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A Night to Remember at The O2 with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper

“This has been an utterly fantastic set… a fitting impromptu tribute to the late great Ozzy Osbourne.”

Heavy Metal Communion at the O2 Arena

JUDAS PRIEST + ALICE COOPER – LONDON O2 ARENA – 25TH JULY 2025

Tonight’s co-headline gig with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper has been anticipated for some time, and with such illustrious co-headliners, it has something of the feel of a festival. However, coming so soon after the sad passing of Ozzy Osbourne, it also has the feel of a memorial: a coming together of those with a metallic persuasion both to grieve and reaffirm their beliefs. There are lots of people (myself included) wearing Black Sabbath T-shirts, and a large number of Back To The Beginning T-shirts are also in evidence. Who would have thought that just under three weeks after his farewell gig at Villa Park, Ozzy would be gone? One thing is for sure: Ozzy will not be far from anybody’s thoughts tonight.

Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons – O2 – 25th July 2025

Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons: Born to Raise Hell

However, we are here to celebrate the now, and what is happening now is that Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons are taking the stage. Phil was a guitarist in Motorhead for the best part of forty years, before forming his current band following Lemmy’s passing in 2015. Apart from vocalist Joel Peters, the rest of the band are indeed Phil’s sons. Opening song “We’re The Bastards” is probably the closest thing there is to a heavy metal take on The Monkees’ theme tune. Joel Peters immediately confirms his status as a proper heavy metal frontman. He sings in an American accent. His shouted calls to the audience sound American, but on the few occasions when he speaks normally, he sounds English.

Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons – O2 – 25th July 2025

Phil Campbell does not sound particularly English. He sounds unequivocally Welsh. He asks if there are any Motorhead fans here before playing a crunching cover of “Going To Brazil” from Motorhead’s “1916” album. “Hammer And Dance” from “Kings Of The Asylum”, the most recent Bastard Sons album, hurtles along at full throttle, before Joel tells us that “High Rule” is “a big fuck you to all the corrupt politicians out there”. Fair enough. It has to be said that Phil’s soloing throughout the set is pretty awesome, by the way.

Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons – O2 – 25th July 2025

Joel asks us to raise our middle digits in the air and then point them at bassist Tyla Campbell. He then gets all 12,000 of us to shout “fuck you, Tyla Campbell”. This seems a bit harsh, but we all comply anyway. This clearly fires him up as he tears into the bass intro of “Ace Of Spades”. It’s incredible, and it’s a song that I last heard played live by Motorhead. It’s surprisingly quite an emotional moment. We get one more song, “Strike The Match”, also from the “Kings Of The Asylum” album, and then they’re gone. I could have done with a set twice as long, but it is what it is. The crew have to prepare the stage for Alice Cooper.

Alice Cooper – O2 – 25th July 2025

Alice Cooper: Still the Master of Mayhem

Yes, Alice Cooper… It’s over twenty years since I last saw him. Surely he must be an old man by now? Seemingly not. He appears pretty much unchanged since I last saw him. Mind you, he’s been sober for some decades, and he plays a lot of golf, which must be good for you, right? The key thing to remember about Alice Cooper is that he is a bona fide legend. He has been a huge star and massively influential since the 1970s. Whilst his career may have taken a slight dip in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he bounced back pretty quickly, and ever since, his records and shows have been, at the very least, awesome.

Alice Cooper – O2 – 25th July 2025

Alice has always surrounded himself with incredible musicians since the days of the original Alice Cooper band (of whom more later), and his current band is no exception. Alice’s shows have always been very theatrical, as we shall see tonight. Before the band take the stage, two men in crow masks pace up and down the front of the stage, looking decidedly sinister.

Alice Cooper – O2 – 25th July 2025

When the band do take the stage, the middle front of the stage is obscured by a curtain bearing the legend “Banned in England! Alice Cooper”. The curtain falls, and behind it stands Alice! Yowzah!!! The band have three guitarists, and let’s face it, you can never have too many guitarists. They are all excellent, but Nita Strauss stands out. She is, quite honestly, one of the best guitarists that I’ve ever seen. She plays like a demon whilst zipping around the stage. She looks sleek and dangerous. Mid-set, she has a solo spot that should serve as an education for any aspiring guitarists in the audience. At one point, she holds her guitar just by the whammy bar. If I did that to my Strat, I don’t think that it would end well.

Alice Cooper – O2 – 25th July 2025

The set is a cavalcade of classics. Alice has just released an album with the original Alice Cooper band called “The Revenge Of Alice Cooper”. Nothing is played from it tonight, though. Maybe there is another tour in the offing featuring that album. Here’s hoping. The most recent song played is “Welcome To The Show”, from 2023’s  “Road” album. Apart from that, the latest material is from 1991’s “Hey Stoopid”, but hell – I’m not complaining!!! “Hey Stoopid” itself gets played, and is a very clever song: an anti-drug anthem with pop smarts, ensuring that it gets played on the radio.

