Nick Cantanese | Hard Rock Hideout

Thin Lizzy, Black Label Society & Judas Priest invaded Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena on November 8th. Check out our Photo Gallery, & mini review below.

Thin Lizzy which is now fronted by The Almighty’s Ricky Warwick, sounded amazing. Warwick’s vocals are very similar to the late Phillip Lynott, and he does an excellent job. Damon Johnson (Brother Cane, Alice Cooper Band) is the bands newest guitarist replacing Vivian Campbell, and Richard Fortus. He seems to fit in quite well. I have never seen Thin Lizzy before, and was amazed at how good they sounded. I was thrilled to see this classic band in action. They lineup has changed several times over the years, but Thin Lizzy still rocks.

Black Label Society put on one of the loudest shows in recent memory. I am pretty sure the folks eating wings at Hooters in Newport, KY (that is down the river from U.S. Bank Arena) could hear Zakk Wylde & company. Black Label Society’s sound guy must have had all of their amps set at maximum volume. The only problem with this was, Zakk’s vocals were inaudible. I know all of Black Label Society’s music, and I could watch Zakk Wylde & company play all night. Wylde is a killer guitarist, and as much as I love his playing, I like his vocals even more. I was disappointed that I couldn’t hear them. Aside from that, Black Label Society sounded great.

Judas Priest took the stage and proceeded to play for over two hours. They covered songs from just about every facet of their career. The Metal God, Rob Halford is still getting it done in 2011. The 60 year old front man, may not be able to hit all of the notes he used to, but he still sounds great. Ritchie Faulkner who has replaced the retired KK Downing on lead guitar, not only looks the part,but does an amazing job. KK Downing will always be missed, but Faulkner has injected new life into Judas Priest. The Judas Priest set included the following songs: “Rapid Fire”, “Metal Gods”, “Heading Out to the Highway”, “Judas Rising”,”Starbreaker”, “Victim of Changes”, “Never Satisfied”, “Diamonds & Rust”, “Dawn Of Creation”, “Prophecy”, “Night Crawler”, “Turbo Lover”, “Beyond the Realms of Death”, “The Sentinel”, “Blood Red Skies”, “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)”, “Breaking the Law”, “Painkiller”, “The Hellion”, “Electric Eye”, “Hell Bent for Leather”, “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'” and “Living After Midnight”.

This is Judas Priest’s Epitaph tour, meaning the band will not longer do world tours from here on out. There was only four – five thousand in attendance at the Cincinnati show, which I though was extremely disappointing. This may be the last time we get to see Judas Priest perform in our area. Judas Priest put on an excellent that was a feast for the ears & the eyes. The show filled with pyro, lasers, and more importantly some legendary metal tunes played to perfection.

There are only a few tour dates left on the Epitaph tour. If you live in one of the areas below, you should definitely get a ticket for this show.

30 November   1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre, Tampa
1 December   Klipsch Amphitheatre at Bayfront Park, Miami, FL
3 December   Hard Rock Biloxi Hotel & Casino, Biloxi

Check out our Photo Gallery below. You can right click on an image to view it larger.

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Tag: Nick Cantanese

2 Thin Lizzy, Black Label Society & Judas Priest Photo Gallery – U.S. Bank Arena -Cincinnati, Ohio – November 8th, 2011

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