Judas Priest Announce ‘Shield of Pain’ European Tour, But Painkiller Won’t Be the Entire Show

For decades now, the mighty Judas Priest has been able to captivate audiences and keep fans completely enthralled with their high octane show. With Rob Halford at the helm of everything, the band’s managed to not only stay afloat, but thrive and survive when the genre itself went through tectonic shifts. So it only makes sense that these guys would want to continue the European tour aimed at celebrating 35 years of their seminal album Painkiller.

So earlier today, the band announced that they were adding more dates to their ‘Shield of Pain’ tour, including a huge stop at London’s 02 Arena. Along with Alice Cooper as the tour’s opener, the run looks like it’s going to be a must-see show for your average heavy metal fan.

And while the show will be celebrating Painkiller, Halford revealed in a recent interview with Heavy Consequence (as transcribed by Blabbermouth) that the band will not be playing the classic 1990 album in full.

“It’s still in the works, but we’re gonna go and show [Painkiller] off. Not in its entirety. I haven’t figured out yet whether we’re just gonna do a clump of Painkiller songs — this is the ‘Painkiller’ section — or we’re gonna go, a ‘Painkiller’ song, a couple of others, a ‘Painkiller’ song, a couple of others. It’s all in theory in my mind at the moment, but, however, I think it’s gonna be a real thrill and a treat. And, again, a once-in-a-lifetime thing for the band. You’ll only see the show once. You’ll only see the ‘Shield Of Pain’ show once. So, we hope our fans will be on the rail and banging their heads to it.”

So there ya have it. The tour may be a portmanteau of Painkiller and Invincible Shield, but you won’t be getting the entirety of Painkiller live. Still, it’s going to be a sick show so if you want to check it out and you’ll be in Europe sometime next summer, you should absolutely make an effort to go. Judas Priest do not disappoint.

Judas Priest ‘Shield of Pain’ tour

6/14 Oslo Tjuvholmen Arena, Norway
6/17 Stuttgart Schleyerhalle, Germany
6/18 Hessentag Festival, Frankfurt, Germany
6/25 Viveiro Resurrection Fest, Spain
6/27 Lisbon Evil Live Fest, Portugal
6/29 Barcelona Rock Fest, Spain
7/1 Ferrara Summer Festival, Italy
7/3 Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
7/5 Hannover Niedersachsenstadion, Germany (supporting Scorpions)
7/7 Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
7/10 Rattvik Dalhalla, Sweden
7/13 Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
7/15 Carcassonne Festival De Carcassone, France
7/17 Sion Sous Les Etoiles, Switzerland
7/19 Luxembourg Rockhal, Luxembourg
7/20 Oberhausen Rudolf-Weber-Arena, Germany
7/23 Scarborough Open Air Theatre, UK
7/25 London O2 Arena, UK