Wow, Priest played Wembley Arena yesterday

[HueyRamone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupKa3DyPuY

I assumed they werent big enough in London to do that venue. Good footage of the full show.

[BernieTaupson]

Wembley Arena is 12,500 capacity.

[HueyRamone]

Wembley Arena is 12,500 capacity. It’s not Wembley Stadium.

I know, but they aint playing 12,500 seat arenas in america.

I know Hammersmith Odeon is gone, but that's where all the metal bands played, not Wembley, back in the day. Only metal band I saw at Wembley Arena was ACDC on FLy on the Wall.

[GoodJudge]

I know Hammersmith Odeon is gone, but that's where all the metal bands played, not Wembley, back in the day. Only metal band I saw at Wembley Arena was ACDC on FLy on the Wall.

The Odeon is long gone as a name but the venue is still there, called the Eventim Apollo, and is still hosting gigs including a few rock and metal bands. Most of the bigger gigs I've seen since about 2000 were at Brixton Academy, but that's been shut for over a year after 2 people died in a crush at the door. There aren't any other venues of similar size so if you want to book bigger it needs to be Wembley Arena. I saw Slayer's farewell tour there.

[HueyRamone]

I know Hammersmith Odeon is gone, but that's where all the metal bands played, not Wembley, back in the day. Only metal band I saw at Wembley Arena was ACDC on FLy on the Wall.

The Odeon is long gone as a name but the venue is still there, called the Eventim Apollo, and is still hosting gigs including a few rock and metal bands. Most of the bigger gigs I've seen since about 2000 were at Brixton Academy, but that's been shut for over a year after 2 people died in a crush at the door. There aren't any other venues of similar size so if you want to book bigger it needs to be Wembley Arena. I saw Slayer's farewell tour there.

Why do you think Maiden were doing like 5 nights at Hammersmith Odeon in their heyday, rather than like 2 nights at Wembley? Seemed like doing multiple shows at Hammersmith was the move for all the bigger metal bands then.

[EzyRider]

No Sleep 'til Hammersmith!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Sleep_ ... ammersmith

[LAglamrocker]

Is this the same boring shot all show?
Should I watch all of it

Why not shoot it with different angles while at show maybe
Wear some cool shades
Span the crowd
Show yourself in front of camera- create more excitement with devil horns- acknowledge me with the ones- overall fun- maybe include RVD pose..and so on. Don’t wear
band shirt at the show

Or just be f*cking boring like all 96 minutes

[Love_Industry]

Wembley Arena is 12,500 capacity. It’s not Wembley Stadium.

I know, but they aint playing 12,500 seat arenas in america.

They did play 16k capacity Nassau Coliseum on the Firepower tour but yes looking at setlist.fm they seem to play some seriously small places in the US. Not ony venues but towns. Charles, MO? Corbin, KY? Southaven, MS? Never heard of those towns, and Corbin has a population that would fit into Wembley Arena with plenty of empty seats.

[Don't Damn Me]

There's a Wembley Stadium too right?
Where the concert for life was held?

[Love_Industry]

There's a Wembley Stadium too right?
Where the concert for life was held?

Yes. And that’s probably why Kiss always played Wembley Arena in the 80s. It sounded cooler to have played Wembley where Live Aid was and Queen and Pink Floyd played on their tours than Hammersmith with the likes of UFO, Saxon or Twisted Sister. Even if it wasn't the same Wembley.

[HueyRamone]

I know Britons also held a serious grudge against Priest for fucking them over in favor for playing the US in their heyday. Also they missed 2 Birmingham shows on 2 tours to do top of the pops or whatever. I assume it's been long enough to forgive, but I remember the difference in Priest coverage vs Maiden coverage in kerrang at the time. Maiden might have been the bigger band, but Priest seemed to get 1/10th the coverage.

[Blumpkin King]

I'm just happy that Rob does not have his feet nailed to the stage and is moving around a bit.

[LAglamrocker]

Does anyone care Bruce Dickinson solo show day after Rainbow Bash? I don’t - everyone is just waiting for Nu Priest with LA Guns show to be announced sometime

Seems obvious Mr Tattoo Millionaire booked that night for the show so he could hang with hair metal legends before his show

Seeing Priest play Danzig Stadium last tour was cool in Ontario CA..nice 9500 venue with maybe 5500. Nice that Halford brought out Hall Of Fame trophy to show all
The first leg of tour at Shrine in LA was superior in setlist and venue.

