The British legends – who have shaped the sound and style of heavy metal for more than half a century – made a visit to the seaside in celebration of 35 years of their iconic album Painkiller as one of only two UK dates this summer.
Kicking off the night with the album’s All Guns Blazing and Hell Patrol, frontman Rob Halford wasted no time in delighting the rocking crowd, segueing perfectly into more of Painkiller’s track list including A Touch of Evil, One Shot at Glory, Between the Hammer & the Anvil, Hell Bent for Leather and the title track.
The near two-hour set was not without other glorious hits from Priest’s back catalogue with Breaking The Law, Freewheel Burning and Electric Eye making the break before Halford and pals ended the night with 1980’s Living After Midnight.
As has become the norm with Judas Priest’s live shows, Giants in the Sky paid tribute to fallen heroes of rock, with rock icon Ozzy Osbourne sadly added to that tribute following his death on Tuesday.
Speaking ahead of the song, Halford said: “It’s good to be home, we’ve been all over Europe the last six weeks or so.
"We started in Finland, we’ve been all over Europe, everywhere you could imagine.
"That’s the power of metal, it’s everywhere but we’ve been looking forward to these two show back home here at Scarborough and a couple of days later at the 02 in London.
“Look, it’s been tough the last 24 hours right but he would want us to be doing this, he would want us to be together, he would want us to be having a good time which is what we’re doing right now.
"We love you Ozzy.
“This next song is all about him and all of the other greats that we’ve lost. Their music lives forever. They used to be down here on the earth plain, now they’re in the sky plain as we call it. This is Giants in the Sky.”
Ahead of Judas Priest, fellow rockers Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons kicked off the night.
SETLIST
All Guns Blazing
Hell Patrol
Another Thing Coming
Freewheel Burning
Breaking The Law
A Touch of Evil
Night Crawler
Solar Angels
Gates of Hell
One Shot At Glory
Serpent
Between The Hammer & The Anvil
Giants in the Sky
Painkiller
Electric Eye
Hell Bent for Leather
Living After Midnight
13. Judas Priest at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Judas Priest perform a catalogue of hits from their 50 years in music. photo: Cuffe & Taylor Photo: submitted
14. Judas Priest at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Revellers enjoying the night in Scarborough. photo: Cuffe & Taylor Photo: submitted
15. Judas Priest at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford. photo: Astro Dog Photo: submitted
16. Judas Priest at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Rockin' on! A great night at Judas Priest. photo: Cuffe & Taylor Photo: CUFFE & TAYLOR