The Epitaph World Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, at the time intended to be the band's farewell tour. The tour commenced in June 2011 and concluded in May 2012. The tour was named after the 6th track from their Sad Wings of Destiny album.

Guitarist K. K. Downing abruptly left the band shortly before the start of the tour. He was replaced by then 31-year-old Briton, Richie Faulkner. The last date of the tour was held in an unusually small venue, London's Hammersmith Apollo. This return to Judas Priest's homeland was filmed for a live DVD.

Epitaph would ultimately turn out not to be the band's final tour, as they embarked on the Redeemer of Souls Tour two years later.

Production

Stage production for the Epitaph World Tour

On 10 May, the band announced that preparations for the tour had begun, including rehearsals, photos, stage construction, and special effects.

On 6 June, guitarist Glenn Tipton announced on his website that:

We have just finished production rehearsals for our Epitaph World Tour; the show looks great bikes, lasers, flames you name it, we've got it. But as always, the most important thing is the music and the set list contains all the old favorites combined with songs we haven't played before live, such as "Blood Red Skies" and "Never Satisfied", and also earlier songs, including "Starbreaker" and "Night Crawler". In addition we changed the arrangement of some songs slightly, including "Diamonds and Rust" and "Hell Bent for Leather", which I'm sure every one will enjoy.Our first show is in Holland on June 7th at Tilburg; the band is really excited and can't wait to get back on stage. I will post regular bulletins from now and as the tour gets underway keep every body up-to-date on our progress.

Rob Halford incident

On the 15 September 2011 show in Brasília, Rob Halford fell off his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he rode across the stage, only to slip off as "Hell Bent for Leather" was set to be performed. This was reminiscent of an incident that occurred on the Operation Rock & Roll tour in 1991, but this time he did not sustain any major injuries. He was assisted by crew members as the intro piece began, and finished the show thereafter.

