Review by Richard Henry for MPM
A guitar legend in the house tonight as KK Downing rolls into town with his band KK’s Priest, having never seen KK or Ripper before this should be a great night, but first up are Tailgunner!
Tailgunner
Zorba the Greek – If you have seen Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, you will know this song, this is the intro for the guys tonight!
Guns for Hire – Nice riff to kick this off, again your in that sort of thrash tempo for this one, great vocals from the off, lots of energy from the stage and you can see they have coordinated some of the stage moves, not sure on that for me personally, love the twin harmony solo part, good opener!
White Death – Again a really thrash sort of riff and opening to this, probably more early Anthrax like first album its reminding me of, lots of solos, straight after the chorus we get his with one, really liking the energy of these guys, visually entertaining and lots of movement onstage, always someone to watch, nice harmony part again in the middle before we hit a few more solos, great one two punch so far!
Beast in the Night – Kicking in with the drums and then a scream, this is a cover from a band called Randy, go look it up, the album cover is interesting, good song though, again its very much in the same vein as the other songs, more power metal/thrash, the two guitar players getting a go before we are back into the verse, serious tempo so far, its pretty full on!
Warhead – This one feels a bit more NWOBHM in sound right from the off and to be fair its nice to have a break in the tempo, still plenty of thrash elements, great backing vocals on this one as well, great chorus, thats one that will stick in your head for certain, love that melody line after the chorus, great solos come up again, the guys can play and also a really nice bassline going on under the parts, easy to miss but some really nice stuff in there!
Guitar Solos – I think if it was me and I was in a support band I would have got another song in rather than duelling guitar solos, I get it gives the singer and drummer a break, but, I think it was a bit unnecessary in a 45 min set.
Hall of the Mountain King – Straight away I got reminded of the Prelude to Madness by Savatage who had done a metal version of this Grieg piece on the Mountain King album, good to hear live and a great version of it.
New Horizons – I like that riff with the little melody line in between it, thats very cool, again its great energy from the stage, the singer really is hitting it all and fair play to him because the vocals are up there, good backing vocals as well on this one, and another great chorus, you can’t beat that, something that will get stuck in your head, that break in the middle is very cool with the band al following the riff, then into the solos, again well played by both, great track!
Revolution Scream – This is the singalong of the night as we have a placard on the stage for this one, again it hits that more classic NWOBHM feel, I actually think this is where these guys excel rather than the trashy stuff, more so because its giving the singer the space to shine, and also the choruses on these mid tempo songs have been really catchy, really enjoying this one, great track that will stick in your brain!
Crashdive – Really driving riff in this one and nice baseline just playing off the guitar riff, and again its not so frantic and the vocals really get a chance to shine which is great cause this one has a really strong melodic content as it builds into the chorus, very Maiden with the tempo shifts on the middle part of this one for sure, another blinder of a track from the guys!
Dont Talk to Strangers – Well a bold move closing with this one, considering the guitar player in question was born here, yeah it is that Dio song from the Holy Diver record, good attempt at it, its always going to be a hard ask to replicate the vocals and yeah maybe way too clean for this one, but hey can’t fault them for giving it their all, good set, good energy!
I would really check these guys out, really impressed with them tonight, great energy, great playing, great stage presence, absolutely ones to watch out for!!
KK’s Priest
Hellfire Thunderbolt – Kicking it off with a bang, Sean back there behind the kit absolutely flying as we kick into this one, nearly a thrash metal riff to kick us off, from the Sermons of the Sinner album, Ripper comes out swinging on this one, the vocals are absolutely nuts, KK up with the solo on this one, great shredding then KK and Aj join up for a double harmony before Aj gets to let loose on the far end, before Ripper is back in, lots of drum fills flying there and Tony is back and forth round the stage shouting his backing vocals, great first track!
Strike of the Viper – Straight in with the harmony guitars at the start of this and then a great pounding riff, more a driving mid paced this one, vocals are also a bit more gritty, love that pick up as it hits into the chorus as well, the crowd does seem a bit quiet so far, Aj playing a open string lick and then KK gets a solo, before handing off to AJ for a bit of bar abuse before the harmony guitars kick in again, short sweet and to the point, this track!
One More Shot at Glory – Tony kicking this one off on the bass, now hear me out, that harmony at the start reminds me of a Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride part, then this lumbering groove comes in and a really awesome riff, love the gang vocals on the chorus part, Ripper inviting the crowd to get in on the action and sing along with him, that pick up in the middle absolutely rips, as does KKs solo, then AJ comes in with a really melodic part before the two of them combine for more harmony guitars, then the big singalong, before we are back into the verse, another great original!
The Ripper – Whats my name, Tim “Ripper” Owens asks, we all know what time it is as the guys bust out this Priest classic cut, KK and AJ just combine beautifully all night and the intro to this is another example of that chemistry, of course Ripper does indeed hit all the notes on this, the band is literally flawless as they have been so far!
