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K.K. Downing was finally playing in Montreal with his band KK's Priest. For the occasion he brought along the mighty Accept. This flying V attack was taking place at the Théâtre Rialto, a place that rarely holds concerts. Many old-school metal head had circled this date on my calendar for a while as Accept had not played here since 2012 and you could see the excitement of the fans as they gathered in front of the theatre.

The evening started with Accept's three guitars attack. That setup does not leave a lot of room on stage for Mark Tornillo as the band kicks things into gear with “The Reckoning”. This old-school band has an old-school mentality that incorporates the tradition wall of Marshalls and the wall of sound that comes with it! The band front loads their set list with the three songs from their most recent album by playing the title track “Humanoid” and the more rock and roll “Straight Up Jack” in addition to the first song.

It is when they played “Restless And Wild” that the crowd really got going. These three guitars attack consisting of founder Wolf Hoffmann, Uwe Lulis and Philip Shouse is surgically precise. Their sound is crisp and they complete each other very well. The old songs really appeal to the fans and they sang the chorus of “London Leatherboys” that is solidly anchored by Martin Motnik on the bass. He is slightly withdrawn compared to the others for lack of room on stage, but he is a beast on bass. 

By his time, the band was firing on all cylinders and the crowd was showing a lot of enthusiasm and love for these Germans. The band played the hammering riff of “Dying Breed” before going deeper into the catalogue with the metal anthem that is “Breaker” and everyone was signing the chorus with Mark. Goosebumps appeared with the first eerie notes of “Princess Of The Dawn”. This loaded guitar version only thickened its heavy riff, and the wall of sound simply annihilated everything. This was followed by “Metal Heart”, another great song that kept the crowd going.

Fans went bonkers as soon as they heard the iconic Heidi Heido Heida, introduction of “Fast As A Shark” and its infernal drum beat. You could see Christopher Williams having the time of his life on his kit and that really ignited the crowd at the same time. It was also the time when Wolf, Uwe, Philip and Martin did the iconic choreographed guitar move that inspired so many other bands over the years.

The song “Pandemic” was a nice breather for the fans before they got their “Balls To The Wall” and the crowd immediately pumped their first to the rhythm of the song and blew the roof off the Rialto. Their set ended with a bang as they played 'I'm a Rebel'. Seeing how well the crowd reacted to their set, I really hope they will not wait as long to come back to Montreal.

Now that the crowd was all warmed up, it was time for KK's Priest to hit a more open stage with the song “Hellfire Thunderbolt”. The wall of Marshalls was gone and it showed the big LED wall that showcased the band right before K.K. got on stage to play the opening riff of this song. He was accompanied by the other members of the band shortly after as the crowd cheered them on.

With more room on stage, you can see that the band members can be more dynamic and both K.K. and A.J. Mills can create a great dual guitar attack on a song like “Strike Of The Viper”. After “One More Shot At Glory”, the band played their first Judas Priest song where Tim 'Ripper' Owens used his iconic introduction by asking the crowd what was his name. There is only one way to say this... Ripper owns this song and his vocals gave me chills from start to finish.

The band played “Reap The Whirlwind” and “Sermons Of The Sinner”, two more songs from their own catalogue before diving deeper in the Judas Priest material. The eerie introduction of “Nightcrawler” was unexpected but its aggression devoured everyone in sight. It was so fun to see K.K. enjoying himself while he played these old classics. But the thing that caught my eye the most is the dynamism of Tony Newton on bass. He is simply all over the place and interacts with the crowd constantly.

Another standout song that you never hear is “Burn In Hell” from the album Jugulator. This heavy riff driven song was a blast from the past that blew everything offstage so there was room for “Diamonds And Rust” and Ripper's unbelievable screams. “Hell Patrol” was another monster of a song that got everyone signing but that was nothing compared to how the crowd responded to “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)”. 

The band slowed things down with the bone-chilling “Before The Dawn”, a song that Judas Priest never played live according to Ripper. K.K. was at his best during the “Sinner” and you could really see how much fun he had playing that guitar solo in this iconic song. The band ended this crazy night with “Raise Your Fist”, another original song that got everyone signing and jumping. 

I must say that watching K.K. up close was captivating and a little hypnotizing and you can easily focus on him and forget about every other band member.

If anyone had doubts about the greatness of KK's Priest, those doubts vanished after a few songs. This night will certainly be in my top concerts of the years as this guitar extravaganza was simply impeccable.