntington, NY - Paramount Theater
15 - Huntington, NY - Paramount Theater
16 - Uncastville, CT - Mohegan Sun
18 - Albany, NY - The Palace
19 - Albany, NY - The Palace
20 - Sellersville, PA - ST94 *
22 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
23 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
25 - Chicago, IL - Rosemount
28 - Austin, TX - Moody Theater
29 - Austin, TX - Moody Theater
31 - Dallas, TX - Bomb Factory

June
1 - Little Rock, AR - Riverfest Ampitheatre
3 - St. Louis, MO - Stifel Theatre
4 - Kansas City, MO - Knuckleheads *
5 - Colorado Springs, CO - Broadmoor World Arena
8 - Saskatoon, SK - Sasktel Centre
10 - Lethbridge, AB - Enmax Centre
11 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
13 - Dawson Creek, BC - Encana Events Centre
14 - Prince George, BC - CN Centre
16 - Kelowna, BC - Propera Place
17 - Abbotsford, BC - Abbotsford Centre
19 - Spokane, WA - Northern Quest Casino
21 - Seattle, WA - Showare Center
22 - Portland, OR - Moda Center
24 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield
25 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield
27 - Los Angeles, CA - Microsoft Theater
28 - Ontario, CA - Citizens Business Bank Arena
29 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint

* Uriah Heep only



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