Legends of metal Judas Priest hit up the Bell Centre in late August, on a double bill with famed rock band Deep Purple. What is there to be said about Judas Priest that hasn’t been said before? They have been around for nearly 50 years. They are one of the most popular metal bands still touring today. Their singer, the amazing Rob Halford, still has a great vocal range even at age 67. While he may not move like he used to, hearing him hit those high notes gives you chills.
As much as Halford keeps the songs feeling like their hayday in the 80s, newest member Richie Faulkner on guitar is a true showman and master of his instrument. I am not a typical fan of solos, whether they be guitar or drum. But Faulkner was not only a joy to watch, he provided such fun moments to photograph (if you were at the right place and angle 🙂 ). It was hard moving away from him to photograph the other members as he was almost a show all onto himself.
We were a good dozen photographers in the photo pit for the concert. I can honestly say I was surprised at the access we were given as the “aging” bands typically keep photographers back at the soundboard and limit our songs to only 1-2. But not Judas Priest. We had the standard 3 songs and in the photo pit…. and the cherry on the sunday? No contract or photo release to sign.
It was really hard limiting my set of images. I think after my first cull of the 250 I took, I had a good 90 set to edit. Bringing that down to a media manageable 20 wasn’t easy. While there are a bunch of fun moments, if you are looking at a photo gallery, having 50 images that are all somewhat similar is a pain to scroll through. So keeping it to the best that represent the show is key.
Images were shot for CHOM 97.7 FM and iHeartradio.ca. You can see the media galleries HERE.
Below, some of my faves and some black and whites 🙂
