I really wish bands like Priest and Maiden would use their opening slot to pass the torch and help ensure that older fans get turned on to the next generation of Metal bands. It would be wonderful to see this slot go to a band like Iced Earth, Brainstorm, Primal Fear, etc.; bands who have paid their dues.
A quite reasonable argument to be made in 1997 (and I know I heard it then too), but these days, is there much value in leading some hoary old Priest fans from one super-old band to a marginally-less-old band? "Yeah, it sucks that Jane Russell is dead now, there are hardly any hot chicks to jerk off to anymore. But have you heard of this Raquel Welch? She's only 73! Hubba hubba!"
The "next generation" bands you mentioned have now been around longer than most people who still care about finding new bands have been alive. 26, 25, and 17 years respectively (and 19 years for Wolf).
But yeah, for old Priest/Maiden fans, I understand you'd have to make baby steps. Jumping them right to [a new band of 22-year-olds that I'm too old to even come up with a reference for] probably wouldn't work as well as leading them to an Iced Earth (after all, to my old-man eyes, a 73-year-old Raquel Welch is actually still pretty hot!)
I think the real issue is that Iced Earth, Brainstorm, and Primal Fear need to bring the "next generation" of bands out to open for them so that
we will be aware of more modern references to use when suggesting who Judas Priest should take out!
This ends today's "God, we're all so fucking old" report.