Judas Priest / Humble Pie / Iron Maiden, June 5, 1981, El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso, TX

      After spending my early teen years in Germany developing a keen appreciation for music---and rock and roll, in particular, I was making the most of my first year in El Paso by seeing as many concerts as possible.  Since my first show in February, I was almost seeing one concert a month, and June got off to a great start with a fantastic show featuring three titans of rock and roll history: Judas Priest, Humble Pie, and Iron Maiden.

       My friend John, who previously had to forfeit his ticket to the Molly Hatchet concert in February due to trouble with his parents, came along with me for this trip to the El Paso County Coliseum.  The plan for the evening was for me to spend the night at his house, and his dad drove us to the show, dropping us off an hour before the eight o'clock show time.

       Having already seen a couple of concerts at the Coliseum, I acted like a grizzled rock and roll veteran, showing my friend the ropes for his first show.  By the time we got inside, the seats were filling quickly, but fortunately, I was able to find a place for us to sit in the front row and to the right of the stage.  We weren't too far back, and were, in fact, closer than I'd been in my two previous shows at the coliseum.  The view was great and the sound was loud!

       Iron Maiden took the stage at eight o'clock with the dramatic and galloping instrumental "The Ides of March."  I'd never heard of them before, and frankly wasn't sure what to make of them.  I'd noticed before the show that lots of long-haired guys in the audience were sporting the Iron Maiden T-shirt, which featured the band's mascot Eddie, leering and holding a bloody hatchet while standing over an apparent victim.  I enjoyed aggressive and boisterous rock and roll as much as the next guy, but I just couldn't wrap my head around that kind of violent imagery, which seemed almost pointless to me.  Still, they sounded great, and I was more than willing to give them a fair listen.

      After "The Ides of March," singer Paul Di'Anno stormed the stage and belted out the song "Wrathchild."  Di'Anno had a voice and stage presence that packed a heavy dose of menace and sometimes bordered on punk rock, though everything else about the band pointed directly to the future of heavy metal music.

       I wasn't familiar at all with Iron Maiden's material at this time, but over the years, when referring to this show, I've always mentioned that they played the song "Charlotte the Harlot."  That song and it's potent performance stuck with me.  And then, today when I was researching their set on the website setlist.fm, the song is not mentioned as having been played that night.  I'm certain there are dedicated Iron Maiden fans out there that know this sort of detail, but, not knowing their material at the time, I can't think of another reason for the song to be in my memory of the show.

       I didn't actually become a legitimate fan of Iron Maiden's music until the "Piece of Mind" album, and though I now own almost every studio album, I'm still not as appreciative of the early stuff as I am of the later material.  Still, I'm more than happy to have seen these heavy metal legends in their early years, when they were just gaining worldwide recognition and when mascot Eddie made his appearance onstage as just a guy in a leather jacket wearing a mask. 

       Next to hit the stage was Humble Pie.  After a loud and expletive-laced introduction, they launched immediately into a thunderously rhythmic version of their FM radio classic "I Don't Need No Doctor."  (The song was written by Jo Armstead, Nick Ashford, and Valerie Simpson, and was first recorded in 1966 by Ray Charles, but Humble Pie took it to rock audiences in a big way on their masterpiece "Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore" album in 1971.)  As the lights came up and the band gained steam with the propulsive riff of the song, bassist Anthony "Sooty" Jones put his head back and blew a mouthful of beer into the air and let it rain down on himself.  It was a wild and quintessentially old-school classic rock way to open a set and the audience quickly got into the groove, including one woman in the middle of the crowd who was wearing a tube-top and riding atop the shoulders of a man.

       Steve Marriott, Humble Pie's founding singer/guitarist, was in great form.  He wore a very English hounds-tooth coat, grey slacks, and white loafers, and sang with the same trade-marked howl that had served him well since fronting the Small Faces in the hey-day of the British rock and roll scene in the 1960s.  His guitar and harmonica prowess were also on full display and not in the least bit disappointing.