Alice Cooper – O2 – 25th July 2025

As the set progresses, the level of theatricality increases. At the end of “No More Mr Nice Guy”, Alice throws his cane into the audience. For “I’m Eighteen”, he has a crutch as a prop. During “Hey Stoopid”, a photographer is making a nuisance of himself onstage. Alice runs him through with his mic stand. For “Be My Frankenstein”, Frankenstein’s monster appears onstage. He’s much bigger than he looks in the films. Finally, the pièce de résistance: Alice gets sent to the guillotine and loses his head. I’ve seen this done a few times before, and I still don’t know how they do it. It looks damn convincing.

Alice Cooper – O2 – 25th July 2025

Alice returns with his head in place and seemingly intact. He and the band are joined by Johnny Depp on guitar for a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”. The crowd sing the lyrics back at the stage. It’s very moving. I’m sure Ozzy can hear it wherever he is. For the final song, “School’s Out”, some more guests appear. It turns out that these are the surviving members of the original Alice Cooper band! I’d heard a whisper that they were going to appear, but I must confess that I’m a little disappointed that Alice doesn’t perform the song with just them. Maybe he sees that as a risk. Playing in the studio is different to playing live. Still, it’s a shame to see drummer Neal Smith reduced to playing tambourine. However, that’s a very minor quibble. This has been an utterly fantastic set! I just hope that Judas Priest can follow it.

The fans at the O2 – 25th July 2025

Judas Priest: Still Screaming for Vengeance

When this gig was first announced, there was speculation that Judas Priest would be bringing their live career to an end. However, more recently, this gig has been repurposed as a celebration of the 35th anniversary of the release of the “Painkiller” album (honestly – where does the time go?). To underline their future as a live act, the band are about to tour the US with Alice Cooper. Continuing the unofficial tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, Sabbath’s “War Pigs” plays over the PA before the band takes the stage.

Judas Priest – O2 – 25th July 2025

It is clear from the opening song “All Guns Blazing” (one of six songs from “Painkiller” played tonight) that Rob Halford is in an utterly stupendous voice. Likewise, guitarist Richie Faulkner solos heroically on his Flying V, a guitar that has become a trademark of Priest over the years. Whilst Priest’s stage setup is more straightforward than Alice’s, their video screens are bigger and better. They certainly look like the de facto headliners. Richie and touring guitarist Andy Sneap unleash some searing dual lead guitar during “Hell Patrol”. Andy appears to be playing mostly rhythm, but when he does play lead, man, he’s on fire! Richie plays with his teeth at one point during “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin”, which is something that probably wouldn’t be recommended by his dentist. Thus far, there has barely been a gap between songs!

Rob Halford certainly looks his age, probably more as a result of his white beard than anything else, but that doesn’t matter. He’s earned an enormous amount of dignity. He seems to effectively have an onstage dressing room stage right into which he repeatedly retreats as the set progresses, to change his leather trench coat. It would appear that he has quite an impressive selection of these!

Judas Priest – O2 – 25th July 2025

The setlist seems to contain a fan-pleasing number of deep cuts, but even fairly early on in the set, there’s room for a ‘greatest hit’ in the form of “Breaking The Law”. “Hammer And The Anvil” is proof, were it needed, of Priest’s roots, like Sabbath’s, in the industrial heartlands of the West Midlands. Earlier, a video of a steam train and a steel works also alludes to this background. “Giants In The Sky” from last year’s “Invincible Shield” album is dedicated to Ozzy Osbourne and all the other greats who have passed. A parade of their faces is shown on the screens. It’s a sobering sight. A short drum solo introduces “Painkiller”, the final song of the main set. The band are gone for a few minutes before there’s the roar of an engine, and Halford appears on a motorbike. He’s seemingly been doing this since time immemorial, but that doesn’t make his entrance any less impressive!

Judas Priest – O2 – 25th July 2025

They go into “Hell Bent For Leather”, which features some ace interplay between the guitarists as Andy Sneap taps and Richie solos. Another guitarist comes on for Living After Midnight” – it’s Glenn Tipton!!! Glenn is still a member of the band; indeed, he co-wrote the last album. He doesn’t, however, tour anymore, though, so this is quite a treat! It’s a fitting end to what has been a brilliant night of heavy metal, heavy rock, or whatever you want to call it! It’s also been a fitting impromptu tribute to the late great Ozzy Osbourne. There may be arguments amongst some as to whether Alice or Priest should have been the headliner tonight, but that doesn’t take away from the sheer enormous quality of what we’ve just witnessed. It’s one of those gigs that I would love to relive! A downright unimpeachable classic. Incidentally, should there be any doubts regarding Priest’s future as a live band, the screens bear the legend “Priest will be back.” ‘Nuff said.

WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS

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