sometimes you just have to sit back and look at where you are. before covid hit i was on a roll in getting approved for nationals and building up quite the photo library. all through covid every opportunity simply faded. add in some personal issues i had to take care of, i wondered if shooting nationals was done for me.
then along come the rock and roll icons judas priest and i was approved by an amazing management company in short order. below are the galleries for both queensryche and priest, but let me sit back and talk about it some. this is certainly one of those experiences you sit back and appreciate.
for nationals, you get 3 songs usually. there’s never been a time i didn’t stop for a minute and simply appreciate having the best seat in the house. if only for a minute. then you remember THREE SONGS and get to shootin again. when you have the chance to be in the pit for this tour, you take the time to be thankful.
that said, i can tell you my impression for the first 3 songs anyway from such an amazing vantage point. queensryche, even with the new singer, still had that sound and feeling i recall from the 80s. we were escorted out of the pit and had to turn in gear and wait for priest next.
i sat back and shot the shit with the other photographers. that is also certainly one thing i’ve missed. i was just starting to know some of the best in dallas and learn something every time from seeing their results.
the time came to get our gear back and hit the pit for the 2nd time that night. this time it was for judas priest and rob halford. its so hard to fathom this band started when i was 4. FOUR. like all of us, they’ve gone through their ups and downs and changes.
we all have our changes, i know.
but the feeling? the same. the power, the energy, the “defiance” they’ve always represented. it was there. the set ran 19 songs and most priest fans are coming out of the woodwork to get one more show in.
lets face it, as we all grow older we don’t know what we have left. the crowd at the factory was wild and into it 100%, and they seemed to also know. we’re comin down the backside of history and it still feels the same.
incredible.
catch the tour if you can – you won’t be disappointed!
