Judas Priest – ‘Priest…Live!’ (1987) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

It was time for Priest to release another live album. After the success of the band’s 1986 album ‘Turbo’ and the very successful tour called ‘Fuel for Life Tour’, the band was still riding high. It was decided to capture this new era of Priest with a live album. The album takes songs from two of the band’s shows on the tour. The first was from my hometown of Atlanta, Ga from the show on June 15, 1986 at the Omni. Back then I would’ve been 17 years old and about to start my Senior Year in High School which means I was in to the whole glam rock scene with the likes of Poison and Ratt and those bands. I wasn’t listening to Priest so completely missed that show…now I look on it sadly because what a show it would’ve been. The second show they took songs from was from the Dallas, TX show on June 27, 1986 at Reunion Arena. And from the sounds of this album, both shows were spectacular.

What I find really cool about this release is they did the same thing Kiss did with Alive! and Alive II. They did not repeat any tracks on the albums. Yep, all the songs on Priest…Live! were from the era after ‘Unleashed in the East’ so you get an entirely new set of songs. As a fan, I completely appreciate and love that fact. Then you can throw on both albums and play them back to back and get a killer show with no repeats. Good job guys.

The track listing is great with over 15 tracks covering the 5 albums. You get 5 from ‘Turbo’ which makes sense since that is the album they were touring at the time. You get 4 from ‘Defenders of the Faith’, 2 from ‘Screaming for Vengeance’, only 1 from ‘Point of Entry’ and 3 from ‘British Steel’. The version I have has 3 bonus tracks which is 1 from ‘Defenders of the Faith’, 1 from ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ and ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ which would technically be the only repeat, but since this is a bonus track and not on the original album it doesn’t count.

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Kiss – Alive / Worldwide Tour (1996-1997) – Tour Book

In my quest to get all the Kiss Tour Books in my collection, I have now come to my fifth in the Tour Book Series.  This is one of two that came from the Kiss Alive / Worldwide Tour from 1996-1997.  You might remember I already did one from that tour, but that was a special edition book during the 1997 part of the tour which included the Giant 1997 Poster Calendar and had a silver cover. It was a replica of the European Book. Plus, all the pictures were different.  This is original Tour Book with the Black Cover.

I bought this book right at the beginning of the pandemic. A friend of my brothers was selling it and so he reached out to me and I said, yes, buy it for me (I did pay him back). I asked my brother to hold on to it and I would grab it the next time I was down in Atlanta which would’ve only been about a month or two after I bought. 9 months later and I still hadn’t gone down thanks to Covid. I finally asked him to mail it on up to me and he graciously did.

One of the interesting things about this book is that it was bought at the October 1, 1996 show at the Omni in Atlanta. How do I know, the ticket stub was still inside. That for me is cool to know which show it was purchased because I was actually at that show. I can’t believe I have a book from the actual show I attended. What are the odds of getting one 25 years later. Our ticket stubs are below.

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Kiss – Animalize World Tour 1984-85 – Tour Book

On January 9th, 1985, I went to my 2nd Kiss concert which as the old arena called the Omni.  That arena is no longer around, but the memories I do still have.  The opening act was Krokus and they were great.  The tour was for the Animalize Tour and the lead guitarist on this one was supposed to be Mark St. John, but he was fired in December of the previous year.  Bruce Kulick took over duties for the remainder of the tour and for years later. I hate I didn’t get to see Mark. He is the only Kiss guitarist I have not seen live.

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The setlist for this show was below and not all too different from the Lick It Up Tour I saw before.

  1. Detroit Rock City
  2. Cold Gin
  3. Creatures of the Night
  4. Fits Like a Glove
  5. Heaven’s On Fire
  6. Guitar Solo
  7. Under the Gun
  8. War Machine
  9. Drum Solo
  10. Young & Wasted (Eric now on vocals)
  11. Bass Solo
  12. I Love it Loud
  13. I Still Love You
  14. Love Gun
  15. Black Diamond
  16. Oh! Susanna (Encore)
  17. Lick It Up (Encore)
  18. Rock and Roll All Nite (Encore)

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Concerts, Concerts, Concerts – The 80’s

I have been going through this rock & roll trip down memory lane with this blog.  It started with the vinyl records I found in a box and than last week with the posters.  I actually found one more box from my younger days and this one had a ton of concert ticket stubs from over the years.  I also found a couple concert T’s and a couple programs as well.  I still can’t believe I kept all this stuff, but I am glad I did.

Going to a concert nowadays, they don’t give you a physical ticket anymore.  If they do, they charge you for it.  Nope, tickets are on your phone and get scanned in or you print it out on your printer.  Not the same as those dot matrix printers from the old days.

You also used to stand in line for tickets.  You had to arrive an hour or two before the tickets went on sale whether it was hot, cold, raining or snowing.  We did it each and every time we wanted to go see a show.  And we loved it!  Now you go online from the comfort of you home…not the same.

Whether you want to or not, I am going to take you on a journey of my musical concert experiences…at least most of them because I think I am missing quite a few ticket stubs.

The 80’s

Our journey begins back around 1983.  I was only 14 years old.  My parents finally agreed to let me go to a concert, but I had to go with my sister…REALLY!!!  Actually, it was okay.  My sister and I have been to many concerts together and even went to one 2 years ago some 3o+ years later.

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