We got there as one band was finishing, and I noticed there were not as many people as for ... the Job for a Cowboy or Six Feet Under shows that we had gone to. The merch room was not open, and there were a few merch tables crammed to the side of the stage. Ripper did not have a lot of merch, just solo and Beyond Fear CDs ($10), a fan pack (postcard, photo, pick, something else, and um..autographed drum heads ($20). They later brought out Charred Walls of The Damned CDs. I think there were about 100 people at the high point.
Ghost of War from PA was on next. Their stout singer was hitting the high notes pretty well, and they had some pretty good guitar work. Trying to describe their sound, a bit more classic than I had expected I think. They played some originals and a number of interesting covers- you usually don't hear Metal Church OR Dream Theater covers. So that was pretty cool, as they all sounded really good.
Ripper and (I think) his chaps from Beyond Fear (well it was billed as Tim Ripper Owens, but then Beyond Fear was either in tiny letters or added way later) finally came on pretty late. However they started out pretty loud and with some decent Beyond Fear songs. And tore into...some mic problems. He started back up with 'The Ripper' and steamrolled into a pretty great (albeit the guitars were a bit thin) version of Painkiller! However the momentum was stopped a bit when the mic gave out again near the end (THIS IS ...). Ripper was kind miffed at this point, and the crowd was rather...displeased. The sound guy was scrambling and somehow fixed the mics, but there was a 5-10 minute dead spot basically.
After that near disaster, the sound was fairly consistent and we got quite an assortment of songs, Beyond Fear, solo, Priest, Dio Sabbath, and even Iron Maiden. I really enjoyed the Ripper-era Priest songs, but was really expecting a bit more classic Priest. Some guy kept bugging about 'Heart of a Killer' (Winters Bane song), and Tim was like... we're not gonna do that, but we can try some a capella...' and proceeded to sing a little with minimal backup from the drums. We also got a NEW Beyond Fear song (from a forthcoming album, I suppose)- also played the night before at the other stop on this short tour.
After that song, Tim switched to guitar and the guitarist switched to vocals, along with another guy. I was like..um ok, for a couple songs I guess? But it kind of turned into an extended jam with a myriad of partial covers (see below). I think the time woulda been better spent with a few full songs.
I was kind of disappointed that with all the microphone troubles and the derpin around at the end it still wasn't quote 2 hours as advertized, but it still was a very enjoyable show, IMO. Ripper sounded great and his band was pretty solid. The drums were a bit high in the mix, sometimes the guitars were not that audible as well. I was pretty tired by the time of the role switching, and I kind of just wanted to go home.
Ghost of War (9:50- 10:40) ish
- Heaven's Burning
- Falling Intro Eternity
- Metal Thrashing Mad (Anthrax)
- Beautiful Eyes
- Start the Fire (Metal Church)
- Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden)
- Pull Me Under (Dream Theater)
Ripper Owens (w/ Beyond Fear)
(11:13 - 1:05 )
- And... You Will Die(Beyond Fear song)
- Save Me(Beyond Fear song)
- The Ripper(Judas Priest song)
- Painkiller(Judas Priest song)
- Burn in Hell(Judas Priest song)
- Scream Machine(Beyond Fear song)
- Flight of Icarus(Iron Maiden cover)
- Grinder(Judas Priest song)
- Starting Over
- Death Race
- Blood Stained(Judas Priest song)
- Mob Rules(Black Sabbath cover)
- The Human Race(Beyond Fear song)
- One on One(Judas Priest song)
- Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath cover)
- Heart Of A Killer(Winters Bane song) (partial, a Capella)
- Inside the Devil's Mind(a NEW Beyond Fear song)
- Breaking the Law/ Metal Health/ Highway to Hell/ Desert Plains/ Motorbreath(Partial Covers medley)
- Living After Midnight(Judas Priest song)
- Say What You Will/ You Got Another Thing Comin'/ Victim of Changes/ Unknown/ Heading Out to the Highway(Partial Covers medley)
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