Rock pioneers Judas Priest are bringing their Shield of Pain Tour to the Yorkshire coast next summer for TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
The British legends – who have shaped the sound and style of heavy metal for more than half a century – will headline the UK’s biggest open-air concert arena on Wednesday July 23 when they will celebrate 35 years of their iconic album Painkiller.
This unmissable show is one of only two UK dates Judas Priest will play next summer and a massive northern exclusive. The band’s only other UK live show is at London’s 02.
Supporting Judas Priest at Scarborough will be Welsh rockers Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons.
Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday December 13 from ticketmaster.co.uk and
scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk
Announcing the celebration of Painkiller, Judas Priest promise audiences “This rare unique set including beloved classics will be defending the metal faith in a truly memorable experience.”
There are few heavy metal bands that have managed to scale the heights that Judas Priest have during a 50-plus year career.
Their presence and influence remains at an all-time high as evidenced by 2018’s Firepower being the highest-charting album of their career. GRAMMY Award wins and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame further cemented their place in music legend.
Originally formed in Birmingham in 1969, it was in the late 1970s that Priest delivered a quartet of albums – Sin After Sin, Stained Class, Hell Bent for Leather and Unleashed in the East – separating them from the rest of the hard rock pack.
The albums spawned such metal anthems as Sinner, Diamonds and Rust, Hell Bent for Leather, and The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown).
Priest were famously one of the first metal bands to exclusively wear leather and studs – a look that began during this era and would eventually be embraced by ‘metal heads’ throughout the world.
The band did not let up in the 1980s and 1990s as they were second to none as far as pure metal goes, releasing such all-time classic albums as British Steel, Point of Entry, Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith.
Fast forward to today – and with landmark albums and sell-out shows around the world – Priest continue to be both revered and celebrated in equal measure and most recently were nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Metal Performance.
In 2022, band members Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill and Scott Travis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – appointed by legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper.
Earlier this year saw the arrival of 19th studio album, Invincible Shield, while Priest remain one of metal’s top concert attractions, as evidenced by their current world tour which has sold out across the UK, Europe, North America and Japan.
Priest’s Scarborough date will see support come from fellow rockers Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. Originally formed as a side project towards the last couple of years of Motörhead by Phil Campbell, the former Motörhead guitarist of 32 years, the band decided to take it up a level and officially launched in 2016.
By the time they released their debut album, The Age Of Absurdity, in January 2018, this honest rock ‘n’ roll enterprise had organically blossomed into a pretty big deal. The album garnered great reviews and picked up a trophy for Best Debut Album at Metal Hammer Germany’s 2018 awards. Two years later second album We’re The Bastards was bigger, better and even more raucously uplifting than its predecessor with top 40 national chart entries in four countries.
Most recently in 2023, third album Kings Of The Asylum delivered 11 hard-hitting, honest-to-the-bone heavy rock cuts, including stand-out singles such as the stadium rock hymn Strike The Match and the fast-paced banger Too Much Is Never Enough.
Scarborough OAT venue programme Julian Murray, of promoters Cuffe and Taylor, said: “Judas Priest are a legendary and pioneering band who shaped the style and sound of heavy metal.
“They are currently selling out venues around the world, as they have done for the last half century, and we are delighted to be bringing them here to the Yorkshire coast next summer for a show fans will absolutely love.”
Judas Priest join Basement Jaxx, Pendulum, Rag’n’Bone Man, Blossoms, Shed Seven, Texas, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, The Corrs, Gary Barlow and The Script among the headliners already announced for TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre 2025.
A record-breaking 114,000 tickets were sold for this summer’s 18 Scarborough OAT headline shows in 2024.
For more information about TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre and to purchase tickets please visit scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk