Artist: Priestfest - featuring Judas Priest, Testament & Megadeth

Venue:  02 Arena, Dublin

Date:  24th January 2009 

We arrived to see the last 15 minutes of Testament (parking issue…….don’t mention the war!!).  I love Testament and since they haven’t played in Ireland since 1987, there were a lot of people waiting for this moment.  Testament rock, for the first band on stage the crowd (of approx 7.5 thousand) were in great form.  There was a lot of jumping and crowd surfing coming from the front of the crowd.  Testament look cool on stage, Chuck Billy is such a god.  Throughout their performance, the band truly looked like they were having fun.  They were full of energy and were happy to play new and old stuff including 'Practice What You Preach', 'Souls Of Black', 'The New Order'.  I believe that 'Over The Wall' was one of the first songs they did!!  Testament played for about 50 minutes and judging by the reaction they got from the crowd, I have no doubt that they will be back to Ireland quite soon.  

Then came my all time favourite, Megadeth.  I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing them live and this time they just blew me away.  They played a phenomenal set.  They played such a good mix of their music.  I think they were definitely trying to appeal to a new audience by show casing their most memorable songs, as well as giving their existing fans a blast from the past.  Their set included 'Skin Of My Teeth', 'Washington DC', 'Holy Wars', 'Peace Sells', 'In My Darkest Hour', 'Wake Up Dead', 'Symphony Of Destructions' and 'Hanger 18'.  Although they seemed to have some issues with their sound at times, for the most part they were very tight.  They definitely won over the crowd and it was great to watch a full on mosh pit go!!! 

Now, on to the Daddies of Rock.  Judas Priest (or Judas and his technicolor leather coats, as I now like to call them).  Rob Halford arrived onto a platform at the back of the stage, dressed in a goldie cloak and hiding his face.  It was almost like being at a pantomime (he’s behind you!!).  They opened with 'Nostrodamas' and the band looked very fit and agile as they ran across the stage.  

I was glad that I was seated for this part of the show, as it was more of a stage show, than a rock concert. Rob left the stage after almost every song to change his coat and their set was more of their slower numbers.  They did a great version of 'Angels' and 'Breaking the Law' ensured the pensioners were reminded of their youth!!  They also included 'Sinner', 'Hammer And Anvil', 'Green Manalashi' and 'Electric Eye' in their set.  However, they could do with dropping ‘Painkiller’ from their set.  I needed painkillers for the headache I got from Robs vocals, they did him no justice.  I know the band would love to produce a full 'Nostrodamus' stage show, which if presented in a theatre performance would be great, however for an arena show, I would have my doubts.  

All in all it was a great night, with Megadeth being the highlight

Review by: Janice

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.