Epitaph World Tour

The Epitaph World Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. The tour was announced on 7 December 2010, and commenced in June 2011.^[1] Eight initial concerts, all at European festivals during summer 2011, were announced on 7 December, with additional dates to be announced.^[1][2]

On 15 December 2010, Judas Priest announced concerts in Czech Republic and Austria.^[3] On 20 December 2010, the band announced two concerts in Norway.^[4][5] On 14 January 2011, a concert in Paris was announced.^[6] and on 18 January shows in the Netherlands and Serbia were added.^[7] In late January 2011, shows in Germany,^[8] Switzerland,^[9] and Poland^[10] were added, and on 4 February shows in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey were announced.^[11] On 6 February it was announced that Judas Priest would headline the Metal Hammer Festival, to be held at the Spodek arena in Katowice, Poland.^[12] On 11 February the band announced it would perform a show at the Foire aux Vins Festival in Colmar, France.^[13] On 15 February, four shows in Spain were added to the tour.^[14] On 28 February 2011, seven shows in the United Kingdom were announced, with support from Queensrÿche and Rival Sons.^[15] On 4 March, a show in Budapest was announced,^[16] followed on 9 March with the announcement of a show in Athens.^[17] Throughout April and May 2011, the band announced dates in Central and South America.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]} On 24 May, it was announced at a press conference in Los Angeles that the band would perform a North American leg of the tour starting 12 October 2011 in San Antonio, Texas, consisting of twenty shows with Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society as supporting acts.^[25] On 22 June, the band announced an additional thirteen North American dates.^[26] On 2 September, six shows were announced in Japan^[27] (a seventh Japan show and a South Korea show were later announced^[28]), and a single show in Massachusetts was announced on 7 September.^[29] On 15 September, the band announced a show in Pennsylvania, as well as a change in location for another in California, from Los Angeles to Bakersfield.^[30] On 6 December, four European shows were announced,^[31] followed the next day by thirteen more.^[32]

The band announced on 20 April that guitarist K. K. Downing had retired and would not play on the tour. 31-year-old Briton Richie Faulkner was announced as the replacement but the press release did not state if it is on a permanent basis.^[33]

The last date of the tour was held in an unusually small venue, London's Hammersmith Apollo. This return to Judas Priest's homeland was filmed for a live DVD.^[34]

Production

Stage production for the Epitaph World Tour.

On 10 May, the band announced that preparations for the tour had begun, including rehearsals, photos, stage construction and special effects.^[35]

On 6 June, guitarist Glenn Tipton announced on his website that:^[36]

Setlist

According to a posting on Tipton's website on 27 January 2011, the tour will "include some classic Priest songs that we haven't played before -- and of course, the old favourites that everybody will want to hear."^[37] On 15 February, the band announced they were considering playing at least one song from each of their albums as part of the setlist.^[38]

The setlist for the first leg of the tour is as follows:^[39]

Songs from each album

• Rocka Rolla: "Never Satisfied"
• Sad Wings of Destiny: "Victim of Changes"
• Sin After Sin: "Starbreaker", "Diamonds & Rust"
• Stained Class: "Beyond the Realms of Death"
• Killing Machine: "Hell Bent for Leather", "The Green Manalishi"
• British Steel: "Rapid Fire", "Metal Gods", "Breaking the Law", "Living After Midnight"
• Point of Entry: "Heading Out to the Highway"
• Screaming for Vengeance: "The Hellion", "Electric Eye", "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
• Defenders of the Faith: "The Sentinel"
• Turbo: "Turbo Lover"
• Ram It Down: "Blood Red Skies"
• Painkiller: "Battle Hymn", "Painkiller", "Night Crawler"
• Angel of Retribution: "Judas Rising"
• Nostradamus: "Prophecy"

Note: The band played a shorter set with omitted songs at certain festival appearances.

Tour dates

Reviews

A review of the band's performance at the Sonisphere Festival in Basel, Switzerland by RockAAA.com was favorable, praising both Rob Halford's vocal performance and Richie Faulkner's guitar playing.^[40] The reviewer said that Halford's "tone is astonishing...and [his] delivery as good as there is in the business."^[40]

Support acts

• Black Label Society (12 October – 3 December 2011)^[41]
• Crash (4 February 2012)
• Diablo ft. Yim Jae-beom (4 February 2012)
• Duff McKagan's Loaded (20 June 2011)^[42][43]
• Exodus (10 August 2011)^[44]
• HammerFall (22–25 April 2012)
• Hatebreed (3 July 2011)
• Kobra and the Lotus (26 May 2012)^[45]
• Lamb of God (20 February 2012)
• Morbid Angel (10 August 2011)^[46]
• Motörhead (29 July – 2 August 2011)^[45]
• Queensrÿche (15–27 July 2011)^[15]
• Rival Sons (15–24 July 2011)^[15]
• Sabaton (9 August 2011)
• Saxon (29 July – 2 August 2011; 23–26 May 2012)^[45][47]
• Thin Lizzy (12 October – 3 December 2011; 27 April – 4 May 2012)^[41]
• Vader (10 August 2011)^[12]
• Whitesnake (27 June – 10 July 2011; 10 September – 3 October 2011)^[48]

Personnel

• Rob Halford – lead vocals
• Glenn Tipton – guitar
• Richie Faulkner – guitar
• Ian Hill – bass
• Scott Travis – drums

References

External links

• Announcement of tour by Judas Priest
• Current tour dates