Located in the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia, the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre welcomed co-headlining metal icons Alice Cooper and Judas Priest to town on a gorgeous Thursday night in the South. For one night only, this tour stop was rounded out with artist support from Atlanta’s own Fozzy, who stood in for Corrosion of Conformity’s previously announced unavailability. Built in 2008, this 12,000 capacity open air venue is a premier destination spot for summer concert goers, especially for those just looking to enjoy a casual mid-week evening of familiar musical hits from their favorite national touring artists.
With the clock touching 6:45pm and to the chants of “FOZZY, FOZZY, FOZZY,” the band featuring wrestling superstar Chris Jericho took to the stage and energetically busted into the group’s latest single “Fall In Line.” Flanked by spirited guitarists Rich “The Duke” Ward and Billy Grey (both local boys from Atlanta), along with lively Grant Brooks on drums and the entertaining PJ Farley (of Trixter fame) on bass, Fozzy took full advantage of their one-stop appearance substituting for Corrosion of Conformity on this tour.
If you’ve never caught Fozzy live in their over two-plus decades, you have made a mistake. The band is full of personality, and the combination of tight musicianship with the band’s exuded positive rock-and-roll energy will deliver an evening you won’t soon forget. Called upon to amp up the early Atlanta audience, Fozzy did have a condensed setlist Thursday night when compared to the last time I saw them (opening for Ugly Kid Joe in June 2023). However, while the band of course performed Jericho’s recognizable wrestling ring entrance theme, “Judas,” they also put an exclamation point on their shortened 6-song set with a sing-along cover of “Crazy Train” to honor the late Ozzy Osbourne.
Fozzy
Chris Jericho – lead vocals
Rich “The Duke” Ward – lead guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Billy Grey – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
PJ Farley – bass, backing vocals
Grant Brooks – drums
Setlist:
1.) Fall in Line
2.) Lights Go Out
3.) Spotlight
4.) I Still Burn
5.) Judas
6.) Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
Following a nearly 30 minute equipment turn, the house lights went dark to the curtain dropping to reveal Alice Cooper’s brand new “Alice’s Attic” stage production. With a flip of a giant card, so to speak, the 77-year-old Cooper appeared on a center stage riser donning his familiar top hat and black coat, leading the band into “Who Do You Think We Are” from the 1981 album, Special Forces. With Cooper slowly creeping his way towards the front, his familiar bandmates of Ryan Roxie (guitar), Chuck Garric (bass), Tommy Henriksen (guitar), Glen Sobel (drums) and Nita Strauss (guitar) were anchored in their spots.
I last caught Cooper just about four years in Jacksonville, Florida (October 2021), and I can confidently report that the ageless “Godfather of Shock Rock” continues to offer up the consistent musical experience his fans have come to expect. Cooper’s shows are meant to be far more than just about the music; it is musical theater, replete with creatures, enlarged crowd balloons, and of course Cooper’s signature decapitation guillotine moment late in the set.
While the band efficiently rolled through radio-friendly institutional tunes like “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “I’m Eighteen,” “Feed My Frankenstein,” “Hey Stoopid,” and “Poison,” Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Cooper also highlighted deeper cuts within their shortish hour-fifteen performance including “Spark in the Dark” and “Dirty Diamonds.” As is typical, the band concluded their night with Cooper’s biggest international hit in “School’s Out.” It is also worth mentioning that this is the first tour the legendary Cooper and Judas Priest have team up for since 1991’s Operation Rock & Roll Tour (which also included Motorhead, Dangerous Toys, and Metal Church).
Alice Cooper Band
Alice Cooper – lead vocals, harmonica, guitar, percussion, synthesizer
Ryan Roxie – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Chuck Garric – bass guitar, backing vocals
Tommy Henriksen – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals
Glen Sobel – drums, percussion
Nita Strauss – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Setlist:
1.) Who Do You Think We Are (Hello, Hooray intro)
2.) Spark in the Dark
3.) No More Mr. Nice Guy
4.) House of Fire
5.) I’m Eighteen
6.) Muscle of Love
7.) Feed My Frankenstein
8.) Dirty Diamonds
9.) Caught in a Dream
10.) Hey Stoopid
11.) Dangerous Tonight
12.) Poison
13.) Brutal Planet
14.) Ballad of Dwight Fry
15.) Cold Ethyl
16.) Only Women Bleed
17.) Second Coming/Going Home
18.) School’s Out
Given the co-headlining nature of this tour, there was a more lengthy changeover of approximately 45 minutes to accommodate for Judas Priest’s full stage production. That didn’t seem to dampen the crowd’s excitement, as the audience screamed loudly when 74-year-old Rob “Metal God” Halford appeared and was singularly spotlighted when leading the band into their first song of the night, “All Guns Blazing,” pulled from their twelfth studio album, the ever-popular Painkiller (1990). Supporting Halford through Priest’s 14-song setlist were musician mainstays in Ian Hill (bass), Scott Travis (drums), Richie Faulkner (guitar), and Andy Sneap (guitar).
Like Cooper, I had also seen Judas Priest recently (March 2022), and they never disappoint. It goes without saying that Halford is a treasured heavy metal institution synonymous with the genre, and Judas Priest is frequently positioned as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Proving out those accolades, the band emphatically delivered upon expected anthems like “Hell Patrol,” “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” “Breaking the Law,” and “Painkiller” as part of their main setlist, but unlike their prior 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour, Judas Priest also included enjoyable pulls in “Night Crawler” and “Between the Hammer and the Anvil.” “Giants in the Sky” was my highlight of the night, where the large stage video screen cycled through lost metal icons, eventually landing on Halford saluting images of Osbourne to the adulation of the crowd.
After what was just a few minutes of encore pause for Halford to grab and drive out on his signature Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Judas Priest then broke into the well-known “Hell Bent for Leather” before capping off their night with the rebellious and fist-pumping “Living After Midnight” from their 1980 release, British Steel.
This tour continues on for another month, currently scheduled to wrap up on Sunday, October 26th, in Houston, Texas, at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
Judas Priest
Ian Hill – bass, occasional backing vocals
Rob Halford – lead vocals
Scott Travis – drums, occasional backing vocals
Richie Faulkner – guitars, backing vocals
Andy Sneap – guitars, backing vocals
Setlist:
1.) All Guns Blazing
2.) Hell Patrol
3.) You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
4.) Freewheel Burning
5.) Breaking the Law
6.) A Touch of Evil
7.) Night Crawler
8.) Solar Angels
9.) Gates of Hell
10.) Between the Hammer and the Anvil
11.) Giants in the Sky
12.) Painkiller
Encore
13.) Hell Bent for Leather
14.) Living After Midnight
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.