The Metal Gods reigned supreme at Badlands Bar in Perth on Saturday night as the one and only Tim “Ripper” Owens and his backing band that also includes drumming legend Simon Wright, known for his work with AC/DC and Dio plus the guy who spearheaded this whole project, James Morley who is known for his work with The Angels, paid homage to the legends of classic metal – Judas Priest and Ronnie James Dio.
Having never witnessed Mr Owens live before, it was a real treat to see this show as he set out to perform some of the most legendary tracks of all time, a lot of which he has been accustomed to due to his work with Judas Priest many years ago. Opening the night first however was AC/DC tribute act Livewire who focused on the Bon Scott era of the band in tonight’s set including some classic gems like “Rock N’ Roll Damnation” and “Sin City” and fan favorites “Whole Lotta Rose” and Let There Be Rock”. A solid start to the night as we prepared for the heavier stuff.
The main act for tonight came out on stage and without wasting much time, got straight to business with Metal Gods and launching “Breaking The Law” which was a nice early surprise. Tim’s voice immediately got people’s attention, for many of us this was the first time witnessing his show and he certainly impressed the hell out of us with his vocal range and power. A bit of classic Dio in “Rainbow In The Dark” got the crowd going while crowd favorite “Holy Diver” elevated the show to ungodly levels of brilliance.
My personal favorite “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'” made it into the set as the night went on, the chugging riffs really stood as the twin guitar attacks and solid rhythm section held their ground while Tim coached the crowd into participating as much as possible. The engagement levels were impressive, Ripper certainly knows how to work the crowd and looked impressive in the Badlands Batcave setting.
Another Priest classic “Living After Midnight” closed out the main portion of the show before the obligatory encore (which was lightning quick) closed out the show with Black Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell”. I’ve always been more a fan of Ozzy era Sabbath but in this instance, a classic is a classic and it’s hard to fault a great song. Brilliant night overall and suffice to say, Ripper and his whole band blew us away!
