Mercenaries of Metal Tour
Tour by Judas Priest
Associated albumRam It Down
Start date7 May 1988
End date23 October 1988
No. of shows105
Judas Priest concert chronology

The Mercenaries of Metal Tour was a 1988 concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, in support of their most recent release, Ram It Down. Unlike their other tours of the 1980s, no official Judas Priest release includes any live recordings from this tour. It was the final tour the band did with longtime drummer Dave Holland. The week before the tour started, the band visited Stockholm, Sweden for full production rehearsals at Hovet. Before the official tour start, the band played a few warm-up shows including one in a club in Amsterdam, Netherlands in early April 1988, where the footage for the Johnny B. Goode video was shot. On 24 September 1988, just before the band was about to perform a show in Dallas, Texas, they were greeted backstage by the sheriff with a subpoena, leading to the infamous subliminal message trial in the summer of 1990.

Setlist

The average setlist for the tour is as follows,[1] though it varied, such as the addition of "Johnny B. Goode" at several shows in Europe,[2] "Turbo Lover" at several shows in North America,[3] and "Beyond the Realms of Death" at various shows.[4][5] The setlist also saw the return of "Sinner", which had been a live staple since 1977, but had been dropped like all other pre-Killing Machine songs, except for "Victim of Changes", during the Fuel for Life Tour.[6]

  1. "The Hellion / Electric Eye"
  2. "Metal Gods"
  3. "Sinner"
  4. "Breaking the Law"
  5. "Come and Get It"
  6. "I'm a Rocker"
  7. "The Sentinel"
  8. "The Ripper"
  9. "Beyond the Realms of Death"
  10. "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll"
  11. "Turbo Lover" (added on July 20, 1988)
  12. "Ram It Down"
  13. "Heavy Metal"
  14. "Victim of Changes"
  15. "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)"
  16. "Johnny B. Goode" (dropped after May 26, 1988)
  17. "Living After Midnight"
  18. "Hell Bent for Leather"
  19. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"

Tour dates

The venues and events for the tour were located in Europe and North America.[7][8] They were supported by Bonfire on the European and British legs, Cinderella on the British and North American legs and Slayer on the North American leg.[7]

