Review: Rock titans Alice Cooper, Judas Priest bring sonic assault to San Diego

Alice Cooper at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre Photo by Donovan Roche Times of San Diego While they take on disparate personas Alice Cooper as the Godfather of Shock Rock and Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford as the Metal God the pair are complementary co-headliners on their current Shield of Pain tour and they proved it to an enthusiastic crowd on Oct at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre Following a short but electric opening set from Southern metal veterans Corrosion of Conformity Cooper and his five-piece band took the stage first The master of macabre still reigns Emerging from the shadows like a creature of the night Cooper directly set the macabre tone for the night with Hello Hooray and Who Do You Think We Are Dressed head to toe in black from top hat and raccoon eyes to leather pants and boots the spry -year-old prowled across the stage as if presiding over a carnival sideshow One of rock s the bulk theatrical showmen for more than years Cooper used numerous props to bring his sinister songs to life He shook shrunken-head maracas during Muscle of Love brandished a fencing sword on Spark in the Dark and impaled a pesky paparazzo with his mic stand in Hey Stoopid And it only got darker and bloodier from there During Ballad of Dwight Fry Cooper struggled in a straitjacket before being decapitated by guillotine after which a woman his real-life wife Sheryl Cooper gleefully paraded his severed head around the stage Moments later he was back onstage and dancing with a female corpse during Cold Ethyl It was all deliciously twisted Fittingly timed with Halloween around the corner Feed My Frankenstein featured a giant Alice-faced monster while Cooper donned a black cape to become Dracula for Dangerous Tonight Circuslike as his shows are Cooper s razor-sharp bandmates are no clowns Fueled by three exceptional guitarists Ryan Roxie Tommy Henriksen and Hurricane Nita Strauss think Xena the Warrior Princess if she went blonde and traded in her sword for a six-string axe and a fierce rhythm section in bassist Chuck Garric and drummer Glen Sobel s hits like I m Eighteen and No More Mr Nice Guy sounded as vital in the current era as they did five decades ago Changing into white tails and top hat the Shock Rock pioneer who circulated his latest album The Revenge of Alice Cooper in July closed his -minute set with his biggest hit and Grammy Hall of Fame selection School s Out Cleverly weaving in Pink Floyd s Another Brick in the Wall Pt as he stabbed giant confetti-filled balloons Cooper bid farewell with May all your lovely dreams become nightmares The metal god ascends Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford Photo by Donovan Roche Times of San Diego On the way to the venue this reviewer hoped Judas Priest would perform their newest charity cover of Black Sabbath s War Child as a virtual duet with Ozzy Osbourne When the track started playing right before the band came out it seemed inevitable but no such luck Instead the Birmingham heavy metal legends launched into All Guns Blazing and Hell Patrol two of five songs from their Painkiller album they d perform tonight Halford clad in his signature leather and studs reminded the crowd that Judas Priest dependably comes back they last played here in At Halford s voice remains astonishing He can still pierce the heavens with his shrieking highs as on A Touch of Evil and the set-closing Painkiller and sustain lung-busting long notes like he did twice during Night Crawler When not attacking the mic Halford hyped his twin guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap praising them as they unleashed chunky riffs and fiery solos throughout the night while longtime bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis anchored the sonic assault with a relentless thumping drive Judas Priest s production was simpler than Cooper s focusing instead on visuals from their th studio album s Invincible Shield and the band s iconic trident cross while a side curtain allowed Halford to periodically slip out for a breather during extended jams Their -minute -song set leaned heavily on Painkiller but also featured classic hits including multiple songs from s Screaming for Vengeance crowd-pleasers You ve Got Another Thing Comin and The Hellion Electric Eye and s revered British Steel Current the Law and the singalong encore-saver Living After Midnight Halford didn t address the audience much but about three-quarters through he thanked fans for years of backing This is us he revealed Our little heavy metal district The crowd roared A poignant tribute followed with Giants in the Sky from their latest album honoring fallen rock heroes like Ronnie James Dio Lemmy Kilmister Eddie Van Halen and Chris Cornell with Ozzy s image drawing the loudest cheers It wasn t the hoped-for War Child duet but it was a proper salute to rock s beloved madman Riding into their encore Halford made good on his trademark stunt and rolled out on his Harley-Davidson for the biker anthem Hell Bent for Leather revving up his chrome beast and legion of metalheads before declaring Thanks for keeping the faith We reliably come back We are f king Judas Priest Donovan Roche is a regular music and lifestyle contributor to Times of San Diego