Ahead of their first and only show in New York State, Judas Priest and Alice Cooper’s co-headlining tour touched down at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Sept. 23. Joining the two legendary bands was the Raleigh, North Carolina-based Corrosion of Conformity. This tour carries the bands into the final days of October. These three groups are only bringing shock rock and heavy metal across North America.
Up first was Corrosion of Conformity. By the time the quartet hit the stage, the sun was beginning to set. Bassist Bobby Landgraf was the first member to talk out and greet the audience. He struck a few dissonant notes before drummer Stanton Moore joined, followed by the rest of the band. Corrosion of Conformity has been around for the last 43 years and has provided headbanging and loud guitars since 1982. Since they were opening for Alice Cooper and Judas Priest, they made it even louder. Despite their short set, the band made the most of the time that was given.
Pepper Keenan led the way on guitar and lead vocals. While he never stepped around the stage, guitarist Woody Weatherman made sure to use all the free space. Whether it was spinning around in a circle or walking to the drums, Weatherman used as much space as possible. Halfway through the band’s rendition of “Wiseblood,” off of the 1996 record of the same name, Keenan had guitar issues but seamlessly swapped out instruments. He made it look truly professional. Throughout the set, Keenan made sure to thank the fans for coming out early and giving them a watch. Eventually, they received a large cheer from the crowd that came out to see them.
Each band was very time-conscious as it was a Tuesday night in Connecticut. At 7:40 p.m., Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” blasted out, fans belted sang each word, and Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford took the stage. The band started with “All Guns Blazing,” which was their first of 14 songs for the night. Judas Priest is known for delivering top-notch performances and tonight was no different. Songs two and three, “Hell Patrol” and fan favorite “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” had fans standing and headbanging.
Guitarist Richie Faulker added an extra spark to the band’s electricity. With numerous light blue Gibson Guitars in hand, he was posing, playing for the audience, and making sure every fan was enjoying the show. During the show, if fans’ eyes weren’t planted on Halford or Faulkner, there was a camera behind drummer Scott Travis’ drums. These camera shots gave fans a sense of an “in-depth” look. To counter Faulkner, guitarist and producer of the band’s newest record, Invincible Shield, Andy Sneap ran back and forth from his position at stage right. Sneap’s stage use was the opposite of bassist Ian Hill. Hill is one of two members to be featured on every Judas Priest record.
As the band began “Solar Angles,” their signature logo appeared from behind a curtain and lit up above the drums. The logo would stay put at the back of the stage for the remainder of the show. “The Hellion” was played partially, which allowed the logo’s signature moment to shine all by itself. Fans cheered and raised their metal horns as a battle cry of honor. The beginning of “The Hellion” made for a natural transition into “Electric Eye.”
With Judas Priest in the back half of their set, they polished off a newer song, “Giants in the Sky.” With Halford belting out the lyrics of “If you only knew just how much you mean to me,” photos of legendary artists who have passed on, like Freddie Mercury, Janis Joplin and Chris Cornell appeared on the screen as a tribute. As the song came to a close and one last “Giant’s in the sky, you will never die,” two photos of the late Ozzy Osbourne flashed on the screen, making the entire crowd roar to life. Priest then finished the set with fan favorites “Hell Bent for Leather” and “Living After Midnight” with Halford making an appearance on his famous motorcycle.
Like Judas Priest, The Alice Cooper band was also promptly on stage by 9:40 p.m. Cooper kicked off his set with an instrumental rendition of “Hello Hooray.” This was before jumping into another partial version of “Who Do You Think We Are.” It’s challenging to top Judas Priest’s performance, but the Alice Cooper band was able to live up to the challenge and close out the show to perfection.
By the time the band made it to “Spark in the Dark,” members Ryan Roxie, Nita Strauss, Tommy Henriksen and bassist Chuck Garric were all moving around the stage, making it their playground. The stage was also set up to appear as if the band were standing on giant books instead of typical high risers. This added a great visual appeal to members of the audience who were too far away. Cooper has three guitarists, Strauss, Henricksen and Roxie. So, when original bassist Dennis Dunaway joined the band for “I’m Eighteen,” it only seemed right. This would be Dunaway’s first of two appearances of the night. He also joined the band for the encore of “School’s Out” at the end of the show.
For “Feed My Frankenstein,” Cooper sported his famous leather jacket, made famous in the classic Wayne’s World movie. Cooper, which made famous the “shock rock” category, also brought out a giant inflatable monster during the same song. The monster ran around on stage and wreaked havoc on the band, except for drummer Glen Sobel, who was too busy keeping down the steady beats. This wouldn’t be the last time Cooper brought out theatrics. During “Ballad of Dwight Fry,” Cooper was put into a straitjacket and “tazed” by Jason from Friday the 13th. Another time, Sheryl Cooper, Alice’s wife, put him in a guillotine and “cut his head off” while dancing around on stage.
Throughout the night, each member of the band got to shine. Strauss, Henricksen and Roxie each got turns to solo during songs and get up at the front of the stage. Strauss and Roxie even had a few guitar solo battles throughout the night. But after Cooper’s hit song, “Poison,” Strauss had a moment to go full whammy bar solo on the audience. While flipping her golden hair, she hammered down on her guitar, stating her place as one of Cooper’s greatest guitarists.
As is typical with Alice Cooper shows, he had to close the night with “School’s Out.” During their version of the Cooper classic, they broke off into a small snippet of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2.” As the clock struck 11 p.m., that signaled the end of Cooper’s set before the band said farewell to the Bridgeport, Connecticut audience.
The Judas Priest, Alice Cooper co-headlining tour can’t be missed. It checks off the boxes for every rock and roll & metal fan. Both bands are classic, legendary and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and create a magical night of headbanging and timeless classics.
Alice Cooper Setlist: Hello Hooray, Who Do You Think We Are, Spark in the Dark, No More Mr. Nice Guy, House of Fire, I’m Eighteen, Muscle of Love, Feed My Frankenstein, Dirty Diamonds, Caught in a Dream, Hey Stoopid, Dangerous Tonight, Poison, Brutal Planet, Ballad of Dwight Fry, Cold Ethyl, Only Women Bleed, Second Coming, Going Home, School’s Out
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, Electric Eye, Giants in the Sky, Painkiller, Hell Bent for Leather, Living After Midnight
Corrosion of Conformity Setlist: Bottom Feeder (El que come abajo), King of the Rotten, Diablo Blvd., Vote With a Bullet, Wiseblood, Clean My Wounds, Albatross
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