[ijwthstd]

Now the bigger bands play the 02 whatever it's called now.

[Anthrax442]

They did play 16k capacity Nassau Coliseum on the Firepower tour but yes looking at setlist.fm they seem to play some seriously small places in the US. Not ony venues but towns. Charles, MO? Corbin, KY? Southaven, MS? Never heard of those towns, and Corbin has a population that would fit into Wembley Arena with plenty of empty seats.

Corbin is definitely an...odd choice. I drive through there a few times a year. The only thing that makes sense about playing there is it's halfway between Knoxville and Lexington, so I suppose you could get people driving from both cities?

And seems like they've been playing the Rosemont Theater here recently rather than the Rosemont Horizon/All State Arena, which basically means they're playing a 4K venue in Chicago vs a 12K one.

[GoodJudge]

I know Britons also held a serious grudge against Priest for fucking them over in favor for playing the US in their heyday. Also they missed 2 Birmingham shows on 2 tours to do top of the pops or whatever. I assume it's been long enough to forgive, but I remember the difference in Priest coverage vs Maiden coverage in kerrang at the time. Maiden might have been the bigger band, but Priest seemed to get 1/10th the coverage.

That might also be an answer to your question to me above about Wembley v Hammersmith in the 80s. My first proper gig was Maiden at Hammersmith on the 7th Son tour but they initially only advertised 1 night then added a 2nd later, which is the one I saw. They probably always had it in reserve depending on sales for night #1. No doubt there were cost and promoter considerations but also that big cultural thing about bands "deserting" the UK for US enormodomes. So maybe they played smaller venues in the UK to show they were still "in touch with their fans".

[Love_Industry]

That might also be an answer to your question to me above about Wembley v Hammersmith in the 80s. My first proper gig was Maiden at Hammersmith on the 7th Son tour but they initially only advertised 1 night then added a 2nd later, which is the one I saw. They probably always had it in reserve depending on sales for night #1. No doubt there were cost and promoter considerations but also that big cultural thing about bands "deserting" the UK for US enormodomes. So maybe they played smaller venues in the UK to show they were still "in touch with their fans".

Also they headlined Donington a month or two before their proper UK tour for 7th Son so maybe demand wasn't there for Wembley x2 or Hammersmith x4 so soon after.

[LAglamrocker]

Back to only 1 from Painkiller
pass
Nu Priest is the can’t miss tour

[GoodJudge]

That might also be an answer to your question to me above about Wembley v Hammersmith in the 80s. My first proper gig was Maiden at Hammersmith on the 7th Son tour but they initially only advertised 1 night then added a 2nd later, which is the one I saw. They probably always had it in reserve depending on sales for night #1. No doubt there were cost and promoter considerations but also that big cultural thing about bands "deserting" the UK for US enormodomes. So maybe they played smaller venues in the UK to show they were still "in touch with their fans".

Also they headlined Donington a month or two before their proper UK tour for 7th Son so maybe demand wasn't there for Wembley x2 or Hammersmith x4 so soon after.

IRRC the tour sold out. Donington '88 was August, the proper tour was December. Commercially they were still on the way up - they played Wembley Stadium in 1990 and I saw them at Earls Court Arena in 2000, capacity 19,000. (I've no idea or interest where they play now).

Probably a good % of those "extra dates due to public demand" things are just PR.

[magnersman]

That might also be an answer to your question to me above about Wembley v Hammersmith in the 80s. My first proper gig was Maiden at Hammersmith on the 7th Son tour but they initially only advertised 1 night then added a 2nd later, which is the one I saw. They probably always had it in reserve depending on sales for night #1. No doubt there were cost and promoter considerations but also that big cultural thing about bands "deserting" the UK for US enormodomes. So maybe they played smaller venues in the UK to show they were still "in touch with their fans".

Also they headlined Donington a month or two before their proper UK tour for 7th Son so maybe demand wasn't there for Wembley x2 or Hammersmith x4 so soon after.

They done 3 at hammersmith 2 at wembley 6-12th Dec 1988

[DangerZone]

Wembley Arena is 12,500 capacity. It’s not Wembley Stadium.

