When I heard Judas Priest was coming to London there was no doubt in my mind I was going to apply to photograph this concert, it was however a doubt in my mind that I would get approval, but thanks to the beautiful people over Live Nation, approval happened.
Not really knowing who Black Star Riders was Google educated me a bit and a few of the members were in the band Thin Lizzy, which is pretty awesome. Black Star Riders hit the stage as the openers and were amazing! great sound, loud and all metal. Next up SAXON... UK's massive Metal band formed in 1977 with multiple hits.. let me tell you, they ripped the stage up with so much power, so loud and so much energy. I will be the first to admit, I did not know much about SAXON as I don't really listen to that kind of music but being there and seeing some Metal Music History still rocking out and sounding exactly like they did back in the 80's, just incredible to witness and photograph.

JUDAS PRIEST: Standing stage side listening to random people yell, scream and whistle out waiting for the band to hit the stage, I wasn't to sure what to expect. Honestly the first thing I thought about was " There's a massive sheet covering the entire stage and I know it's going to fall... do we go in the pit before it falls or after? if before is it going to fall on us and how long will it take for them to remove it before we can see the band and shoot " .... We were told we can go into the pit.... the sheet had not fallen yet.. hmmmm... ok so the lights dim, you can see colours changing behind the sheet, I could hear movement... guitars ring out and BAM!!!! the sheet drops then somehow blows off to the side of the stage very quick.. barely even touched me except for the tail end that slapped me in the face lol. There they were, Judas Priest right there on stage rocking out. Standing there taking pics, now the only thing going through my head is how many of the old great concert photographers have been right in this spot taking these images... on film.. which is insane to think about.. and now here I am doing the same thing, it's incredible. This show had amazing lighting, so much light it was tough finding exposure with it constantly changing. One guitarist with aviators on was all over the place, back and forth, up on speakers, throwing the guitar around quite a bit, so much fun to photograph and I'll be honest here, he was my main focus just because of how much action he was throwing out there. Over all this was an incredible experience, great performances by all 3 bands, I was thoroughly captivated by each band and what they were putting out for everyone. So if you're thinking about hitting one of the tour dates on the rest of this tour... don't think to long, you won't be disappointed. GO!

Big thanks goes out to Live Nation for the approval, allowing me the opportunity to photograph this concert. Also, big thanks goes out to Budweiser Gardens in London On. Canada for the great as always hospitality.

- Shutter Click.

Kevin Vyse Photography Blog:

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JUDAS PRIEST WITH SAXON & BLACK STAR RIDER

JUDAS PRIEST

SAXON

BLACK STAR RIDERS