Another Deep Purple farewell, plus “Firepower” from Judas Priest

Photos by Daniel DeSlover

“The Long Goodbye” continued for golden anniversary-celebrating hard rockers Deep Purple when Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre was treated to an encore of 2017’s “Infinite” excursion with Alice Cooper. For this edition, Judas Priest turned out to be its expertly-matched partner in crime, who came armed with nearly five decades of heavy metal hits and its 18th studio album “Firepower.”

All the while, Deep Purple roared with enough attitude and aggression that would probably make any additional victory laps members could muster completely welcome.

Anchored by singer Ian Gillan, bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice, Deep Purple turned in muscular flirtations with metal, straight up classic rock, progressive dabblings and psychedelic experiments throughout 75 no-nonsense minutes that could’ve easily been longer. Nonetheless, the group made sure to tackle no less than five cornerstones from 1972’s monstrous “Machine Head,” or more specifically, “Highway Star,” “Pictures Of Home,” “Lazy,” “Space Truckin’” and Smoke On The Water.”

In between, Deep Purple sampled other key periods, including fellow ‘70s punches “Bloodsucker” and “Strange Kind Of Woman,” ‘80s comeback tracks “Knocking At Your Back Door” and “Perfect Strangers” up through the newer “Uncommon Man.” All the while, the rock gods roared with enough attitude and aggression that would probably make any additional victory laps they could muster completely welcome.

On the contrary, Judas Priest doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, especially with the announcement of a 50th anniversary outing slated for 2019. In the meantime, motorcycle-riding front man Rob Halford led the endlessly entertaining group through nothing but scorchers, starting with “Firepower” and winding around “Grinder,” “Sinner,” “Bloodstone” and “Turbo Lover” like clockwork with everyone’s fists raised high.

“You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” kept the horns flying, “Hell Bent For Leather” revved up with a literal engine’s roar and “Painkiller” pummeled as the initial outro. There was no better way to encore than the trifecta of “Metal Gods,” “Breaking The Law” and “Living After Midnight,” all of which upheld Judas Priest’s unparalleled distinction as masters of British metal.

For additional information on Deep Purple and Judas Priest, visit DeepPurple.com and JudasPriest.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre include Gov’t Mule’s “Darkside Of The Mule” and The Avett Brothers (Aug. 24); Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town (Aug. 25); Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger Death Punch (Aug. 29); Counting Crows with +Live+ (Sept. 8); Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker (Sept. 15); Pentatonix (Sept. 16); Ozzy Osbourne (Sept. 21) and Kid Rock with Brantley Gilbert (Sept. 22). For additional details, visit LiveNation.com.

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Another Deep Purple farewell, plus “Firepower” from Judas Priest

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