You might not want to believe it, but it has almost been officially fifty freaking years since British metal band Judas Priest graced the world with their presence. Coming on the heels of last night’s offerings from Iron Maiden and Guns N’ Roses—and following their late addition to the festival after Ozzy Osbourne’s exit from the bill for health reasons—Judas Priest had the unenviable but deserved chance to prove themselves among the pantheon of the greats from the history of hard rock/heavy metal. The band’s legendary lead singer Rob Halford presides as the first openly gay lead singer of a metal band in history and rarely ever gets credit for bravely breaking that barrier in a genre that has at times had pockets of fans fully small minded. He’s a trailblazer for any non-straight musician in hard rock / metal as you don’t hear anyone call his sexuality into question. He is known as one of the greats, his personal life isn’t factored into the conversation and guess what kiddos-he’s a septuagenarian at a whopping 72 years old!

Halford may not be as mobile as a spry twenty eight year old, but he still emotes his trademark shriek with discipline and fervor. This set was divided up between choice cuts from the band’s greatest records, Screaming for Vengeance, Point of Entry, Painkiller and British Steel. They opened strong with “Electric Eye” and “Riding in the Wind” from Screaming for Vengeance. Early career hit “Heading Out to the Highway” followed, the first big singalong of the set. Not long later they were doing their cover of Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust” from their 1977 album Sin After Sin. Painkiller’s “A Touch of Evil” and their ‘80s hit “Turbo Lover” anchored the middle of the set.

For those of you that have been reading mxdwn from the very, very beginning you may remember us covering how The Melvins did a wild cover of an ancient Fleetwood Mac song, “The Green Menalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown).” Well if you didn’t know, Judas Priest did it first on their seminal 1978 release Hell Bent for Leather, that staple came next setting the tempo for the end of the set proper. They shifted into a swift encore break on classic cuts, “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” and the title track from Painkiller. It’s worth noting, that Halford’s vocal performance was strong throughout the set and he only seemed to struggle on “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” in the nimble wordplay during the song’s chorus.

During their encore Halford rode out on a motorcycle in the fashion he’s made famous for decades playing “Hell Bent For Leather” while never leaving the motorcycle’s seat. They then brought out original member Glenn Tipton who has been playing more of a cameo role or sitting out most dates for the last few years due to his ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease. Together, him joining them on third guitar, they did awesome takes on “Metal Gods,” “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.” Halford may have opted to let the crowd sing a little too much on the first two choruses of “Breaking the Law,” but other than that, this was a great set from a titan in one of the biggest crowd’s possible for metal at this stage of its existence.

It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but it’s been over seven years since the last time AC/DC played anywhere. It’s also significant, because the last ten shows that AC/DC did in the USA prior to this, none other than Axl Rose was singing. You read that right. The pandemic may have garbled all of our brains, but in 2016 as AC/DC was leading a triumphant stadium tour, ten of their shows had to be postponed as lead singer Brian Johnson was suffering from extreme hearing loss. His doctors warned him if he didn’t take a step back he could lose his hearing permanently. So he did, the band soldiered on and Axl Rose stepped in—himself freshly reunited with his Guns N’ Roses bandmates for the Not in This Lifetime Tour—and by all accounts he did a really good job. Brian Johnson returned to the band in the years after that and they released an album in 2020 entitled Power Up, but naturally, given the COVID-19 pandemic the band could not tour at that time. So Brian Johnson and bassist Cliff Williams fully back in the fold, AC/DC returned here at Power Trip to demonstrate why they have been one of the few hard rock acts ever that have transcended the genre, both in terms of mainstream crossover appeal and commercial success.