I know, but they aint playing 12,500 seat arenas in america.

They did play 16k capacity Nassau Coliseum on the Firepower tour but yes looking at setlist.fm they seem to play some seriously small places in the US. Not ony venues but towns. Charles, MO? Corbin, KY? Southaven, MS? Never heard of those towns, and Corbin has a population that would fit into Wembley Arena with plenty of empty seats.

Southaven, MS is outside of Memphis- the whole town seems to revolve around concerts.
I saw Tool there.
Lana Del Rey played there a few months ago.

When I was there they didn’t know how to handle that amount of people

[Love_Industry]

That might also be an answer to your question to me above about Wembley v Hammersmith in the 80s. My first proper gig was Maiden at Hammersmith on the 7th Son tour but they initially only advertised 1 night then added a 2nd later, which is the one I saw. They probably always had it in reserve depending on sales for night #1. No doubt there were cost and promoter considerations but also that big cultural thing about bands "deserting" the UK for US enormodomes. So maybe they played smaller venues in the UK to show they were still "in touch with their fans".

Also they headlined Donington a month or two before their proper UK tour for 7th Son so maybe demand wasn't there for Wembley x2 or Hammersmith x4 so soon after.

They done 3 at hammersmith 2 at wembley 6-12th Dec 1988

Looks like you're right, this is what is on Wikipedia. I guess the list I looked at was incomplete as it only had the 2 Hammersmith shows.

[Kid-Wicked]

I'm just happy that Rob does not have his feet nailed to the stage and is moving around a bit.

getting a hip replacement will do that for ya.

[Ziggy Sawdust]

A bigger audience probably motivated him finally to move.

[sunshinehead]

I know Britons also held a serious grudge against Priest for fucking them over in favor for playing the US in their heyday. Also they missed 2 Birmingham shows on 2 tours to do top of the pops or whatever. I assume it's been long enough to forgive, but I remember the difference in Priest coverage vs Maiden coverage in kerrang at the time. Maiden might have been the bigger band, but Priest seemed to get 1/10th the coverage.

They’ve always been a B-C level act in the UK, popular only with metalheads and never transcended the genre to the mainstream like Maiden. The biggest venue they’ve played in London is Brixton Academy. Their appeal stateside has always been the source of much puzzlement.

[Love_Industry]

They’ve always been a B-C level act in the UK, popular only with metalheads and never transcended the genre to the mainstream like Maiden. The biggest venue they’ve played in London is Brixton Academy. Their appeal stateside has always been the source of much puzzlement.

The surprise here is that Brixton Ace is bigger than Hammersmith Apollo/Odeon/Carling or whatever. Hammersmith is a lot more known and classic. Brixton is/used to be a dodgy area, is that why bands in the 70s-80s were usually booked at Hammersmith? It's also well connected, a public transport hub, don't know about Brixton?

[LeeRatbag]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupKa3DyPuY

I assumed they werent big enough in London to do that venue. Good footage of the full show.

They've done a six-date run of venues that size here over the last couple of weeks. I saw em at Leeds Arena, wasn't entirely sold out but I reckon a good 10,000 there. It's a pretty strong bill though, Priest/Saxon/Uriah Heep, so it's a bit of an event. Also they hadn't toured here since 2015.

[sunshinehead]

They’ve always been a B-C level act in the UK, popular only with metalheads and never transcended the genre to the mainstream like Maiden. The biggest venue they’ve played in London is Brixton Academy. Their appeal stateside has always been the source of much puzzlement.

The surprise here is that Brixton Ace is bigger than Hammersmith Apollo/Odeon/Carling or whatever. Hammersmith is a lot more known and classic. Brixton is/used to be a dodgy area, is that why bands in the 70s-80s were usually booked at Hammersmith? It's also well connected, a public transport hub, don't know about Brixton?

Hammersmith Odeon was about 3,500 mixed seating and standing, Brixton Academy was nearly 5,000. Wembley can have space reduced to accommodate the smaller acts Priest.

[Love_Industry]

[ Their appeal stateside has always been the source of much puzzlement.

For me it was the opposite, why weren't they more popular in the 80s their native country where they had played every shithole from 71 to 81, when they were packing arenas both in Europe and America?

They didn't even play in the UK at their SFV-DotF-Turbo commercial peak save for a few warm-up dates before Defenders came out.