KK’s Steelmill – 6/7/23
The last time I saw KK Downing play at KKs Steelmill, I cited it as my ‘Gig of the Year’ – Sunday 3rd November 2019 was a metal gig that I didn’t think could be beaten… Until last week. I was back at the Steelmill watching KK again, this time playing his debut show with his new band KK’s Priest
We had two fantastic support slots from Tailgunner and Paul Di’Anno, I particularly enjoyed Tailgunners ‘Guns for Hire’ and they closed with a cracking rendition of ‘Dio’s ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers’. They are a band that are destined to go far, and if you’re not familiar with them, check them out! Di’Anno played a solid set of Maiden songs, even dedicating ‘Remember Tomorrow’ to late Maiden drummer Clive Burr, whose wife Mimi was in the audience. Paul was in fine voice and absolutely nailed ‘Phantom of the Opera’, hearing him play that was such a treat!
Onto the main event and we have being looking forward to this since the first album ‘Sermons of the Sinner’ came out in the dark days of lockdown. This show has been a long time coming. Will it be worth the wait? I think so…
Following the band intros by ‘Deimos’, KK runs onto stage and climbs up onto one of the raised platforms an kicks the show off. With a whammy heavy guitar intro, the band launch into the first song ‘Hellfire Thunderbolt’! We had pyro, fireworks and smoke; and this was just the first song! I could tell straight away this was going to be a night to remember. The band were firing on all cylinders, it was absolutely epic.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard vocalist Tim Ripper Owens sounding so good. The sound at the Steelmill is amazing, it is by far my favourite rock music venue, but tonight’s show was on another level. The sound was even punchier, even crisper and even louder. Everything was on point. Tony Newton’s bass thundered and I loved hearing his bass introduction on the second song ‘One More Shot at Glory’. A new song that was only released the week before, this had the entire Steelmill singing along; testament to the loyalty of KK’s fans.
Ripper walks out into the walkway that goes into the crowd, ‘What’s my Name? What’s my name?’ he shouts; ‘Ripper!!’ the crowd scream back as KK and AJ launch into the opening guitar run or the song that gave Ripper his name and it gives me chills! Both AJ and KK’s tone is incredible! They have tone for days!
Unreleased song ‘Reap the Whirlwind’ is up next and what a great song it is! It hits you hard and heavy! I can’t wait to hear the new album, as so far, from the two new new songs we’ve heard, it sounds much heavier!
‘Nightcrawler’ from the Judas Priest album ‘Painkiller’ is up next. Played a lot harder than the Judas Priest original, it fitted really well with the heavier KK’s Priest sound. I absolutely loved the twin guitar attack as AJ and KK duelled on guitar!
‘Sermons of the Sinner’ follows, another track from the band’s debut album. Cue a fantastic drum intro from Sean Elg, even more dynamic than the record and as the twin guitar attack comes in, we are in ‘Heavy Metal Paradise’. I loved the visuals that incorporated bits of the music and KK’s wah wah heavy solo was delicious! Watching him live, you really appreciate just how good a guitarist he is and he is definitely worthy of the ‘guitar legend’ status that he has!
Another three Judas Priest track’s followed, ‘Burn in Hell’, ‘Beyond the Realms of Death’ and ‘Hell Patrol’. ‘Burn in Hell’ is possibly Rippers signature song, from 1997’s Jugulator album and the fans went wild for it. ‘Beyond the Realms of Death’ was superb and is actually from my favourite JP album, Stained Class and again, the solo’s were divine and Hell Patrol absolutely thundered along! Brilliant.
Back to the KKs Priest material, Brothers of the Road is up next and this had me, and the rest of the crowd bouncing and chanting the catchy chorus back at the band! ‘We’re Brother’s of the Road and We ROCK!’ A fantastic audience singalong moment!
Another four Judas Priest song’s follow, another track from Painkiller – ‘Metal Meltdown’, the intro of which allowed both KK and AJ to dance down the fretboard of their guitars, before the drums kick in and the song takes off! Ripper’s vocals are incredible and the duel guitar attack again is top notch.
‘Green Manalishi’ and ‘Breaking the Law’ follow, and then ‘Victim of Changes’… wow! What a rendition. Absolutely amazing. Ten minutes of spine tingling, goosebump inflicting perfection! KKs solo was out of this world, often talked about on the Internet as one of the greatest solos ever, seeing it in person was mind blowing! I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.
The band left briefly before coming back for the encore, the show was completed with a blistering ’Raise Your Fists’. In my album review I said of this song ‘it was a hard rocking crowd pleaser, which I can imagine a live audience screaming the catchy chorus back at the band at full volume!’ This sentiment rang true and the final song had the crowd raising their fists high!
I witnessed a very special night at KKs Steelmill. The bands debut live show and it was amazing. Absolutely stunning in fact, the band are out in Europe playing some European festival dates, before returning to the U.K. in October for a U.K. tour. I really hope that we hear more of the KK’s Priest material in future shows, ‘Sacerdote y Diablo’, ‘Wild and Free’, ‘Return of the Sentinel’ and ‘Hail to the Priest’ would all be very welcomed additions to the setlist in the future.
This is a band you have to see, all five musicians are at the top of their game, KK and AJ work really well together, the rhythm section of Tony and Sean is vibrant and energetic and Ripper is possibly the best metal vocalist out there on the scene at the moment.
Go and see the band out on the road, dates are slowly being added, but I for one will be heading back to see them at a few venues in October. You simply can not miss this show
