JUDAS PRIEST's RICHIE FAULKNER Promises 'A Few Surprises' In Setlist For Upcoming North American Tour

Richie Faulkner says that fans can expect to hear “a few surprises” in JUDAS PRIEST‘s setlist when he and his bandmates return to the United States this spring for a run with fellow classic heavy rockers URIAH HEEP. The 32-date trek will kick off on May 3 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida and wrap on June 29 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We were there with [DEEP] PURPLE in the fall of last year, at the end of summer last year, so it will be great to come back and do our headline shows,” Faulkner told Atlanta’s rock station Rock 100.5 in a brand new interview (hear audio below). “And we’re bringing URIAH HEEP with us. And we’re looking forward to it. We’re working up new songs for the setlist for this go-around. There’ll be a few surprises in there — some songs that maybe people haven’t heard for a long time, or ever from the band. So it’s exciting just to see people’s faces when you throw a new song in there or a blast from the past. So we’re looking forward to coming back through. It’s a slightly different stage production. We’ve got some new ideas for that as well. So it’s gonna be an exciting tour. We can’t wait to get back out there.”

Last month, JUDAS PRIEST performed the song “Killing Machine” live for the first time since 1978 during a concert at Zénith de Paris in Paris, France.

“Killing Machine” is the title track of JUDAS PRIEST‘s fifth studio album, which was retitled “Hell Bent for Leather” for its U.S. release. It was the band’s last studio album to feature drummer Les Binks.

During last year’s “Firepower” U.S. tour, JUDAS PRIEST‘s set included rarities like “Running Wild”, “Bloodstone” and “Tyrant”, plus “Saints In Hell”, which had never been performed live before.

Bassist Ian Hill is the sole remaining original member of PRIEST, which formed in 1969. Singer Rob Halford joined the group in 1973 and guitarist Glenn Tipton signed on in 1974. Rob left PRIEST in the early 1990s to form his own band, then came back to PRIEST in 2003.

JUDAS PRIEST‘s new album, “Firepower”, was released in March 2018 via Epic.

Fonte: Blabbermouth.net