Date City Country Venue
Warm-up gig
3 April 1988 Amsterdam Netherlands Roxy Club
European leg
7 May 1988 Stockholm Sweden Isstadion
8 May 1988 Gothenburg Frölundaborg
9 May 1988 Oslo Norway Skedsmohallen
10 May 1988 Copenhagen Denmark K.B. Hallen
12 May 1988 West Berlin West Germany Deutschlandhalle
14 May 1988 Zwolle Netherlands IJsselhallen
15 May 1988 Brussels Belgium Forest National
16 May 1988 Paris France Le Zénith
18 May 1988 Toulouse Palais des Sports de Toulouse
20 May 1988 Barcelona Spain Palau dels Esports de Barcelona
21 May 1988 San Sebastián Velódromo de Anoeta
22 May 1988 Madrid Auditorio de la Casa de Campo
23 May 1988
26 May 1988 Milan Italy Palatrussardi
27 May 1988 Florence Palasport
29 May 1988 Lausanne Switzerland CIG de Malley
31 May 1988 Würzburg West Germany Carl Diem Halle
1 June 1988 Ludwigshafen Friedrich-Ebert-Halle
2 June 1988 Munich Olympiahalle
4 June 1988 Jübek Sandbahn-Stadion
5 June 1988 Oldenburg Weser-Ems Halle
7 June 1988 Offenbach am Main Stadthalle Offenbach
8 June 1988 Ulm Halle 10
9 June 1988 Böblingen Sporthalle
10 June 1988 Cologne Sporthalle
12 June 1988 Birmingham England Powerhouse
13 June 1988 London Hammersmith Odeon
14 June 1988
16 June 1988 Leicester De Montfort Hall
17 June 1988 Edinburgh Scotland Edinburgh Playhouse
18 June 1988 Newcastle upon Tyne England Newcastle City Hall
19 June 1988 Manchester Manchester Apollo
21 June 1988 Newport Wales Newport Centre
22 June 1988 Sheffield England Sheffield City Hall
North American leg
20 July 1988 Montreal Canada Montreal Forum
22 July 1988 Toronto CNE Grandstand
24 July 1988 Ottawa Ottawa Civic Centre
26 July 1988 Worcester United States Worcester Centrum
27 July 1988 Middletown Orange County Fairgrounds
28 July 1988 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
29 July 1988 East Rutherford Meadowlands Arena
30 July 1988 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
31 July 1988 Providence Providence Civic Center
2 August 1988 Philadelphia Spectrum
5 August 1988 Saratoga Springs Saratoga Performing Arts Center[9]
6 August 1988 Rochester Rochester Community War Memorial
7 August 1988 New Haven New Haven Coliseum
8 August 1988 Binghamton Broome County Arena
10 August 1988 Hershey Hersheypark Stadium[9]
11 August 1988 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
12 August 1988 Landover Capital Centre
13 August 1988
14 August 1988 Hampton Hampton Coliseum
15 August 1988 Columbus Ohio Center
16 August 1988 Dayton Hara Arena
17 August 1988 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
19 August 1988 Toledo Toledo Sports Arena
20 August 1988 Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills
21 August 1988 Charlevoix Castle Farms
23 August 1988 Indianapolis Market Square Arena
24 August 1988 Chicago Rosemont Horizon
26 August 1988 Milwaukee Mecca Arena
27 August 1988 Minneapolis Met Center
28 August 1988 East Troy Alpine Valley Music Theatre
29 August 1988 Bonner Springs Sandstone Amphitheater[9]
30 August 1988 St. Louis Kiel Auditorium
3 September 1988 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Civic Arena
8 September 1988 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
9 September 1988 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
10 September 1988 Nashville Starwood Amphitheatre
11 September 1988 Birmingham Boutwell Auditorium
13 September 1988 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum
14 September 1988 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
16 September 1988 Jacksonville Jacksonville Coliseum
17 September 1988 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center
18 September 1988 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium
20 September 1988 Shreveport Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
21 September 1988 New Orleans Lakefront Arena
23 September 1988 Houston The Summit
24 September 1988 Dallas Starplex Amphitheatre
25 September 1988 San Antonio HemisFair Arena
27 September 1988 Austin Frank Erwin Center
28 September 1988 Lubbock Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
29 September 1988 El Paso El Paso County Coliseum
30 September 1988 Reno Lawlor Events Center
1 October 1988 Salt Lake City Salt Palace
2 October 1988 Denver McNichols Sports Arena
4 October 1988 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum
6 October 1988 Chandler Compton Terrace
7 October 1988 San Francisco Cow Palace
8 October 1988
9 October 1988 Sacramento Cal Expo Amphitheater
10 October 1988 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
11 October 1988 Fresno Selland Arena
12 October 1988 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
13 October 1988 Los Angeles The Forum
14 October 1988
15 October 1988 Laguna Hills Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
16 October 1988
18[9] October 1988 Spokane Spokane Coliseum
19 October 1988 Seattle Seattle Center Coliseum
20 October 1988 Portland Portland Coliseum
22 October 1988 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Judas Priest Average Setlists of tour: Mercenaries of Metal | setlist.fm Archived 19 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  2. ^ Judas Priest Covered Songs and Artists – Mercenaries of Metal | setlist.fm Archived 19 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Judas Priest – Turbo Lover – Live in New Haven 1988" Archived 16 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. YouTube, 26 June 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Judas Priest – Beyond the Realms of Death, San Diego 1988" Archived 15 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. YouTube, 29 January 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Judas Priest – Beyond The Realms of Death Live Edinburgh 1988" Archived 27 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. YouTube, 1 September 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  6. ^ Krannila, Ville. The Fuel of the Furnace Part 1 – Sinner Archived 3 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  7. ^ a b Tourdates From The Past Archived 27 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine on jugulator.net. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  8. ^ The French Metallian – 1988 tour dates Archived 2 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d chmetal bootlegs – Judas Priest Tour Dates 1988. 26 September 2008 (last updated). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
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