And what a set this was. The band displayed a short animation of a manual transmission muscle car plowing through the desert and then took the full throttle performing “If You Want Blood (You Got It).” Interesting to note, this was the first time the band performed that song with Johnson on vocals since 2003. “If You Want Blood” is the definition of why AC/DC is such a giant in the realm of rock music. Hard charging, infectious as hell and downright joyous, this was about the perfect intro for any show. As with their animated video, the gas pedal pushed to the floor and off we go. They followed this up with their career second act beginning magnum opus “Back in Black” from their first album with Johnson on vocals after Bon Scott’s passing. “Back in Black” excels in its incredibly simple fashion, one riff bouncing carefully between a few sets of scales and chords, and another all bright airy chords aimed at cathartic release. They then followed up that killer intro with the first ever live performance of Power Up track “Demon Fire.” Where Guns N’ Roses’ set last night seemed to meander and didn’t keep the pace strong enough throughout, AC/DC massively front-loaded their set, coming out with many of their biggest guns all in the first hour.

That had to be seen to be believed opening was followed all in a row with “Shot Down in Flames,” “Thunderstruck,” “Have a Drink on Me” and “Hells Bells.” By the time the band played “Hells Bells” they had a giant prop bell descend from the rafters atop the stage, the crowd was fully elated, rocking along with each belted chorus. “Thunderstruck” in particular was absolutely electric. They then played another track from Power Up “Shot in the Dark” for the first time before going into “Stiff Upper Lip” (another one they had not played live since 2003). Two more absolute classics came next in the way of the murder fantasy Bon Scott-era “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” and “Shoot To Thrill.” For those keeping score, “Shoot To Thrill” was one of six out of ten songs from Back in Black played during the show. “You Shook Me All Night Long” came a few songs later, but with the front-loaded nature of the show, this is where AC/DC lost a little bit of momentum. “Dog Eat Dog” and “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be” off of their 1977 album Let There Be Rock came next, but failed to capture the inertia the previous portion of the set did.

After another early career cut “Riff Raff” was played (this one for the first time since 1996) the end of the set proper included some choice cuts to bring the show home. “Highway to Hell” was the significant of those, leading a large crowd singalong before they finished the set with “Whole Lotta Rosie” and “Let There Be Rock” featuring an extended guitar solo from the band’s legendary lead guitarist Angus Young. The encore was brief and one can only guess they were coming close to the end of the curfew time for the night, which is strange considering Guns N’ Roses played all the way until 1:00 a.m. last night. They closed out the show with their chant-laden famous cut, “T.N.T.” and “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).” It was not the perfect set, but there’s no denying this was a supremely excellent show. They may not fit neatly with any other band in hard rock or heavy metal, but there’s a reason AC/DC are just absolute monsters in the world of rock. There are showier bands, there are flashier guitar solos and maybe even bands that have more traditionally styled vocalists, but this band knows how to make killer songs. Earworms before earworms were a word kids used. The kind of mounting tension and release that just makes you want to throw your arms up and dance. Such a wonderful way to end day two of Power Trip. Easily the best set of the weekend so far.

Judas Priest setlist

Electric Eye
Riding on the Wind
Heading Out to the Highway
Lightning Strike
Diamonds & Rust (Joan Baez cover)
The Sentinel
A Touch of Evil
Turbo Lover
Firepower
Desert Plains
Rapid Fire
The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) (Fleetwood Mac cover)
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Painkiller

Encore:
Hell Bent for Leather
Metal Gods (with Glenn Tipton)
Breaking the Law (with Glenn Tipton)
Living After Midnight (with Glenn Tipton)

AC/DC setlist

If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
Back in Black
Demon Fire
Shot Down in Flames
Thunderstruck
Have a Drink on Me
Hells Bells
Shot in the Dark
Stiff Upper Lip
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Shoot to Thrill
Sin City
Givin the Dog a Bone
Rock ‘n’ Roll Train
You Shook Me All Night Long
Dog Eat Dog
High Voltage
Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be
Riff Raff
Highway to Hell
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock

Encore:
T.N.T.
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Judas Priest 

AC/DC 

All photos by Raymond Flotat