Review And Photos By Derek Bomar
What a show in Krazy Quito Ecuador!
They love their metal here and most of the fans had been waiting their entire lives to see JUDAS PRIEST as this was the first ever show PRIEST had played here.
First up was a local band BLACK SUN that actually turned out to be great. Great Dio-style singer and the band had some killer chops. I’ll be checking them out further.
After a short changeover the lights dimmed and the crowd surged forward and the mighty KREATOR hit the stage. Opening with “Phantom Antichrist” the band was on fire and the crowd was loving it.
Sound was great, especially for a huge arena and the band felt the love of the audience as they sang along to “Enemy of God”, “Fallen Brother”, and “Phobia”. A large mosh pit was started for “Flag of Hate” as Mille commanded the fans to “Destroy the place” and they did!
KREATOR closed out with a double bang of “Violent Revolution” and of course the classic, “Pleasure to Kill”. The crowd went crazy and as KREATOR left the stage. They promised it would not be 8 years again until they returned.
Now it was PRIEST’s turn. You could feel the crowd as they were expecting the metal gods and boy did they get a show. PRIEST burst out with “Firepower” and never looked back, blasting right into “Running Wild” and “Grinder”, Tthe fans singing every word. The band is tight and really enjoying this tour. Guitarist Ritchie Faulkner is so good and really brings the songs to life, especially “Sinner”, which he nearly rips your ears off with the opening solo.
PRIEST spits out classic after classic and Rob Halford just amazes the crowd as he nails the high notes of “Ripper” and “Tyrant”.
A few surprises were thrown in with “Desert Plains” and “Turbo Lover”, but the biggest surprise was “Night Comes Down”. These 80s gems are a welcome addition to the set list.
The show rolled on with “Never Surrender”, dedicated to Glenn Tipton, who sadly was unable to make the trip due to his Parkinson’s but Andy Sneap does a fabulous job filling in and is a great guitarist on top of his day job as producer of many top bands. The fans got a good look at the PRIEST Harley as Rob drove it out to start “Hell Bent For Leather”. “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” and “Painkiller” closed out the show in superb PRIEST style with Scott Travis blasting the drums and really getting the crowd going.
Yunker was very quick as the crowd was becoming more and more difficult to control as they wanted to get closer to their long awaited heroes. Many fans were jumping over the barricades all the way from the top balconies and began rushing the security who in the end just let them all onto the floor. PRIEST quickly came back on and right into “Electric Eye”, “Breaking The Law” and "Living After Midnight”. Again the crowd sang every word and grown men had tears in their eyes as the band exited the stage.
