Judas Priest -- Kansas City, MO -- August 1st, 2008

So let's get right into it.

First up as I was walking into City Market was Federation of Horsepower. They're a band that has a guy from the radio station with Johnny Dare on it. As an opening band, they weren't half bad. If I had to choose whether to have Federation of Horsepower open up or a metalcore band, I'll go with the Federation. Pretty fun band and the guitar solos were pretty good. 6.5/10

Setlist:
The last song they played was called "Testify"

Now, there's something you have to understand at this point. This concert is put on by 98.9 KQRC for Johnny Dare and his 15th Anniversary of his show. This is the same radio station that put on "Rockfest" with such fantastic bands as Shinedown, Seether, and Filter. So...let's just say that 85% of the people here are stupid rednecks who like to pick fights, drink beer and smoke weed. And 65% of those rednecks are [I]45 or older[/I]. It's pretty weird to see someone who probably has kids my age smoke weed. Anyways, why do I say this? Because everyone went [I]apeshit[/I] for Drowning Pool. My God, what a terrible band. Every song sounded the same, the guitars sucked, the vocals REALLY sucked, and the banter in between songs was just...bad. They did play "Bodies" which was just as bad. The vocalist said "Think back to when you first heard this song and try and relive that feeling!" Uhhh...so you want me to be miserable again?! Whatever. Here's the HIGHLIGHT of the set which made me lol. You know how bands take forever to end their songs, especially at the end of their sets? Drowning Pool played the very beginning of Creeping Death. That's right. [B]Drowning Pool covered (at least a bit of) Metallica[/B]. 3/10

Setlist included:

Tear Away
Soldiers
37 Stitches
Bodies

In between each band they had video clips from several people talking about Johnny Dare. That includes Lewis Black, Tommy Chong, Dee Snyder, Lisa Lampanelli and Brian Johnson of AC/DC. Thought that was pretty cool.

My step-dad looooves Jackyl, and while they are a fun band, they just got kind of tiring. And lemme tell ya, I know Jackyl is like an 80's band and kind of glammy I guess, but damn, the lead singer is extremely effeminate. Anyone ever seen the HBO show "Cathouse"? About the brothel? They flew out the owner/star of that show plus two of his girls because apparently, Johnny Dare does a show there every Valentines Day. They were a lot better to look at then the flashing girls in the crowd. They ended with a Johnny Dare/Lead Singer guy chainsaw duet. Fun band. 7/10

Setlist included:

I Stand Alone
She Loves My Cock (that's right)
Redneck Punk
The Lumberjack
and one song that originally has a guy from ACDC doing vocals.

But really, who are we there to see? The Priest, that's who. Although at this point, I was getting, like, sickeningly dehydrated. I was wobbling and the people pushing constantly (THERE ISN'T ANY ROOM UP HERE, CALM DOWN AND GO BACK) didn't help. I decided to stick around 'til Dissident Aggressor and then bail out for some water and watch at a better distance. The setlist is the same as Europe, but I'm 99.9 percent sure we got a smaller list by a couple songs. I know I left for water after Dissident Aggressor and I know I remember them playing Angel as I was leaving. I just don't know if they cut out Death (I think they did) or if they played Hell Patrol (not too sure). They for sure did not play Sinner, though. But, DAMN. They were fantastic. They were really firing on all cylinders and every member sounded fantastic. Highlights were Dissident Aggressor, Painkiller, The Green Manalishi and You've Got Another Thing Coming. 10/10

Setlist of Judas Priest:

Dawn of Creation/Prophecy
Metal Gods
Eat Me Alive
Between The Hammer And The Anvil
Devil's Child
Breaking The Law
Hell Patrol
Dissident Aggressor
Angel
The Hellion/Electric Eye
Rock Hard, Ride Free
Painkiller
---
Hell Bent For Leather
The Green Manalishi
You've Got Another Thing Coming

In closing: Next time I'm seeing a classic or semi-classic band at City Market, I'm hanging back. But damn. FUCKING PRIEST!!!