The ''Metal Conqueror Tour'' was a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

by English heavy metal band

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

in support of the album ''

Defenders of the Faith ''Defenders of the Faith'' is the ninth studio album by English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 13 January 1984 by Columbia Records. The album was RIAA certification, certified platinum by the Recording Industry A ...

''. It ran from 20 January until 13 September 1984. Following the tour, the band took a one-year hiatus from touring, apart from a brief performance at the 1985

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

concert in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Recordings

The 2015 release of ''Defenders of the Faith'''s 30th anniversary edition features the concert from 5 May 1984 in Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California in its entirety. Prior to this release, select tracks from the same concert were featured as bonus tracks on the 2001 remasters of ''

Sin After Sin ''Sin After Sin'' is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 8 April 1977 by Columbia Records. Produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, it was the band's major label debut, their first album for the lab ...

'', '' British Steel'', ''Defenders of the Faith'', '' Priest...Live!'' and ''

Ram It Down ''Ram It Down'' is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 13 May 1988 by Columbia Records. It was the band's last album to feature longtime drummer Dave Holland, and was promoted in Europe and North A ...

.''

Production

The stage production featured a large drum riser prop in the shape of the Metallian that adorns the ''Defenders of the Faith'' album cover. During the concert, the band members would enter the stage through the prop's mouth or under either of its raisable legs. Halford's staple live stunt of riding a motorcycle on stage had him emerge from under the one of the legs.

Europe warm-up leg

A special pre-''

'' mini tour took place in the United Kingdom and Germany, which went from 12 to 22 December 1983 with support act

Quiet Riot Quiet Riot is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni. The original lineup featured Rhoads and Garni with lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow and drummer Drew F ...

. They would also perform at the ''Rock Pop Festival'' at

Westfalenhallen Westfalenhallen (English: Halls of Westphalia) is a commercial complex composed of conference (Kongresszentrum Dortmund) and exhibition centers (Messe Dortmund) with an indoor arena (Westfalenhalle), located in Dortmund, Germany. It is surroun ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

on 18 December with

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...

and Quiet Riot.

Setlist

"The Hellion" udio Intro#"

Electric Eye An electric eye is a photodetector used for detecting obstruction of a light beam. An example is the door safety system used on garage door openers that use a light transmitter and receiver at the bottom of the door to prevent closing if there is ...

" #"Riding on the Wind" #"

Heading Out to the Highway "Heading Out to the Highway" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest from their 1981 album '' Point of Entry''. It was released as a single later that year, and was the band's first single to reach the US Mainstream Rock chart, peaki ...

" #"Grinder" #"Metal Gods" #"Bloodstone" #"

Breaking the Law "Breaking the Law" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, originally released on their 1980 album '' British Steel''. The song is one of the band's better known singles, and is readily recognized by its opening guitar riff. Com ...

" #"Sinner" #"Desert Plains" #" The Ripper" #"

Freewheel Burning "Freewheel Burning" is a song by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, appearing on their 1984 album ''Defenders of the Faith'', and released as the first single off that album. The 12" version of the single contained an extended guitar i ...

" #"Devil's Child" #"Screaming for Vengeance" #"

You've Got Another Thing Comin' "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally released on their 1982 album '' Screaming for Vengeance'' and released as a single later that year. In May 2006, VH1 ranked it fifth on thei ...

" #" Victim of Changes" #"

Living After Midnight "Living After Midnight" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally featured on their 1980 album '' British Steel'', which was their first gold album in the United States selling more than 500,000 copies (and eventua ...

st Encore ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

The Green Manalishi "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" is a song written by Peter Green and recorded by Fleetwood Mac. It was released as a single in the UK in May 1970 and reached No. 10 on the British charts, a position it occupied for four consec ...

" (

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

cover) econd encore#"Hell Bent for Leather" inal encore "The Hellion" udio intro#"Electric Eye" #"Riding on the Wind" #"Grinder" #"Metal Gods" #"Bloodstone" #"Breaking the Law" #"Sinner" #"Desert Plains" #"The Ripper" #"Freewheel Burning" #"Screaming for Vengeance" #"You've Got Another Thing Comin'" #"Victim of Changes" #"Living After Midnight" irst encore#"The Green Manalishi" (Fleetwood Mac cover) econd encore#"Hell Bent for Leather" inal encore

Tour dates

Setlist

The setlist varied throughout the tour. The European setlist consisted of: "The Hellion" (Taped intro) # "

" # "Riding on the Wind" # "Grinder" # "Metal Gods" # "Bloodstone" # "

" # "Sinner" # "Desert Plains" # " The Ripper" # "Heavy Duty" (Added on 2 February 1984) # "Defenders Of The Faith" (Added on 2 February 1984) # "

" # "Screaming For Vengeance" (Replaced by "

Some Heads Are Gonna Roll "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" is a song by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally released on their 1984 studio album, ''Defenders of the Faith'', and issued as a single later that year. Background "Some Heads Are Gonna R ...

" after 28 January 1984) # "

" # " Victim of Changes" # "

" # "

The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" is a song written by Peter Green and recorded by Fleetwood Mac. It was released as a single in the UK in May 1970 and reached No. 10 on the British charts, a position it occupied for four consec ...

" (Fleetwood Mac cover) # "Hell Bent for Leather" The U.S. setlist consisted of: # "Love Bites" # "Jawbreaker" # "Grinder" # "Metal Gods" # "

" # "Sinner" # "Desert Plains" # "

" # "The Sentinel" # "Rock Hard, Ride Free" # "Night Comes Down" # "

" # "Heavy Duty" # "Defenders of the Faith" # "

" # " Victim of Changes" # "

" (Fleetwood Mac cover) # "

" # "Hell Bent for Leather" # "

" "

" was also played on 9 June.

Tour dates

The band toured with

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock an ...

and

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

on the European leg and

Great White Great White is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band peaked with several albums during the mid-to-late 1980s, including the platinum-selling records '' Once Bitten'' (1987) and '' ...Twice Shy'' (1989), and those albums ...

and

Kick Axe Kick Axe is a Canadian heavy metal band from Regina, Saskatchewan. Influenced by rambunctious arena rock from the 70s and early 80s, the group is perhaps best known for their 1984 album ''Vices'', praised by publications such as AllMusic for its ...

on the North American leg. On 18 June 1984, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, several riots broke out, and the crowd also brawled with venue security and arriving NYPD officers - some in full riot gear - which prompted the venue to ban Priest. "Madison Square Garden banned us for life", recalled

Glenn Tipton Glenn Raymond Tipton (born 25 October 1947) is an English guitarist. Often noted for his complex playing style and classically influenced solos, he is best known as one of the lead guitarists for heavy metal band Judas Priest. Early life and ...

. "The audience went berserk and ripped all the seats out. They cost more than a quarter of a million dollars to replace. Me and Ken '' K Downing' went back there to see a tennis match which

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...

was playing in. We went incognito, wearing hoodies so no one would recognize us, but the ushers came up to us and said, 'Thanks for the new seats, guys.'"birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music/judas-priest-plan-special-shows-237504

Boxscore

References

{{Judas Priest Judas Priest concert tours 1984 concert tours