Live Review: KK's Priest - Tramshed, Cardiff
18th August 2023
Support: Tailgunner
Words: Richard Oliver
Photos: Tim Finch
Sunday evenings are usually relaxed affairs where one vegetates in front of the television in comfy pyjamas in a moment of calm before another week of work begins. This Sunday evening however was far from a relaxed affair spent in the Welsh capital with a bona fide heavy metal legend - the mighty KK Downing with his band KK’s Priest. A night of glorious UK heavy metal beckoned.
In the support slot were rising UK trad metallers Tailgunner who have been on an impressive and stratospheric rise in the last year with a critically acclaimed debut album “Guns For Hire” in 2023 and a plethora of touring and festival appearances under their belts. Being a young band, they have boundless levels of energy and enthusiasm which can be seen clearly as they leap, bounce and run around the stage with bassist Thomas Hewson especially active. With only one album to draw from, the set was mostly from “Guns For Hire” with songs such as the title track, ‘New Horizons’ and ‘Revolution Scream’ played at a far faster velocity than on the album.
The energy of this band is insane and whilst it took the audience a little while to warm up to them, there were soon some new Tailgunner fans. With only one album, the set was padded out a bit with a guitar duel between Zach Salvini and Rhea Thompson where there was much shredding before leading to a jam of Edward Grieg’s ‘Hall Of The Mountain King’. The band nearly always finishes with a cover song and this time it was the Dio classic ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’ which brought things to an end. The band did suffer from a muddy sound but the performances were there and the energy definitely was. Tailgunner are a band to keep an eye on as they are definitely flying the flag for British heavy metal.
From his time in Judas Priest, KK Downing is a heavy metal legend and one of the most influential and regarded guitarists in the genre. After his departure from Judas Priest, KK formed what would become KK’s Priest as a solo project but also an opportunity to reunite with former Judas Priest frontman Tim “Ripper” Owens. With two albums under their belts, it was time to finally see how good a live act they are and with glowing reviews from various people I know, there was a definite air of anticipation. Thankfully those glowing reviews were correct as KK’s Priest are a powerhouse heavy metal wrecking machine live.
After a gloriously over the top introduction on the video screen behind the stage, the band hit the stage and simply crushed it. The material from “Sermons Of The Sinner” and “The Sinner Rides Again” has far more heft and ferocity on stage than the studio recorded versions with songs such as ‘Hellfire Thunderbolt’, ‘One More Shot At Glory’ and ‘Reap The Whirlwind’ crushing the audience into oblivion with their intensity and sounding like the product of a young and hungry band and not the product of a 72 year old. The guitar team of KK and A.J. Mills was excellent whilst the rhythm section of bassist Tony Newton and drummer Sean Elg battered the audience. I find the vocals of Tim “Ripper” Owens can be a bit hit or miss but I really can’t do anything but praise his performance at this show with a setlist that really demonstrated his range and abilities.
Whilst the KK’s Priest material sounded killer, everyone in the room was eagerly anticipating some Judas Priest material and were certainly not disappointed in that respect with some hits mixed in with some deeper cuts and a song that had never been performed live before this show. Songs such as ‘Night Crawler’ and ‘Hell Patrol’ ensured heads were banged whilst there were singalongs such as ‘Breaking The Law’ and ‘Sinner’ but it was also nice to
hear a song from the Ripper days with ‘Burn In Hell’ from the “Jugulator” album sounding suitably crushing. The real treat for the Judas Priest fans though was the live debut of ‘Before The Dawn’ from “Killing Machine” which has never been played by Judas Priest and was performed live by KK’s Priest at this show for the first time ever. It was an absolute delight to witness a song that is 45 years old get its live debut and the band truly did it justice. I was standing next to a Judas Priest megafan who was in absolute awe during the song.
I wasn’t 100% convinced by the two KK’s Priest albums when they were released but I can safely say that their live show is where they truly excel. The band also suffered a muddy sound but they overcame this with sheer heavy metal power and deafening volume (my ears are still ringing). Also impressive was how much energy KK performed with being a gentleman of 72 years. He may not have been leaping around the stage like Tailgunner but he rarely kept still and his playing is still as effective as ever. Just shows that when it comes to heavy metal age is irrelevant and the old guard can still get horns raised and heads banged as much as the newer generation of bands.
Photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
