Priest Feast (2009) - Concert Review

-My account of the concert which took place on: 27/02/09

Well, last night I went to the "Priest Feast" at the Apollo in Manchester. Three of my all time favourite bands were playing; Testament, Megadeth & Judas Priest!....And at £37 a ticket, that's getting a lot of bang for your buck in my opinion. So, saying that, it should have been awesome. It was "alright", my feelings are mixed as I experienced betrayal and practically "bullying" from my metal bretheren......

I'd left work early yesterday and went straight to Manchester. After getting changed, I made it to the venue about 6pm and made my way to my upper tier seat and took in my surroundings (first time at the Apollo). I had a real good view and gazed down over the whole stage, already set up with Testament's gear. The actual concert hall is dreadful though. It's lined with a weird red brickwork, some gold grouted panelling above the stage and the seats are rock hard, covered in old sticky fabric that's probably been there since the fuckking 60s. Anyway, Testament came on stage and played;

More Than Meets The Eye, The Formation Of Damnation, Henchmen Ride, Into The Pit, The New Order, Practice What You Preach, Persecuted Won't Forget, Sins Of Omission, Over The Wall and D.N.R. if I remember rightly.

Testament were great, groovy, brutal and I had tons of room to stand up and headbang, just a shame that the place was half full at that point. You could see the band were really enjoying themselves too, especially Chuck Billy, which made it even more of a pleasure to watch them. Unfortunately, that's where my fun ended as the night was about to go downhill and only recovered slightly, when nearing the very end of the gig.

Just before Megadeth came on, some dude started poking me, so I turned round. It was this bald Geordie bloke (think he was already drunk/stoned at that point) and he asked me if I thought Testament had sounded good. I said "I thought they were brilliant". He replied "fucking shit" and this was the start of him complaining all night inbetween every damn song!....Why buy a ticket and come if you're gonna slag all these bands off?? How can you even slate these 3 bands!? He then had some friends join him just as Megadeth started and I was stood up as they launched into the first track. Then, I felt hands pulling at my shirt and I got punched in the back! I turned round and tugged back, an it was the bald guy and his mate telling me to sit down or they'd "fuck me up". Sit down?? Sit Down!!?? It's fucking Megadeth! How can anyone sit down!?? I did.... I did because I'd gone on my own and this guy was there with about 4 other ppl. So I would've been thrown out for a start if there was any trouble and then got my butt kicked outside. It ruined the night from then on in. The music was still good, but I was annoyed and couldn't enjoy myself like I wanted. For the next 3 hours I had my chair kicked and my hair pulled and got called a fag that didn't belong there because I was "too young"!? (There were ppl younger than me there and I was wearin' a vintage Priest shirt from '84!) To top it off, some guy in front was smoking skunk all night and it reeked real bad. I couldn't believe how lax security was about it all, even with the seat jumping too.

Megadeth played; Blackmail The Universe, Take No Prisoners, Wake Up Dead, Hangar 18, Holy Wars, Sleepwalker, Washington Is Next, A Toute Le Monde, In My Darkest Hour, Peace Sells, Symphony Of Destruction and Mechanix.

Megadeth were also top notch, my only gripe was that I couldn't see very well. Funny note also: When Megadeth's roadie was testing Chris Broderick's guitar, he played the riff from "Run To The Hills" which resulted in mass booing from everyone in the crowd.......it was sweet.

Finally, after almost 30mins of waiting and many "Spinal Tap" moments with cables and rigging and lights and smoke.....Judas Priest!

JP played; Nostradamus, Metal Gods, Eat Me Alive, Between The Hammer & The Anvil, Dissident Aggressor, Messenger Of Death, Sinner, Hell Patrol, Breaking The Law, Rock Hard Ride Free, Electric Eye, Hell Bent For Leather, Painkiller, Devil's Child, Green Manalishi and You've Got Another Thing Coming....

Priest were great too, they sounded alot clearer out of the three bands also. Rob Halford had his Harley on stage aswell and I was quite glad that they only played 2 songs from this new concept album. My favourite thing about the entire night really, was watching K.K. Downing. He was amazing and made it seem like it was Priest of 20+ years ago, just really energetic, a joy to behold.

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