Ian Hill Explains Why Judas Priest Doesn’t Play Songs Off Nostradamus Live
Nostradamus is not Judas Priest’s most popular album. Often criticized for being more doomy and symphonic than the music Priest is known for, it received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. The band continue to stand behind the album, but they have rarely played anything off of the album live. According to Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill, there’s a reason for that, and it has nothing to do with lack of confidence in the album.
In a recent interview with Chris Akin Presents (that was transcribed by Blabbermouth) Hill was asked about albums that he regrets making, and the bassist continued to praise Nostradamus, but explained the lack of live performances of tracks from the album:
“But, yeah, we’ve had a couple of sidesteps, and ‘Nostradamus’, it was probably something we needed to get out of our system. But it’s one of those albums — it’s very long, very complicated as well, and it is designed to be listened to in one sitting, which is one of the reasons that we don’t play any songs from that record. It’s great — I mean, it is, at heart, a great heavy metal record; it really is — but it’s picking out the songs that would fit into the set at the moment. And there’s not anything there that would enhance the set.
“But for the sake of it, we could do that — [play a song] from ‘Nostradamus’ — but it wouldn’t have helped the set in any other way. And it is difficult to do, when you’re getting a setlist together, because you have to find that blend of new material, obviously old favorites that you’d get lynched if you didn’t play, and then you’ve got a whole melting pot there of stuff that we can pick out of. And it gets more difficult with each album, because every time you put a new song in, you’ve got to drop someone’s potential favorite. But we do our best, and I think we’ve got it pretty much right up until now anyway.”
Frontman Rob Halford has talked about playing the album in its entirety before, and that might be the best way to experience any of the tracks on the album live, but there’s one problem with that: would anyone want to see it?
For now, though, you can catch Judas Priest on the remaining dates of the Invincible Shield tour playing songs you actually want to hear. The list of dates can be found below.
Sat Oct 5 – Idaho Falls, ID – Mountain America Center
Sun Oct 6 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Arena
Wed Oct 9 – Everett, WA – Angel of the Winds Arena
Thu Oct 10 – Portland, OR – Alaska Airlines’ Theater of the Clouds
Sat Oct 12 – Sacramento, CA – After Shock Festival^
Sun Oct 13 – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort and Casino*
Tue Oct 15 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater
Wed Oct 16 – Las Vegas, NV – Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood
Fri Oct 18 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
Sun Oct 20 – Loveland, CO – Blue Arena
Tue Oct 22 – Houston, TX – Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
Thu Oct 24 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
Sat Oct 26 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Thurs Dec 5 – Nagoya, Japan – Aichi Prefectural Art Theater
Fri Dec 6 – Amagasaki Japan – Amashin Archaic Hall
Mon Dec 9 – Okayama, Japan – Okayama Performing Aarts Theatre
Thurs Dec 12 – Yokahama Japan – Pia Arena MM
