Judas Priest

They’ve been playing the best heavy metal for over 50 years, and they’ve just announced that they’ll be performing again at Atlas Arena. The band will play in Łódź on July 7, 2025; the concert will be part of their global Shield of Pain Tour 2025.

Few heavy metal bands have managed to reach such heights as Judas Priest has over the course of its more than 50-year career. Their presence and influence remain as strong as ever, as evidenced by their 2018 album *Firepower*, which was the highest-charting album of their career, their 2010 Grammy Award for “Best Metal Performance,” and accolades such as the 2006 VH1 Rock Honors and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Judas Priest was originally formed in 1969 in Birmingham, England (an area many consider the birthplace of heavy metal). Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, and Ian Hill formed the core of the band (along with several different drummers over the years) that would change the face of heavy metal. After a period of “finding their sound” on several albums, including 1974’s Rocka Roll and 1976’s Sad Wings of Destiny, this lineup found its true form. The result was a series of albums that clearly set Priest apart from the rest of the hard rock scene— Sin After Sin (1977), Stained Class and Hell Bent for Leather (1978), and Unleashed in the East (1979), which produced such metal anthems as “Sinner,” “Diamonds and Rust,” “Hell Bent for Leather,” and “The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown).” What’s more, Judas Priest was one of the first metal bands to start wearing exclusively leather clothing and studs—a style that emerged during this period and was eventually adopted by metal fans around the world.

In 2023, the band focused on recording a new album and had no plans to perform live, but when they were offered a spot at the massive PowerTrip Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, they decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up—they played there on October 7 as one of the evening’s co-headliners alongside AC/DC.

Judas Priest’s nineteenth studio album, *Invincible Shield*, was released on March 8, 2024, and the band continues to draw fans as one of the most sought-after live acts in the metal world, as evidenced by their world tour promoting Invincible Shield, which sold out across the UK and Europe and was so successful in North America that a second leg was announced for the fall.

In 2024, Priest are taking stages around the world by storm—currently headlining shows in various locations and planning more concerts in Japan for December 2024—as the band spreads its unique brand of heavy metal, a trend they will continue throughout 2025.

The concert is organized by Live Nation Poland.

Event regulations: https://www.livenation.pl/ticketterms