See Judas Priest Reunite With Glenn Tipton at First Show in Over 2 Years | Page 3 | Revolver

See Judas Priest Reunite With Glenn Tipton at First Show in Over 2 Years

Heavy metal pioneers kicked off 50th anniversary tour with setlist full of surprises

Stock up on classic Judas Priest vinyl, merch and more — including a 2LP Revolver-exclusive vinyl variant of Halford's Resurrection over in our shop

Judas Priest are back to living after midnight. Over the weekend, the heavy metal pioneers returned to the stage for the first time in over two years at the Bloodstock Open Air festival in the U.K., and longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton even made a special appearance during the encore. 

The performance marked the kickoff of Priest's 50th anniversary tour, which was waylaid in 2020 due to COVID-19, but is currently set to resume throughout North America this coming fall. To make the night special, Rob Halford and the gang assembled an unusual setlist that was stuffed with deep cuts and tracks that hadn't been performed in decades, if ever at all.

As Blabbermouth notes, they gave 1990's "One Shot at Glory" and 1978's "Invader" their long-awaited debuts, played "Rocka Rolla" for the first time since 1976, ripped "Exciter" and "A Touch of Evil" for the first time since 2005, and spotlighted others like "Hell Patrol" and "Dissident Aggressor" that they hadn't busted out since 2009. 

However, the crown jewel of the night was when Tipton came out during the encore and performed "Metal Gods", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight" with his beloved bandmates. Tipton has been a lead guitarist in the band since 1974, but he's had to step back from touring since 2018 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. 

His on-stage reunion was quite a special moment, and you can watch fan-captured footage of the evening above and below the jump.