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KK’s Priest / Tailgunner
Tramshed Cardiff
Sunday 18th August 2024
Review and photos – Rob Wilkins
Most of this summer has been taken up with festivals, meaning the distance from accommodation to stage has been a matter of minutes, so it came as a bit of a shock to be getting into the car for a three-hour drive to Cardiff to catch KK’s Priest at The Tramshed venue.
It is one of my favourite venues in the Capital city, with a small bar attached for pre-drinks, friendly security, decent sound and lighting, and cheap beer (for a concert venue).
I do however make the rookie error of not noticing it is a two-band bill and so having rushed a bite to eat, stand around for an hour once the doors open waiting for some music!
Soon enough the lights go down and “Zorba the Greek” prepares us for the assault on the metal senses that is the effervescent Tailgunner.
I had been told to expect a lot of movement on stage and they were NOT joking as the ridiculously young and confident quintet were a blur of movement from the off.
The set is like being taken back to the NWoBHM in the very best of ways. Searing guitar solos. Well-written songs. Stagecraft and sheer fun. Powerful vocals. You name it.
From the set opener “Guns for Hire”, through a 45-minute setlist which featured a guitar battle that segued into “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, and ended in a superb cover of “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, but mostly featured tracks from the superb “Guns for Hire” album, I loved every second.
Appealing to the Welsh crowd with a red dragon flag and waving a sign stating “Welcome to the Revolution” brings touches of the theatrical and I can see how as the material develops so will the stagecraft in bigger venues.
Definitely a band to watch and enjoy!
During the short break between bands, I turn and realise that K.K. Downing himself is standing next to me waiting to go on stage, and is clearly focused on the job ahead. Cleverly, the band are introduced by a demon on a large video screen behind the drum riser (that also acts as a superb addition to the lighting along with coloured smoke cannon) and K.K. runs onto the stage to crank out some serious guitar histrionics before we even start the first song!
I don’t know what I expected to be honest. This is far from the ex-guitarist in a band hiring a few musicians and trading on past glories. This is a guitar God who has surrounded himself with a very tight group of musicians, an incredible vocalist with huge range and power, and switches effortlessly between music from his past and new material that blends seamlessly.
We get a long way into the set before there is much in the way of crowd chat. Instead, it is a barrage of screaming guitars, thundering rhythms, glass-shattering vocals, and timeless poses.
The set features six original songs and nine covers, although calling K.K. playing Priest songs “covers” feels wrong in every way! But the three we get in the photo pit are all originals with “Hellfire Thunderbolt”, “Strike of the Viper” and “One More Shot at Glory” before the setlist introduces and alternates originals and choice Judas Priest cuts (not always those you might expect). 
Tim “Ripper” Owens only really slows down enough to talk to the crowd for “Diamonds and Rust” (originally a Joan Baez song so a cover of a cover) which gives everyone a chance to draw breath.
The pace soon explodes again and Downing and co-axeman A.J. Mills trade licks (a feature of the set is how much room KK gives AJ to shine rather than hogging the limelight) via “Hell Patrol”, “The Green Manalishi”, “Before the Dawn” and a crowd engaging “Breaking the Law”.
Owens describes how he insisted that K.K. added the next song to the setlist and we go all the way back to 1977 for “Sinner” as the band’s closing number (complete with a brief loss of PA that the band quietly ignored).
There is no way they would have been allowed to leave at that point though and they were soon back for final fireworks with another original “Raise Your Fists” to salute the crowd.
Two different ends of the heavy metal continuum in one night. From a young band that has the potential to go a LONG way to one that has been there, got the battle jacket and leathers, and yet still sounds fresh and relevant. I strongly advise catching either or both as soon as possible and for those going to Stonedead Festival, you are in for a treat!
Remaining tour dates:
20.08.24 UK – Belfast / Limelight
21.08.24 IE – Dublin / Academy
23.08.24 UK – Newcastle / NX
24.08.24 UK – Nottinghamshire / Stonedead Festival
More information HERE