Tour dates

DateCityCountryVenue/Event
Europe, Leg #1
7 June 2011TilburgNetherlands013
9 June 2011SölvesborgSwedenSweden Rock Festival
11 June 2011TampereFinlandSauna Open Air Metal Festival
14 June 2011OsloNorwayOslo Spektrum
15 June 2011BergenEdvard Griegsplass
17 June 2011CopenhagenDenmarkCopenhell Festival
19 June 2011ClissonFranceHellfest
20 June 2011ParisLe Zénith
22 June 2011MilanItalyGods of Metal Festival
23 June 2011BaselSwitzerlandSonisphere Festival
25 June 2011DesselBelgiumGraspop Metal Meeting Festival
27 June 2011MunichGermanyZenith
28 June 2011PragueCzech RepublicO2 Arena
29 June 2011ViennaAustriaWiener Stadthalle
1 July 2011BelgradeSerbiaBeogradska Arena
3 July 2011BucharestRomaniaPiața Constituției
5 July 2011AthensGreeceFaliro Olympic Complex
6 July 2011ThessalonikiKaftanzoglio Stadium
8 July 2011SofiaBulgariaBalgarska Armia Stadium
10 July 2011IstanbulTurkeyMaçka Küçükçiftlik Park
15 July 2011NewportWalesNewport Centre
16 July 2011ManchesterEnglandO2 Apollo
17 July 2011DoncasterThe Dome
19 July 2011GlasgowScotlandSECC
20 July 2011NewcastleEnglandMetro Radio Arena
21 July 2011WolverhamptonWolverhampton Civic Hall
23 July 2011LondonHigh Voltage Festival
24 July 2011BournemouthBournemouth International Centre
27 July 2011LisbonPortugalPavilhão Atlântico
29 July 2011A CoruñaSpainColiseum da Coruña
30 July 2011MadridPlaza de Toros La Cubierta
31 July 2011BilbaoBizkaia Arena
2 August 2011BarcelonaPalau Municipal d'Esports Badelona
5 August 2011WackenGermanyWacken Open Air
7 August 2011ColmarFranceFoire aux Vins Festival
9 August 2011BerlinGermanyO2 World
10 August 2011KatowicePolandSpodek
11 August 2011BudapestHungarySziget Festival
Latin America
10 September 2011São PauloBrazilArena Anhembi
11 September 2011Rio de JaneiroCitibank Hall
13 September 2011Belo HorizonteChevrolet Hall
15 September 2011BrasíliaGinásio Nilson Nelson
18 September 2011Buenos AiresArgentinaEl Cilindro
20 September 2011SantiagoChileMovistar Arena
23 September 2011BogotáColombiaColiseo Cubierto el Campín
25 September 2011CaracasVenezuelaTerraza del C.C.C.T.
27 September 2011San JoséCosta RicaEstadio Nacional
30 September 2011Mexico CityMexicoPalacio de los Deportes
1 October 2011GuadalajaraAuditorio Telmex
3 October 2011MonterreyAuditorio Banamex
North America
12 October 2011San AntonioUnited StatesAT&T Center
14 October 2011Corpus ChristiConcrete Street Amphitheater
15 October 2011The WoodlandsCynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
16 October 2011AllenAllen Event Center
18 October 2011TucsonAVA Amphitheater
19 October 2011Chula VistaCricket Wireless Amphitheatre
21 October 2011PhoenixArizona State Fair
22 October 2011San BernardinoSan Manuel Amphitheater
23 October 2011Las VegasThe Joint
25 October 2011BakersfieldRabobank Arena
27 October 2011ConcordSleep Train Pavilion
29 October 2011SeattleWaMu Theater
30 October 2011VancouverCanadaRogers Arena
1 November 2011EdmontonShaw Conference Centre
2 November 2011CalgaryScotiabank Saddledome
4 November 2011West Valley CityUnited StatesMaverik Center
5 November 2011Broomfield1stBank Center
8 November 2011CincinnatiU.S. Bank Arena
9 November 2011SpringfieldPrairie Capital Convention Center
10 November 2011St. CharlesFamily Arena
12 November 2011HammondThe Venue at Horseshoe Casino
13 November 2011DetroitJoe Louis Arena
15 November 2011ClevelandQuicken Loans Arena
16 November 2011RochesterMain Street Armory
18 November 2011East RutherfordIzod Center
19 November 2011JohnstownCambria County War Memorial Arena
20 November 2011LowellTsongas Center
22 November 2011TorontoCanadaAir Canada Centre
23 November 2011Quebec CityColisée Pepsi
24 November 2011MontrealBell Centre
26 November 2011ReadingUnited StatesSovereign Center
27 November 2011Winston-SalemLawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum
30 November 2011Tampa1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre
1 December 2011MiamiBayfront Park Amphitheater
3 December 2011BiloxiHard Rock Hotel and Casino
Asia
4 February 2012SeoulSouth KoreaOlympic Gymnastics Arena
7 February 2012FukuokaJapanSun Palace
9 February 2012YokohamaPacifico Yokohama
11 February 2012KobeKobe Kokusai Hall
13 February 2012HiroshimaAlsok Hall
14 February 2012NagoyaAichi Prefectural Arts Theater
16 February 2012TokyoZepp
17 February 2012Nippon Budokan
20 February 2012Central AreaSingaporeFort Canning
Europe, Leg #2
14 April 2012KatowicePolandSpodek
16 April 2012KyivUkrainePalace of Sports
18 April 2012MoscowRussiaStadium Live
20 April 2012Saint PetersburgYubileyny Sports Palace
22 April 2012HelsinkiFinlandHelsingin Jäähalli
24 April 2012LinköpingSwedenCloetta Center
25 April 2012StockholmHovet
27 April 2012HamburgGermanyAlsterdorfer Sporthalle
28 April 2012LeipzigArena Leipzig
30 April 2012MünsterHalle Münsterland
1 May 2012DüsseldorfMitsubishi Electric Halle
3 May 2012StuttgartPorsche-Arena
4 May 2012NurembergArena Nürnberger Versicherung
5 May 2012LinzAustriaTipsArena Linz
8 May 2012PardubiceCzech RepublicČEZ Aréna
9 May 2012BratislavaSlovakiaIncheba Hall
11 May 2012MantuaItalyPalaBam
12 May 2012FribourgSwitzerlandForum
15 May 2012MadridSpainPalacio Vistalegre
16 May 2012BarcelonaPalau Sant Jordi
18 May 2012SevilleAuditorio Municipal Rocío Jurado
20 May 2012San SebastiánVelódromo de Anoeta
23 May 2012AntwerpBelgiumLotto Arena
24 May 2012KerkradeNetherlandsRodahal
26 May 2012LondonEnglandHammersmith Apollo

Setlist

According to a posting on Tipton's website on 27 January 2011, the tour will "include some classic Priest songs that we haven't played before -- and of course, the old favourites that everybody will want to hear." On 15 February, the band announced they were considering playing at least one song from each of their albums as part of the setlist.

The setlist for the first leg of the tour was as follows:

  1. "Battle Hymn"
  2. "Rapid Fire"
  3. "Metal Gods"
  4. "Heading Out to the Highway"
  5. "Judas Rising"
  6. "Starbreaker"
  7. "Victim of Changes"
  8. "Never Satisfied"
  9. "Diamonds and Rust" (acoustic to heavy version)
  10. "Prophecy"
  11. "Night Crawler"
  12. "Turbo Lover"
  13. "Beyond the Realms of Death"
  14. "The Sentinel"
  15. "Blood Red Skies"
  16. "The Green Manalishi (with the Two Prong Crown)"
  17. "Breaking the Law"
  18. "Painkiller"
  19. "The Hellion"/"Electric Eye"
  20. "Hell Bent for Leather"
  21. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
  22. "Living After Midnight"

Note: The band played a shorter set with omitted songs at certain festival appearances.

Reviews

A review of the band's performance at the Sonisphere Festival in Basel, Switzerland by RockAAA.com was favourable, praising both Rob Halford's vocal performance and Richie Faulkner's guitar playing. The reviewer said that Halford's "tone is astonishing...and [his] delivery as good as there is in the business."

Support acts

Personnel

External links