Epitaph World Tour

Production

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

On 6 June, guitarist Glenn Tipton announced on his website that:

But as always, the most important thing is the music and the set list contains all the old favorites combined with songs we haven't played before live, such as "Blood Red Skies" and "Never Satisfied", and also earlier songs, including "Starbreaker" and "Night Crawler".

In addition we changed the arrangement of some songs slightly, including "Diamonds and Rust" and "Hell Bent for Leather", which I'm sure every one will enjoy.

Our first show is in Holland on June 7th at Tilburg; the band is really excited and can't wait to get back on stage. I will post regular bulletins from now and as the tour gets underway keep every body up-to-date on our progress.}}

Rob Halford incident

On the 15 September 2011 show in Brasília, Rob Halford fell off his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he rode across the stage, only to slip off as "Hell Bent for Leather" was set to be performed. This was reminiscent of an incident that occurred on the Operation Rock & Roll tour in 1991, but this time he did not sustain any major injuries. He was assisted by crew members as the intro piece began, and finished the show thereafter.

Tour dates

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." On 15 February, the band announced they were considering playing at least one song from each of their albums as part of the setlist.

The setlist for the first leg of the tour was as follows:

1. "Battle Hymn"
2. "Rapid Fire"
3. "Metal Gods"
4. "Heading Out to the Highway"
5. "Judas Rising"
6. "Starbreaker"
7. "Victim of Changes"
8. "Never Satisfied"
9. "Diamonds and Rust" (acoustic to heavy version)
10. "Prophecy"
11. "Night Crawler"
12. "Turbo Lover"
13. "Beyond the Realms of Death"
14. "The Sentinel"
15. "Blood Red Skies"
16. "The Green Manalishi (with the Two Prong Crown)"
17. "Breaking the Law"
18. "Painkiller"
19. ;
20. "The Hellion"/"Electric Eye"
21. "Hell Bent for Leather"
22. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
23. ;
24. "Living After Midnight"

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

Reviews

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

Support acts

• Black Label Society (12 October – 3 December 2011)
• Crash (4 February 2012)
• Diablo ft. Yim Jae-beom (4 February 2012)
• Duff McKagan's Loaded (20 June 2011)
• Exodus (10 August 2011)
• HammerFall (22–25 April 2012)
• Hatebreed (3 July 2011)
• Kobra and the Lotus (26 May 2012)
• Lamb of God (20 February 2012)
• Morbid Angel (10 August 2011)
• Motörhead (29 July – 2 August 2011)
• Queensrÿche (15–27 July 2011)
• Rival Sons (15–24 July 2011)
• Sabaton (9 August 2011)
• Saxon (29 July – 2 August 2011; 23–26 May 2012)
• Thin Lizzy (12 October – 3 December 2011; 27 April – 4 May 2012)
• Vader (10 August 2011)
• Whitesnake (27 June – 10 July 2011; 10 September – 3 October 2011)
• Leash Eye (14 April 2012)

Personnel

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

References

References

1. (7 December 2010). "JUDAS PRIEST Announces Farewell 'Epitaph' Tour – Dec. 7, 2010". Blabbermouth.net.
2. (10 May 2011). "JUDAS PRIEST Begins Rehearsing For 'Epitaph' World Tour". Blabbermouth.net.
3. (6 June 2011). "Epitaph World Tour Diary". Glenn Tipton official website.
4. "[HQ] Judas Priest - Accident - Toronto 1991 (Halford Falls From His Motorcycle) [Very Rare Video]". [[YouTube]].
5. "Judas Priest, Hell Bent for Leather (Rob Halford drops his Harley-Davidson) in Brasília 15.09.2011". [[YouTube]].
6. (27 January 2011). "JUDAS PRIEST Working On New Material – Jan. 27, 2011". Blabbermouth.net.
7. (15 February 2011). "JUDAS PRIEST Contemplating Playing Material From Every Studio Album On Upcoming Tour". Blabbermouth.net.
8. (23 June 2011). "JUDAS PRIEST's TIPTON: New Guitarist FAULKNER 'Has Injected So Much Enthusiasm In The Band'". Blabbermouth.net.
9. (24 June 2011). "40 years on and Priest still rip it up". RockAAA.com.
10. (24 May 2011). "Judas Priest Plan 'Full-On Metal Extravaganza' for Farewell Tour – May 24, 2011". Rollingstone.com.
11. "Duff McKagan's Loaded live in Paris". Metal Traveller.
12. "Duff McKagan's Loaded". Songkick.
13. (10 March 2011). "Exodus To Open For Judas Priest In Katowice, Poland". Metal Underground.
14. "Metal Hammer Festival @ last.fm".
15. "Tour Information". Judas Priest official website.
16. (28 February 2011). "JUDAS PRIEST: U.K. Tour With QUEENSRŸCHE Officially Announced". Blabbermouth.net.
17. (6 May 2012). "Saxon tour page".
18. (6 February 2011). "JUDAS PRIEST To Headline Poland's METAL HAMMER FESTIVAL – Feb. 6, 2011". Blabbermouth.net.
19. "Whitesnake home page". Whitesnake official website.