For the second of my O2 gigs this summer it was back ton London for a night of Alice Cooper and Judas Priest. Normally, if I’m heading off to the capital for a big arena gig these days it’s usually for a ‘bucket-list’ artist who I’ve never seen before (like Santana last month, Eagles in 2022 or Iggy Pop in 2023). I’ve seen both Alice and Priest previously so it’s not exactly bucket-list in the strictest sense but a double-headliner bill featuring these two legends proved impossible to resist.

At previous O2 gigs I’ve tended to find myself seated high up in the vertigo-inducing upper tiers right at the very back. Even though I didn’t fork out for a premium-price ticket, tonight I was delighted to find myself right at the front, just five rows from the middle of the stage with a magnificent view of the main action.

First up was a short but incendiary set from Phil Campbell & the Bastard Sons, the band formed by the former Motorhead guitarist following Lemmy’s 2015 death which brought to an end Campbell’s three-decade stint with Motorhead. Not owning any of the Bastard Sons albums I’m not massively familiar with the material, apart from the inclusion of two Motorhead covers. These were ‘Going To Brazil’ from the 1916 album which appeared early on the set and ‘Ace of Spades’ towards the end. The latter inevitably put a big smile on everyone’s faces in anticipation of what was to come. These guys certainly know how to pull off a great warm-up set.

Kicking off with ‘Lock Me Up’, Alice Cooper’s set is as over-the-top and theatrical as ever. An exhilarating combination of blistering hard rock, glam-meets-horror showmanship and that unmistakeable, menacing vocal drawl, the hits come thick and fast – with the likes of ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’, ‘I’m Eighteen’, ‘Hey Stoopid’ and ‘Poison’ fired out one after another.

He may be doing this as a double headliner tour but just like the previous time I saw him (when he was a wonderfully incongruous addition to the line-up at Fairport Convention’s Cropredy festival back in 2013), there’s no skimping on the theatricals. A giant-sized Alice puppet dominates the stage with mock-horror excess during ‘Feed My Frankenstein’, the guillotine comes out for the traditional ritual execution during ‘Killer’ and there’s whippings and slashings galore. It was all huge fun and exactly what you expect from an Alice Cooper gig. But what came later on made everyone gasp.

Lemmy’s legacy may have been very apparent during Phil Campbell’s opening set but for the two headliners, it was very much the spirit of the much more-recently departed Ozzy Osbourne that stole the show. Both would pay tribute to Birmingham’s finest tonight.

Reappearing on stage wearing an Ozzy T-shirt, Alice roared out the lyrics to ‘Paranoid’ as the band blasted out that unmistakeable riff, joined by none other than Hollywood’s Johnny Depp. It was all genuinely surprising, touching and thrilling in equal measure.

There was just time for one more hit after that. And one more set of special guests, as original Alice Coopers members Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith joined the band on stage for ‘Schools Out’. The horror show theatricals give way to a gloriously OTT end-of-term party as giant coloured balloons are hurled across the stage and stabbed by Alice to release explosions of confetti. What a blast!

Alice Cooper setlist:

Lock Me Up
Welcome to the Show
No More Mr. Nice Guy
I’m Eighteen
Hey Stoopid
He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)
Feed My Frankenstein
Go to Hell
Poison
Black Widow Jam
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer
I Love the Dead
Paranoid
School’s Out

Coming on stage to the strains of Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’, Judas Priest launched straight into ‘All Guns Blazing’ from the Painkiller album. Released 35 years ago, songs from that much-celebrated album feature heavily in tonight’s set. Given it’s one of Priest’s most unrelentingly heavy albums, it gave tonight’s show an unrelentingly heavy edge, with songs like ‘Hell Patrol’, ‘Night Crawler’ and, of course, the title track blasted out at breakneck speed in a demonic-sounding wall of twin guitars, a thunderous rhythm section and Rob Halford’s unmistakeable roar.

The Painkiller album is rightly held in huge affection by many metal fans. My favourite era, however, will always be the Killing Machine/British Steel days because that was my entry point into the band’s music as a young teenager. It was great, therefore, to get a blast of ‘Breaking The Law’ fairly early on – a true shake-your-fists-shout-along-at-the-top-of-your-voices all-time metal classic.

The continuing high quality of Priest albums in more recent years has also been a real cause for celebration. So it was also a treat hearing ‘Gates of Hell’ and ‘Giants in the Sky’ from the excellent 2024 album, Invincible Shield. The latter song, celebrating the continuing legacy of fallen rock legends, is given added poignancy with the death of Ozzy Osbourne earlier in the week and we get a touching video on the big screen – now including images of Osbourne. It’s also provides incontrovertible proof that, over five decades on, this is still a band that can turn out bona fide rock classics.

This is followed by a blistering version of the aforementioned ‘Painkiller’ – a sign that things are beginning to draw to a close. Having such a clear front-section view, I catch a glimpse of polished chrome in the wings and know exactly what’s coming next. Sure enough, Halford rides out on that glistening Harley Davidson to deliver a raucous ‘Hell Bent for Leather’.

Following Alice Cooper welcoming the original surviving band members on stage for ‘Schools Out’, it was an even lovelier moment seeing veteran Priest guitarist, Glenn Tipton, being welcomed on stage for the final song of the evening. Although Parkinson’s has left him visibly frail, Tipton’s delight at being up there rocking with the band for ‘Living After Midnight’ was plain for all to see. A marvellous finale to a brilliant evening of rock and metal.

Judas Priest setlist:

All Guns Blazing
Hell Patrol
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Freewheel Burning
Breaking the Law
A Touch of Evil
Night Crawler
Solar Angels
Gates of Hell
Between the Hammer and the Anvil
Giants in the Sky
Painkiller
Hell Bent for Leather
Living After Midnight

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‘Confess’ by Rob Halford – a gay heavy metal fan reviews the Metal God’s autobiography

Metal: album review – KK’s Priest ‘Sermons of the Sinner’