I have been waiting for this moment since 2001… so therefore I went down the club pretty early in order to get the chance to meet up with Ripper.
Upon arrival I met up with a few other dedicated fans and as the vans appeared [support bands], they informed us that Ripper’s van broke down but he was still on his way. Upon arrival, Ripper and his band [including the support bands], were completely professional. They unloaded their gear and jumped in straight to their sound check. Ripper was professional and really friendly towards all of his fans. He signed everything and had pictures taken with everyone. The first two support bands played their socks off and to be honest I couldn’t have picked better support bands myself.
Right…the time now is 22.30 and Ripper and co. are about to hit the stage. The intro of “Jugulator” starts off and then we got a flawless Ripper by hitting this amazing high pitch scream. Then we got asked the perfect question “What’s my name?”. The band was flawless, by hitting us with one song after another. The sound throughout the concert was top notch. You could hear every single instrument clearly. Ripper had a great interaction with the crowd. He told us a few Judas Priest stories and messed about with the crowd in between the songs. The total performance was amazing and the setlist that was put together was simply great. The setlist contained songs that Judas Priest doesn’t perform anymore. Simply a perfect choice! Also Ripper went on and explained to us about the RoadRunner concert and then he played “Abigail” by King Diamond. He left me speechless completely by hitting those high notes without any issues.
Finally Ripper surprised us by crabbing a guitar and performing the classic Judas Priest hit “Living After Midnight”. It was a fantastic night…
Jason Casioptas
Setlist: Jugulator/The Ripper/Diamonds & Rust/Greenface, Red Baron, Blue Max, Ten Thousand Strong/Dead Meat/Cathedral Spires/Painkiller/The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)/Abigail/Lost and Found /Scream Machine /Metal Gods/Bullet Train/Starting Over/Blood Stained/Burn in Hell
Encore:Death Row/One On One/Living After Midnight
