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W.A.S.P.
And KK's Priest
Rocked The Agora
With Old School
Metal
 Blackie Lawless |  Blackie Lawless |  KK Downing |  Tim Ripper Owens |
|---|---|---|---|
 Blackie Lawless |  KK's Priest |  IMG_4708rt |  KK Downing |
 WASP |  KK |  KKs Priest |  WASP |
 Ripper |  WASP |  KK |  Ripper |
 IMG_4550rt |  KK Downing |  Rippr |  Ripper Owens |
 KKs Priest |  Ripper |  KK and Ripper |  KK |
 KK |  Ripper |
October 16, 2026
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W.A.S.P. and Blackie Lawless headlined a great heavy metal show that also featured KK's Priest at the Agora last night.
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This was the metal show that fans have been waiting for. W.A.S.P. are out promoting songs from their first four albums and Blackie and his band are playing them full tilt.
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Kicking off the show with a cover of Uriah Heap's "Easy Living" from the Inside The Electric Circus lp, the band was up and running.
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Lawless performed songs from behind a huge metal skeleton mic stand with handlebars on the side. It was difficult to get a good shot of him behind this monstrosity.
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"The Flame," a cover of The Who's "The Real Me" and "The Headless Children" were all in the first set.
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The final two songs were the tunes that got plenty of air time on MTV, "Wild Child" and "Blind In Texas" brought the sold out crowd to a frenzy.
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KK Downing, Hall of Fame guitarist for Judas Priest, brought his new band KK's Priest to the Agora to open the show. This band also features Akron's own and former Priest vocalist, TIm "Ripper" Owens.
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The band, all dressed in black leather just like the old Priest days, came out firing on all cylinders and melted faces with a triple shot of Priest classics. "You've Got Another Thing Coming," "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight" were played in succession and let the audience know right away that they were not messing around!
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Owens, now very svelte after putting in the work at the gym, was also in fine voice as he continued to hit the high notes and screams throughout his performance.
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KK and company then played three original songs of their own that included "Strike of the Viper" and "Hellfire Thunderbolt."
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Then it was back to more Judas Priest classics like "Heading Out To The Highway," "The Sentinel," "Victim of Changes" and "Turbo Lover."
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This fantastic set of great heavy metal came to a close with "Raise Your Fists."
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I'm looking forward to the next time KK's Priest comes back to town!
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Review and photos by Greg Drugan
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