Judas Priest reschedule 50th anniversary tour, add Sabaton to the bill

Judas Priest have announced new dates for the American and Canadian leg of their 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour for this autumn. COVID delays obviously mean that tour title has become unfriendly to people who like accurate maths, but that's outweighed by the addition of war-loving Swedish metallers Sabaton to the bill.

“Defending the heavy metal faith for 50 years, the Priest is back!” declares frontman Rob Halford, while guitarist Glenn Tipton adds, “Time to don the leather and studs and roll out the Priest Machine!"

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Priest have been using their downtime constructively, working on the follow-up to 2018's Firepower album.

"We've got a bunch of great new ideas for tracks, lots of really strong demos," Rob Halford told Brazilian radio station Kazagastão. "It's gonna be a very potent record, 'cause we know we have to follow Firepower. But I've gotta tell you, Firepower turned the metal up for all of us in the band; it really gave us a tremendous boost this far on. And so, as a result of that, we carried all the energy from Firepower, we carried all the energy from the shows, and we took that with us when we went into the writing sessions last March – not this March, but last March – and you can sense it in the writing. So we already have some extremely potent, strong material."

The band will also headline the UK's Bloodstock Festival on August 15.

Full U.S./Canada dates are below. Check individual gigs for Sabaton…

September 2021

8 Reading, PA Santander Arena
9 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
11 Orlando, FL Central Florida Fairgrounds
13 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
14 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater
16 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
17 Youngstown, OH Covelli Centre
19 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
20 Rosemont, IL Rosemont Theatre
22 Milwaukee, WI Miller High Life Theatre
23 Minneapolis, MN The Armory
25 Maryland Heights, MO Saint Louis Music Park
26 Louisville, KY Louder Than Life Festival
29 Denver, CO The Mission Ballroom
30 West Valley City, UT Maverik Center

October 2021

2 Everett, WA Angel Of The Winds Arena
3 Portland, OR Moda Center
5 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
6 Los Angeles, CA Microsoft Theater
8 Las Vegas, NV Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood
9 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Federal Theatre
12 San Antonio, TX Freeman Coliseum
13 Cedar Park, TX HEB Center Cedar Park
15 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
16 Oklahoma City, OK The Zoo Amphitheatre
19 Independence, MO Cable Dahmer Arena
21 Nashville, TN Nashville Municipal Auditorium
22 Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
24 Charleston, WV Charleston Civic Center Coliseum
25 Philadelphia, PA The Met
27 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
28 Oxon Hill, MD The Theater at MGM National Harbor
30 Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods Resort Casino - Grand Theater
31 Lowell, MA Tsongas Center At UMass Lowell

November 2021

2 Halifax, NS Scotiabank Centre
4 Laval, QC Place Bell
5 Hamilton, ONT First Ontario Centre

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