Metal legends Deep Purple and Judas Priest kicked off arguably the most anticipated tour of the summer in Cincinnati, Ohio with The Temperance Movement.
It’s not often that music fans are treated to evenings and tours like this one. With a combined 99 years of history and combined record sales or more than 150 million albums, the opportunity to see Deep Purple and Judas Priest on a co-headlining tour was a must-see event for many. It’s hard to argue the importance and influence of both groups within the rock and metal genres as evidenced by deep catalogs of iconic and instantly recognizable songs, many of which trigger memories from everyone’s lives.
As the Gustav Holst song “Mars, the Bringer of War” boomed over the Riverbend Music Center loudspeakers, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Ian Gillan, Steve Morse & Don Airey unassumingly take their places on stage. In an instant, the stage lights come up and Deep Purple catapult into the ever-recognizable “Highway Star” and everyone in the venue is up on their feet.
Over the next 90-minutes (it easily could have been much longer) Deep Purple roll through favorites “Lazy,” “Perfect Strangers,” “Knocking at Your Back Door,” “Space Truckin’,” with an incredible power and grace that is simply mesmerizing.
Deep Purple close out their main set with Ian Gillian’s timeless vocals and the iconic baselines of “Smoke on the Water” wafting across the venue, ending with a rousing ovation. Out for a one-song encore of the Joe South cover of “Hush”, Deep Purple end a perfect evening in a perfect way.
With the anticipation in the venue building exponentially as every minute rolled by “Wag Pigs” suddenly comes blasting from the overhead speakers and everyone is up on their feet singing at the top of their voices, knowing exactly what is coming next. The stage length curtain drops and metal gods Judas Priest instantly appear, launching immediately into “Firepower,” “Grinder,” and “Sinner,” and the evening is off to a blazing start.
Without much hesitation, Richie Faukner’s scorching guitar starts off “Lighting Strike” followed by “Bloodstone” and “Turbo Lover”, keeping the energy in the venue at a fever pitch and devil horns raised high.
Rob Halford is clearly in complete control and has the crowd exactly where he wants them as Priest roll thought fan favorites “Freewheel Burning” and the iconic anthem “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’”. Taking a brief moment to allow everyone to catch their breath, the roar of the motorcycle booms across the venue as Halford pilots the signature Judas Priest Harley on stage for “Hell Bent For Leather” ending their main set with “Painkiller.”
With fans chanting “Priest” the guys launch into a three-song encore set beginning with the thunderous bass chords of “Metal Gods” followed by all-time fan favorites “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight” giving everyone exactly what they wanted, an epic performance by an epic band.
As the final rays of sunshine of the day were slowly fading into the night British blues rockers The Temperance Movement (TTM) started the evening off with a high energy 30-minute set of original songs. Frontman Phil Campbell wowed the crowd with his gravelly voice and signature moves as TTM started with “Caught in the Middle” from their 2018 release A Deeper Cut, followed by “Be Lucky” and “Ain’t No Telling” from their self-titled debut album, winning over new and old fans alike.
