Judas Priest/Scorpions - Manchester Apollo

If Rammstein’s recent tour was hailed as ‘the greatest show on earth’ then this must have been the biggest nostalgia trip… Two (former?) giants of metal going head to head, in a modest sized venue, and the return of one of rock’s vocal icons in Rob Halford. What could possibly go wrong?

Well nothing, on the face of it. The news was out that the Priest were giving The Scorpions a very generous 75minute opening slot. The doors opened at seven. So that meant a very early arrival for a change. So early that we met up with some mates in the pub adjacent to the venue at around four in the afternoon. And very convivial it was too. Clearly Priest’s audience is nearly entirely male and made up of thirty to forty somethings. It made a nice change but the lack of the fairer sex was a little weird. Oh well.

Anyway my missus was there among the sparse female turn-out to see The Scorpions for the first time. It seems incredible that they haven’t toured Britain for something like 15 years. As we entered the main hall even I got excited as there was a huge Scorpions sign hanging over the stage. Once again top marks to the Priest for being so generous.

Then in a flash the band were on stage with Klaus Mein belting out ‘I’m coming home’ at the top of his voice. He may be a midget but he has got a monster larynx. Indeed the whole band looked in fabulous shape and the years look to have been very kind to them. From here it was just hit after hit as The Scorpions rolled back the years effortlessly. ‘The Zoo’ came early and we had ‘Blackout’, ‘Loving You Sunday Morning’ and just about everything else that the fans know and love. ‘Big City Nights’ indeed.

All too soon it was over. But the fans were in no mood to let them disappear. The atmosphere was truly electric and with Rudy Schenker whirling his arms like a human windmill The Scorpions ended one of the great support slots with ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’. It was uplifting stuff of the highest order and the band seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Please come back to these shores for a full scale tour soon guys – this was brilliant stuff.

There was a genuine buzz during the interval and I went for a breather by the entrance doors where I watched the evening drizzle next to a bouncer who was oblivious to the mayhem we had just witnessed inside. As I watched the Manchester rain I cast my thought’s back to when I first saw Judas Priest as a fourteen year old, when some older mates took me under their wing so I could see my first proper gig. I’ve been a huge fan ever since.

So cue the intro music, the lights, the band… and strangely a very un-animated Rob Halford high above the stage in a large eyeball! Yes. You’ve probably second guessed me; the band did indeed launch into ‘Electric Eye’. However all was clearly not well; Halford seemingly glued solid to his ‘Eye’. (At one point I thought someone was going to have to fetch a ladder to get him down!) It was all very spinal tap, as the band tend to be these days.

Then for ‘Metal Gods’ Halford suddenly appeared stage left. Again seemingly unable to move. In fact he was high (in every sense of the word) upon a stage wide drum riser, staring directly across towards the opposing wings. Weird ain’t in it. He did finally manage to shuffle (and I mean shuffle) on to the highest step (of about ten) by the end. But by about the fourth song he still hadn’t made it down on to the stage proper alongside Tipton and Downing. I thought ‘is he going to do a song a step then?’ Clearly Halford wasn’t well. But whether this was medical or he had just been at Delia Smith’s cooking sherry I couldn’t tell you.

It was quite disturbing though. Bizarre is the word. Halford kept disappearing at will. Sometimes into the wings, whilst still ‘singing’, or after an age reappearing on the drum riser thingy whilst he stared anywhere but the audience. All of a sudden I wanted my thirty quid back. £33.50 to be precise.

You see when I watch my home town football club I expect a certain standard of professionalism. An element of entertainment and the feeling that the guys, win lose or draw, have done their best. Halford was bloody awful. Like I say if he was ill – that ill – he shouldn’t have even been performing. But he looked genuinely out of it. Scared even.

Tipton and Downing seemed to ignore his fleeting efforts at communication and it was all very uncomfortable. And where was the legendary Halford voice? At one point the dry ice caught him unawares (not difficult) and he let out a pipsqueak ‘angel’ that sounded more like Joe Pasquale. Yeah Priest had a song or twenty that got on my nerves during this show.

It just went on and on. Halford kept going on and on about Priest being the flag-bearer of British heavy metal for the last thirty years and I kept thinking, Rob…you missed half of them when you left the band! You see Priest’s show had an element of desperation about it. The accountants are in the background and everyone is waiting for the tills to ring now that Judas Priest have a new album out with Rob Halford. But do the band really still get on with Rob?

Priest used to be all about honesty. Their Black Country, working class roots were epitomised by their seventies, urbanised industrial riffing. The fans, stuck in crappy factory jobs in the cities, could relate to it. But something has happened since Halford originally left the band. The money machine is working and the ‘Angel’ album ain’t that great to be honest. Tipton and Downing, to be fair, were good value. But you can’t deny that they have taken a gamble on Halford and on the evidence of this show it may have backfired (rather like Rob’s Harley).

Was this just a one off? Is Rob indeed ill? For thirty quid a ticket we should at least be told the truth as to what happened during Priest’s abysmal set in Manchester. I will look out for other review’s of this tour with great interest. However, as a genuine Priest fan, I’m telling it like it was on the night. And it gives me no pleasure at all.