Judas Priest in Ljubljana: 50 Heavy Metal Years, finally

In July 2022 Judas Priest played Arena Stožice in Ljubljana on their 50 Heavy Metal Years tour. The concert had been postponed twice during the pandemic, and it was the band's first show in Ljubljana since 1991. Photos are in the Judas Priest gallery.

Fifty years of heavy metal

Judas Priest formed in Birmingham, England, in 1969, the same city that gave the world Black Sabbath. Over the following decades they defined much of what heavy metal looks and sounds like: twin lead guitars, a soaring vocal style and the leather and studs that became the genre's uniform.

Singer Rob Halford, the "Metal God", is the voice of the band, and albums such as British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance and Painkiller are cornerstones of the genre.

A tour delayed by the pandemic

The 50 Heavy Metal Years tour was planned for 2020 to mark half a century of the band. Like almost every tour of that time, it was pushed back, and the Ljubljana date moved twice before it finally happened.

The set

The show was built as a journey through the band's history. It opened with "One Shot at Glory" and "Lightning Strike", included "Painkiller" and the band's covers of Fleetwood Mac's "The Green Manalishi" and Joan Baez's "Diamonds & Rust", and ended with "Electric Eye", "Hell Bent for Leather", "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight". Halford, by tradition, rode a motorcycle onto the stage for "Hell Bent for Leather".

A first for Stožice

Arena Stožice, opened in 2010, is Ljubljana's main indoor arena, used for basketball, concerts and big events. Local reviewers noted that it had never hosted a heavy metal concert of this kind before. For Slovenian fans who had waited more than thirty years, and then two more because of the postponements, the night was worth it.

See the Judas Priest photos from Ljubljana, or browse all concert galleries.