Judas Priest announced that for the first time since 1974 they will tour with only one guitarist. The band that became known especially for the two heavy guitars that created almost a metal symphony in many songs will now only have Richie Faulkner on tour with the classic guitarist Glenn Tipton appearing in some shows.
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Since 2018 the producer Andy Sneap had replaced Tipton that had to stop touring because of Parkinson’s disease and now in an official statement the band said that Sneap will no longer play with them.
Andy is not happy about it
In an statement send to Blabblermouth, Andy Sneap said he is disappointed with what happened: “Rob called me last Monday and said they wanted to move on as a four-piece, which I find incredibly disappointing after this amount of time. But I respect his decision as they obviously have a vision how they want this to play out.
“This always was a temporary situation, and like I’ve said before, I’ll always help the band any way I can, and that applies going forward also. I’ve been a huge fan of the band since the early ’80s and it was mind-blowing to play onstage with the guys and quite frankly terrifying in the beginning at such short notice. We are moving forward with the new album next month and look forward to making a killer follow-up to ‘Firepower’.”
This move shows again that the band is not open to invite the original guitarist K.K Downing that already said many times over the years after he announced his retirement that he would be instered in joining them again (He has his own band now KK’ Priest with Ex-Judas singer Tim “Ripper” Owens). Richie Faulkner that replaced Downing back in 2011 suffered an “aortic aneurysm” on stage back in September 27, 2021 but it’s now recovered to get back on tour.
The official Judas Priest statement about the band now having only one touring guitarist says:
(Via Ultimate Classic Rock) “We are chomping at the British Steel bit to return to world touring. Celebrating 50 years of Judas Priest as an even more powerful, relentless four-piece heavy metal band – with Glenn coming out onstage with us here and there as before. Big thanks to Andy for all you’ve done and continuing to be in the production team for our new album. … See you all soon, headbangers!”
Judas Priest 2022 tour dates
March
4 Peoria Civic Center Peoria, IL
6 Mission Ballroom Denver, CO
7 Maverik Center West Valley City, UT
9 Angel Of The Winds Arena Everett, WA
10 Moda Center Portland, OR
12 Fox Theater Oakland, CA
13 Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Convention Center, NV
15 Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall Los Angeles, CA
16 Arizona Federal Theatre Phoenix, AZ
18 Irving Music Factory Irving, TX
20 H-E-B Center at Cedar Park Cedar Park, TX
21 Freeman Coliseum San Antonio, TX
23 Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN
25 Ameris Bank Amphitheatre Alpharetta, GA
27 Charleston Civic Center Coliseum Charleston, WV
29 The Met Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
30 Prudential Center Newark, NJ
31 The Theater at MGM National Harbor National Harbor,
April
2 Foxwoods Resort Casino Mashantucket, CT
4 Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell Lowell, MA
7 Scotiabank Centre Halifax, Canada
10 Videotron Centre Ville De Québec, Canada
11 Place Bell Laval, Canada
13 FirstOntario Centre Hamilton, Canada
27 Megasport Moscow, Russian Federation
29 Yubileynyy Sankt-peterburg, Russia
June
1 Palace Of Sports Kyiv, Ukraine
3 Stocznia Gdańska Gdańsk, Poland
5 Saku Arena Tallinn, Estonia
8 Helsingin jäähalli Helsinki, Finland
11 Dalhalla Rättvik, Sweden
12 Saab Arena Linköping, Sweden
14 DNB Arena Stavanger, Norway
16 Copenhell København, Denmark
18 festivalpark stenehei Dessel, Belgium
19 Hellfest Clisson, France
22 Rockhal Esch-sur-alzette, Luxembourg
23 Schleyerhalle Stuttgart, Germany
25 Rock The castle Villafranca Di Verona, Italy
27 Zenith Munich, Germany
30 Resurrection Fest Viveiro, Spain
July
2 Rockfest Santa Coloma De Gramenet, Spain
5 Hallenstadion Zürich, Switzerland
6 Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
9 R. Jelinek Distillery Area, Razov 472 Vizovice, Czechia
11 Papp Laszlo Arena Budapest, Hungary
12 Dvorana Stožice Ljubljana, Slovenia
15 Faliro Olympic Hall (Tae Kwon Do Hall) Athens, Greece
17 Midalidare rock Mogilovo, Bulgaria
18 The Roman Arenas Bucharest, Romania
21 National Tennis Center Bratislava Iii, Slovakia
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