Goddammit, I just found Caligula's Horse, The Hirsch Effekt and Four Stroke Baron are playing 45 minutes away from me, for £18.50 a fucking ticket!
But it's the same night I see King Gizzard! The fuck, guys?
That sucks. CH were soo good a few months ago and at least for the US, that was a rare chance to see them (hopefully that changes)
Last Friday was the Judas Priest show in NJ with Sabaton opening. After all these years, I FINALLY got to see Judas Priest. I've never been a big fan of them so they were never "must see" but over time and after basically checking off every metal band that I wanted to see, this band still alluded me. This show, JP and Sabaton at Prudential Center, was actually supposed to happen in 2020. I had planned on it back then as being my first time seeing them. Of course it didn't happen. That show got postponed until 2021. Then Faulkner had the heart attack which cancelled the postponed show. They did end up rescheduling that tour but wiht Queensryche opening and I couldn't make the new date. I actually was in Vegas when they performed in 2022, but my gf denied us from going to see them
(it was fair game on her part, we had done what I wanted before and that night was her choice). Anyway, now in 2024 the show happened and I was able to be there!
Scooped up a good ticket deal the day of to get back to the buffet section of the arena. Turns out, I had an entire suite to myself
I got there early before the show started to make use of that included buffet. Slightly different food options than Avenged Sevenfold a few weeks ago, including a grilled cheese that was incredible. I ate wayyyy too much. I had like 6 chicken tenders, mac and cheese, a NY strip steak slice, some salmon, potatos, 4 hot dogs, like 4 cake pops, a bag of popcorn, a chocolate covered pretzel.... I think thats it.
Sabaton came on at 7:30. Not surprised the arena was mostly empty for their start, but it wasn't as bad as expected. It seemed some people, like myself, were definitely there for them. I thought they were just OK that night. The sound was a bit muddy at times. They did get 50 minutes and 12 songs which is solid for an opener, but the 12 songs were the same ones they played last US tour. I felt li ke they should have played at least one different song. They did introduce the return of one of the guitarists who had been out of the band for the last 8 years. I thought they looked like they were having fun on stage, with a few jokes through the set. They tried many times to get the crowd to cheer along and it mostly didn't work out sadly. At one point Joakim ran across the stage and fell on his ass. Probably the highlight of the set
I think the biggest reason why I felt like they were just OK was that they didn't take advantage of being on an arena stage in the US. Their European arena shows are filled with pyro and just a general big stage show. Maybe they didnt want to out shine JP, or maybe they couldn't do the stage show because they were openers, but it felt like a huge wasted potential for the band to give Americans a taste of what they do elsewhere in the world. Generally, I'm very happy for them to be in this spot though. Just seemed like JP fans weren't into it and the band may not have fully maximied it. Maybe those two are correlated.
Judas Priest came on right around 9pm. Really good sound. Rob sounded incredible, especially for his age. I do think his age showed in his stage presence though. Often staring at the ground (or maybe he was reading a teleprompter?) and sometimes just meandering in the back of the stage. I've never seen them before so maybe that's just his thing, but while he sounded great, visually sometimes I felt like he was a bit "out there". I'm no JP purist so I know it's not the original guitarists, but I thought they both were good and it really didn't come to mind for me at all that it was no KK or Tipton. I do wish the setlist featured more from the new album. 3 songs seems a bit small considering the positive reaction to the album, but those 3 songs were awesome live. Sadly, like Sabaton experienced, the crowd just didn't seem to react much at all to JP. During all the sing a long parts where ROb would hold the mic out to the crowd, it was just a dud. I couldn't hear the crowd at all. Overall I enjoyed the show, but sadly didn't feel like JP won me over. I'd see them again, but under the right circumstances and not likely something to go out of my way to see.
Anyway, my stomach was in sooo much pain the train ride home. I spent like an hour on the toilet at 1am. I should NOT have tried to maximize that buffet like that.
Judas Priest & Sabaton LIVE @ Prudential Center Newark NJ 4/19/2024Next up, a ska show this weekend!
April 27th - The Slackers, The Pietasters & Catbite @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