       Supporting Marriott on guitar was journeyman Bobby Tench, who previously played with Jeff Beck and Van Morrison---he played with Van Morrison on the November 4th, 1978 edition of Saturday Night Live, adding a brilliant guitar solo to the song "Wavelength."  For his performance in El Paso with Humble Pie, he brought nothing but dirty slabs of irresistibly catchy boogie riffs that ensured I'd later search out the latest Humble Pie albums: "On to Victory" and "Go for the Throat."

       The band chugged through a great set of rock and roll that included "Infatuation," a rave-up from "On to Victory," "30 Days in the Hole," from the "Smokin'" album, and a cover of the Elvis Presley/Otis Blackwell tune "All Shook Up" from "Go for the Throat."

       I was very satisfied with what Humble Pie had to offer.  At first glance, it seemed like a musical mismatch to put classic rock veterans Humble Pie on a bill between metal acts Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, but they acquitted themselves well and left the audience cheering.

       Next, Judas Priest began their set with the song "Solar Angels" from their current album, "Point of Entry."  The song began with a slow and deliberate guitar riff that worked the crowd into a state of anticipation that finally found release in a controlled explosion of energy when the drums and bass kicked in and singer Rob Halford, decked out in leather biker gear, strolled onstage and began to sing the song with his amazing operatic range.  It was a very cool way to open the show.

       Next, the band shifted gears and picked things up a bit with "Heading Out to the Highway," also from "Point of Entry."  This song was  a favorite of mine and I had no problem singing right along with Halford on the chorus.  In fact, I think that the majority of the audience joined in to sing along.

       Halford's voice and stage presence were in peak form during this period of Judas Priest's career.  He energetically roamed from one side of the stage to the other and effortlessly hit the high wailing notes for which he was famous, while behind him, guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton played with precision the riffs and leads that defined metal music for millions of fans worldwide.  And since this was the most successful lineup of Judas Priest, it must be mentioned that bassist Ian Hill and drummer Dave Holland were a finely tuned rhythm section.

       I'd become a fan of Judas Priest because of the "British Steel" album, which I bought in 1980.  I'd never heard of Judas Priest before, let alone the heavy-metal genre.  I actually bought the album based on how cool I thought the band looked on the back cover.  Luckily, when I got the album on my turntable, I found that I very much liked the sound they were selling.  There wasn't a bad song on "British Steel" and in El Paso they played three songs from the album: "You Don't Have to be Old to be Wise," "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight."

       As the show progressed, the band reached back into their catalog to play old favorites like "Beyond the Realms of Death" from the "Stained Glass" album---a song I'd never heard before, and "Victim of Changes" from the album of the same name.  For the climax of the song "Victim of Changes," I think it's fair to say that everyone who knew the song leaned forward in focused anticipation for the high wail that Halford unleashes toward the end, and when he finally hit it, there could not have been a disappointed fan in the house.  He hit it dead-on perfect.

       Another great rendering during the show was one of the most unlikely covers in Judas Priests repertoire: Joan Baez's "Diamonds and Rust."  I've heard her say in interviews that she was both thrilled and stunned at their version of her song, and who could blame her?  It shouldn't work, but it does, spectacularly.  Since the 1990's, the band has been playing the song with acoustic instruments, but back in 1981 they were still giving it the full-on electric treatment and it rocked!

       Before leaving the stage, with the crowd on their feet roaring with approval, Halford mentioned that El Paso was one of the favorite places for Judas Priest to play, and for good reason.  The crowd at the El Paso County Coliseum was solidly appreciative from the first note to the last.  It was a great show!

       John and I found his Dad in the parking lot and he drove us to their home with our ears ringing from the loud rock and roll of three great bands.  John bought a Judas Priest poster and immediately hung it on the wall of his room.  I didn't have money for a poster or T-shirt, but as I fell asleep, I was very happy with the reason my ears were ringing.