Deep Purple (w/ Judas Priest) @ FirstOntario Centre (Hamilton, ON) on August 27, 2018 [Photos & Show Review]

In a year filled with fantastic co-headlining tours, there are few bills stronger than Deep Purple with Judas Priest for the promise of a memorable night of rock and roll. Early attendees got even more for their money by way of The Temperance Movement, a five-piece UK rock band servicing their newest album A Deeper Cut, released a few weeks ago in North America. I’m sure the majority of the audience this evening had no idea who the band was, but by the time Phil Campbell, Paul Sayer, Nick Fyffe, Matt White and Simon Lea were done their opening set, it was apparent the group had made an impression on the Hamilton audience. With the Temperance Movement’s bold blend of classic and modern rock carried forward via their strong body of original material, their imminent trajectory is quite obvious.

If you’ve yet to check out the latest video from Priest for “No Surrender” then we suggest you get on that.

Both Judas Priest and Deep Purple are 50-year veteran bands, with Deep Purple being active only a year or so earlier than Priest. Currently celebrating the critically and fan-approved Firepower release, Hamilton was treated to an incredible evening of old and new Judas Priest material As Ian Hill, Rob Halford, Andy Sneap, Scott Travis, and Richie Faulkner worked their way through a blistering performance of Priest nuggets. Sneap, filling in for the mighty Glenn Tipton on this tour did a worthy job stepping into Glenn’s shoes – the band effectively utilized some black and white footage of Tipton performing as “Painkiller” was being played, reminding the audience of his absence. It was announced earlier this year that Tipton’s Parkinson’s disease would prevent him from touring, so when he stepped onto the stage for this evening’s encore and performed “Metal Gods” with the rest of the band, the cheers within the FirstOntario Centre were deafening. Some of the folks I was standing around in the crowd had tears in their eyes as Tipton continued onwards with “Breaking the Law,” “No Surrender,” and “Living After Midnight.” The cost of admission was already easily justified, and Deep Purple had yet to perform.

At 9:45, after the stage was cleared and Deep Purple’s gear was all set up, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Steve Morse, Don Airey and Ian Gillan took the stage and launched right into “Highway Star” and “Pictures of Home.” It was a mostly classic set of material this evening, with three deeper cuts included for the die-hards; “Bloodsucker” from Abandon (1998), “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming” from Purpendicular (1996) and “Uncommon Man” from Now What?! (2013). Don Airey’s wonderful keyboard solo touched on numerous pieces of familiar medleys before morphing into an instrumental version of “O Canada” in between the 1984 tracks “Knocking at Your Back Door” and “Perfect Strangers.” The band closed off their set with “Space Truckin’,” “Smoke on the Water,” and then utilized “Hush” as their encore, a track that is 50 years old and was released on their 1968 debut album Shades of Deep Purple.

Judas Priest and Deep Purple are two bands synonymous with the genres of hard rock and heavy metal. Seeing them perform on the same concert bill like this was a real treat. The members of these bands may indeed all be aging, but this evening easily illustrated that their material is genuinely timeless.

Have a look at this awesome live version of “Highway Star” from Come Hell or High Water.

Judas Priest’s Hamilton Setlist:

01. Firepower
02. Grinder
03. Sinner
04. Lightning Strike
05. Bloodstone
06. Turbo Lover
07. Rising From Ruins (Guardians intro)
08. Freewheel Burning
09. You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
10. Hell Bent for Leather
11. Painkiller
Encore:
12. Metal Gods (with Glenn Tipton)
13. Breaking the Law (with Glenn Tipton)
14. No Surrender (with Glenn Tipton)
15. Living After Midnight (with Glenn Tipton)

Deep Purple’s Hamilton Setlist:

01. Highway Star
02. Pictures of Home
03. Bloodsucker
04. Strange Kind of Woman
05. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
06. Uncommon Man
07. Lazy
08. Knocking at Your Back Door
09. Keyboard Solo
10. Perfect Strangers
11. Space Truckin’
12. Smoke on the Water
Encore:
13. Hush