Former JUDAS PRIEST members K.K. Downing (guitar), Les Binks (drums) and Tim "Ripper" Owens (vocals) teamed up earlier tonight (Sunday, November 3) in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom to perform "a full-length set of PRIEST classics" with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. Joining them on second guitar was A.J. Mills of HOSTILE, the British metal band whose two albums, "Eve Of Destruction" and "The New World Disorder", were both produced by Downing. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below. The one-off show at K.K.'s Steel Mill featured a full band set from Ellefson's "Sleeping Giants" band, followed by the PRIEST set with Downing, Binks and Owens. Former IRON MAIDEN vocalist Blaze Bayley was the evening's opening support act. Additionally, the Steel Mill hosted a special pre-show VIP event whereby attendees were treated to a "More Life With Deth" book-signing event and one-on-one question-and-answer session with Ellefson, Downing and Ellefson's "More Life With Deth" co-author Thom Hazaert, moderated by Mark Eglinton, who co-authored Downing's recent memoir "Heavy Duty Days And Nights In Judas Priest". During an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation", Downing talked about how the gig came about. "Dave had this idea, 'cause he was coming up to the U.K. He wondered if I would join him in the celebration of the release of his new book," K.K. recalled. "And just through telephone conversations, it was a case of, 'What about this?' and, 'What about if we do that?' And the next thing was, I'm involved with this really quite large venue in the U.K. So I said, 'Why not? We'll come up to the Steel Mill and play a show and make a really good event of it.' So that's what it's gonna be. On the night, there'll be me, Dave, Ripper, Les Binks and a great guest guitar player, A.J. Mills, who is a player also from the Birmingham area. So that's a pretty good fit with the roots of PRIEST. And A.J. looks good, plays good and performs good, and I like that. And it's gonna be a great show… And also we've got the interview with various personnel — definitely Dave, obviously, because it all surrounds his evening — with interviews, questions and answers. And it's just gonna be a big celebration, really, party event. Kind of a 'MegaPriest' fest, I think. We're really looking forward to it." Downing, who left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance, was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior. Binks played drums on PRIEST's "Stained Class", "Hell Bent For Leather" (released as "Killing Machine" in the United Kingdom) and "Unleashed In The East" albums. Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.
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