Reap the Whirlwind – Nice uptempo start to this one and straight in with a lead from KK, before a scream from Ripper, great energy from all the guys, Tony and Aj moving about and Ripper all over the stage as well, KK has a great bluesy solo in this one before AJ gets all shred and tappy on us, then a really cool fast picking line between the two guys, love that verse with the harmony guitar line underneath it, another blinder!
Nightcrawler – See I like this, its the deep cuts from some of the Priest albums, I always loved this song, (Metal Meltdown) lads, Ripper could blow that one apart if yous want to add another, I love the vibe on this one from the creepy chords intro to the little double bass accents under the riffs, lower on the vocals for this one, which is good cause I was trying to sing along for half the night, that harmony part in the middle where Ripper is getting the crowd to sing along to, then Ripper climbs up in the vocals before that really lovely gritty riff kicks in, just a nasty part right there, KK getting the ride out solo at the end!
Sermons of the Sinner – All I have to say is the vocals are absolutely ridiculous on this one, thats dog whistle territory and to keep it up there for so long is crazy, this is an absolute banger of a track and way heavier than anything KKs other Priest have done, KK up first for the solo, then a quick bass and drum break and AJ pulls out the stops on that solo, it finally backs down in tempo a bit and gives Tim a bit to slow down in delivery, some great backgrounds from AJ on this part as well, thena. Lovely melodic lead break from KK and then a trade off to Aj, again lovely and melodic until the end where he lets rip, a lovely climbing part and then back into that frantic verse, song of the night for me so far!
Burn in Hell – Nice to see a song from one of the two Ripper albums from Priest, criminally not on any streaming platforms at all, bathed in red light Ripper is in the middle of the stage, truncated first part as I think they shortened the verse right into the solo scream, its a really heavy groove laden track when you actually get to experience it live, Aj taking on Glens solo on this one, great solo, its a brutal track live, love it!
Diamonds and Rust – We sort of hit the Priest section now, this one is a classic, and this version is very much like the way they done it on the London Dvd, I really love Rippers voice on this one, and you know what the whole song is building up to, its when the drums kick in and the distorted guitars come in and the vocals climb and climb, and of course, he nailed it!
Hell Patrol – This is one of my favourite tracks off Painkiller, Tim does a great job of covering this one, its pretty much a carbon copy of the original, great drumming from Sean, nailing all the Scott Travis parts, my fourth part of this one is no surprise, its when the two guys combine for that harmony lead part in the middle of the song, then Aj and KK get a solo each before we are back into that climb into the next verse and the vocals go stratospheric and into the last chorus!
Green Manalishi – Another Priest/Fleetwood Mac song, great cover of this one, really lends its self to Ripper, adding a depth to the singing on this, more because its in his lower range for a good bit, KK takes the first solo the off to AJ, and back to KK then AJ, love the trade off solos, bit of crowd participation straight after the solo, great cover!
Before the Dawn – Was not expecting this one at all, as Ripper said he didn’t think that Priest ever played it, its really interesting because you can tell the people who are older fans of Priest verses the newer fans, and yeah, I was singing got whole way though this one, what an absolutely amazing version of this song, they absolutely killed it, wow!
Breaking the Law – I don’t really think I can say much about this one, its the classic Priest song if you asked people to name a song it would be this or Living after Midnight, good chance for the crowd to participate though, singing all the vocals, singing the guitar melody lines, loudest the place has been all night!
The Sinner – KK giving that trem bar some serious abuse at the start of this one, again its funny, you can see all the older Priest fans singing away to this one and some of the younger guys sort of not knowing it, I mean this is a stone cold solid Halford powerhouse of a song, and to be fair Ripper doesn’t miss a note on it, AJ throwing in some nice lead fill lines in there as well, I love when the beat changes on this and you get that almost classical sounding part, KK plays a beautiful solo on this, really great phrasing and a bit of bar abuse but its just perfect, great solo comes in a bit later from AJ as well, lovely chops in that, what a track!
Raise your Fists – Last song of the night and we are finishing off with an original, kicking off with a harmony riff before the band kicks in and again we have a lovely harmony part, a real heavy metal bang you head tempo of a track, great singalong chorus and everyone is getting a go at singing along with the band, KK is up for the solos, loads of bends and blues phrasing on this one before a bit of shredding to top it off, back into the harmony part yo round off the track, another really good original song!
So, I loved the gig, I would actually have been ok with hearing more original songs from the two albums than all the Priest stuff, it was great hearing it but I really enjoyed the heavier solo album stuff, still it was a great gig, if your a fan of guitar playing, KK and Aj have you covered, Ripper was perfection and Tony and Sean are a solid backbone to the band, go catch them on tour, you wont be disappointed!
Photography by Darren McVeigh for MPM
