KK's Priest - Cardiff Review

I mentioned this in my earlier review of Armored Saint's recent show in Nottingham, but last week was extremely busy. Having only had one night away from home since the end of May, last week I spent one night in Nottingham and two nights in Wales - taking in some excellent live music along the way. Armored Saint showcased why they are highly regarded veterans of the American scene on the Tuesday, whilst the Saturday saw me return to Chepstow Castle for the third time for a night of AOR and melodic rock. The Sunday was a return to something heavier, though, and, following the short train journey from Chepstow to Cardiff and a day in the Welsh capital, it was time to head to the Tramshed for a night with KK's Priest. Whilst I have seen Judas Priest three times over the years, I never saw them with founding guitarist KK Downing. I first saw the band in 2011, not longer after he dramatically left, and for many years he seemed to be retired. This changed back in 2019, though, when he joined former Manowar guitarist Ross the Boss at that year's iteration of Bloodstock Open Air to run through a few Judas Priest classics to close out Ross the Boss' set. This was Downing's first live appearance since leaving Judas Priest and it set him on the path to returning to music in a big way. He played his first full concert later that year, at KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton (which he owns), and in 2020 he officially launched his new band: KK's Priest. Whilst the band's name is a bit predictable, and somewhat creates one of those Wishbone Ash/Saxon situations where there are two versions of a classic band out there touring, I think Downing is just trying to cash in on his legacy rather than create a new version of Judas Priest. Given that he has been joined in this venture by frontman Tim 'Ripper' Owens, who fronted Judas Priest between 1996 and 2003, there is certainly a lot to link Downing's new band back to Judas Priest - and it seems that both it and Judas Priest are able to live happily side by side, at least for now. With two albums under their belts, KK's Priest have been busy touring over the past couple of years. They undertook a UK tour last year, but I was unable to make any of the shows sadly, so when they announced a handful of other UK shows around their performance at this year's Stonedead Festival I knew I had to make the effort. Luckily the Cardiff show slotted in alongside the aforementioned trip to Chepstow, so a weekend in Wales was planned. The venue of choice for KK's Priest was the Tramshed - which is just to the west of the main city centre and is not somewhere that I had been to recently. I had only been once previously, which was to see Y&T back in 2019, and I do not remember being that impressed with it back then. I remember that Y&T suffered from rather muddy sound - but that was not the case with this show luckily, with both of the bands on the bill having loud and pretty clear mixes. The turnout was decent, but for a weekend and given Downing's stature it could have been better. Owens voiced his displeasure for the venue's efforts in promoting the show during the band's set later, too, which was awkward - so perhaps the band felt a bit short-changed turnout-wise.

Opening the show were Tailgunner, a UK-based five-piece who I had seen earlier in the week supporting Armored Saint. I had enjoyed the band's set in Nottingham so I was looking forward to seeing them live again - and the band delivered another strong set featuring a good amount of material from their sole album Guns for Hire and some choice covers. Their setlist was essentially the same as that which was played in Nottingham, with one exception, and the band powered through their high-octane and fast-paced material with ease - which the growing crowd generally seemed to really enjoy. They garnered a strong reception in Nottingham, but I feel that the KK's Priest crowd warmed to them a little more - and the band fed off the crowd's energy to deliver a strong set. The opening salvo of Guns for Hire and White Death, which were played straight through without a break between them, got the set off to a powerful start - but it was perhaps Beast in the Night this time which struck me early on. The song is a cover, although I am not familiar with the band in question (Randy - who seem to be a bit of a long-lost 1980s Danish metal band), but it really fit in with the set nicely. It was very similar in style to the band's usual sound, albeit a bit more mid-paced perhaps, with a chorus that was easy to latch onto. I hope that the band include their version of the song on their next album, as it is a real deep cut that would not look like an obvious attempt to include something familiar, but this should take nothing away from the band's excellent original material. Warhead and New Horizons were both excellent and upped the tempo again - and sandwiched in between the two was a great battle between guitarists Zach Salvini and Rhea Thompson which saw the pair trading shredded licks back and forth around motifs from In the Hall of the Mountain King. Both guitarists are excellent, and their interplay was arguably the best thing about the band's set, but the rest of the band impressed, too, with frontman Craig Cairns delivering another excellent showing with his high-pitched delivery and commanding stage presence. The whole band really made an effort on that front, though, with lots of poses and shapes being thrown - even during the more mid-paced later duo of Revolution Scream and Crashdrive which showcased a riffier and more anthemic approach then some of the thrash-adjacent material thrown in early on. The sole difference between the two sets came at the end, with a Judas Priest cover unsurprisingly dropped and a version of Dio's Don't Talk to Strangers played instead. Don't Talk to Strangers is perhaps more dynamic and a song with more light and shade than is typical for Tailgunner, but they delivered a convincing rendition of the murky piece - with Thompson delivering a stunning solo as the set came to a close. The setlist was:

Guns for Hire
White Death
Beast in the Night [Randy cover]
Warhead
In the Hall of the Mountain King [Edvard Grieg cover]
New Horizons
Revolution Scream
Crashdrive
Don't Talk to Strangers [Dio cover]

Half an hour or so after Tailgunner's set, the lights went down and it was time for KK's Priest. Following a rather cheesy intro video which had a demonic figure introduce the band and then morphed into the intro track from the band's debut album, the five musicians took to the stage and launched into Hellfire Thunderbolt - also from the first album. The 15-song set included three songs from each of the band's two albums alongside nine songs from the Judas Priest catalogue. It is good to see that Downing is standing behind his new material in a pretty big way despite still including plenty of old favourites in the set - and early on the new songs dominated. Hellfire Thunderbolt got the set off to a strong start, but it was Strike of the Viper which really impressed. Downing looked every inch the veteran rock star, still sporting plenty of leather, but for me the performer of the night was Owens. He has sometimes been a hit and miss live performer, but there was nothing miss about his performance in Cardiff. If anything, he seems to have gotten better with age - and his endless high-pitched screams and his deeper growling delivery sounded great. He has never been the most natural frontman, either, but he spoke well with the crowd at times - generally letting the music do the talking. He nailed the chorus of Strike of the Viper, with Downing and A.J. Mills (guitar/vocals) trading lead licks back and forth. The new songs were greeted warmly by the crowd, and there was actually plenty of singing along during the numerous anthemic choruses included on the new albums, but understandably the old classics received the biggest cheers. The first old song to be played was The Ripper, which Owens understandably really got into, before the band threw in a bit of a deeper cut in Night Crawler. The Judas Priest songs played were a mixture of the expected and some lesser-played numbers. The balance was well-struck in my opinion, with only one of the real Judas Priest must-plays included - despite there certainly being some other fan-favourites throw in.

With the exception of the encore, the fist-pumping Sermons of the Sinner was the last new track played - with the remaining half of the main set made up of classics. It was great to hear the groovy and Pantera-esque Burn in Hell from the Owens era dusted off for a powerful outing - before the was a short breather in the form of Judas Priest's rendition of the ballad Diamonds & Rust. Another ballad was featured later, but generally the older numbers played were heavy ones. Another deeper cut in Hell Patrol was welcomed by the crowd, before a version of the Fleetwood Mac oldie The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown) allowed for plenty more soloing from Downing and Mills. The rhythm section of Tony Newton (bass guitar/vocals), who it was nice to see again after many years of not being able to see Voodoo Six live, and Sean Elg (drums) really propelled the song forward, too, and it was a good rocker before another ballad in Before the Dawn - which was given its first outing by KK's Priest in Cardiff. The slower track had the desired effect, as Diamonds & Rust had had earlier, and it was good to see the band shaking things up and not constantly relying on riffs and big screams. An obligatory run-through of Breaking the Law and an epic version of Sinner rounded out the main set - with Downing using the later as a bit of a showcase piece and injecting a big solo into the middle of it. Soloing duties were pretty equally split between him and Mills - but this song was very much his moment, and it brought the set to a powerful close despite the PA briefly cutting out during part of it! There was time for one more, though, and the band returned to their newer material for the anthemic Raise Your Fists - which was a fitting closer for what had been an epic evening of anthemic metal. The setlist was:

Incarnation

Hellfire Thunderbolt

Strike of the Viper

One More Shot at Glory

The Ripper [Judas Priest cover]

Reap the Whirlwind

Night Crawler [Judas Priest cover]

Sermons of the Sinner

Burn in Hell [Judas Priest cover]

Diamonds & Rust [Joan Baez cover]

Hell Patrol [Judas Priest cover]

The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown) [Fleetwood Mac cover]

Before the Dawn [Judas Priest cover]

Breaking the Law [Judas Priest cover]

Sinner [Judas Priest cover]

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Raise Your Fists

It has been great to see Downing active again over the past few years and it was also great to finally catch KK's Priest live after missing out on their tour last year. He has amassed a great band for this latest stage of his career and Owens seems to be better than he has ever been currently. KK's Priest seems to have legs and, two albums in, the band seem fired up to keep going. Hopefully there is more to come from the five-piece and I will certainly see them live again if I get the chance to do so.