Two of the most iconic old-school Heavy Metal bands have joined forces for the Full Metal Assault tour this fall. Accept and KK’s Priest teamed up, creating one of the best Heavy Metal shows of the year. The tour began at the end of August and finally reached Music City on 24 September, nearly a month into the run. Downtown Nashville at the Brooklyn Bowl, the fans and friends packed the room.
Accept – KK’s Priest
Brooklyn Bowl Nashville – 24 September 2024
Words And Photography: Shannon Wilk
Accept
Accept kicked off the night at 7:40 PM to a packed house. With the majority of the band’s members residing in Nashville, lots of family and friends showed their support. The group came out swinging with two songs from their latest record, Humanoid, released back in April this year.
From The Reckoning to Humanoid, and straight into the old school material with Restless And Wild, Accept brought a strong start. Behind the band, there are walls of amps with ‘Accept’ written across the front of them and with three guitarists, they have an absolute wall of sound.
As the middle of their set approaches, vocalist Mark Tornillo introduces what the band calls a “riff orgy”, which is a kind of mixtape of a few songs. The so-called “riff orgy” featured snippets of Demon’s Night, Starlight, Losers And Winners, and Flash Rockin’ Man.
One of my personal highlights of the set was the audience participation in Princess Of The Dawn. Hearing the packed house erupt singing together is such a magical moment, especially during a song like that.
“Nashville sings! I like it,” says Tornillo, as during the middle of Metal Heart, the crowd sings along with the guitar melody. With a few audience members dressed in full shark costumes, Accept performs Fast As A Shark with grins on their faces. As they close out their kick-ass set, the band plays Balls To The Wall, their most well-known tune.
KK’s Priest
A Metal Legend and his band hit the Brooklyn Bowl stage at 9:30 PM. As the room went dark, screens illuminated on the stage. A deep, ominous voice came over the PA, introducing each band member as photos of them appeared.
KK’s Priest feature drummer Sean Elg, bassist Tony Newton, guitarist A.J. Mills, vocalist Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and, of course, K.K. Downing on guitar.
The band steps out onto the stage, beginning with Hellfire Thunderbolt.
Back to back, the group plays three original songs opening their set. Owens takes to the mic and repeatedly asks the audience, “What’s my name?” prompting a “Ripper” cheer. And, of course, following the cheer, KK’s Priest performs their singer’s namesake, The Ripper by Judas Priest.
After two more original tunes, the group showcased Judas Priest material extensively. The setlist included songs like Burn In Hell, Hell Patrol and Before The Dawn, as well as some of their iconic covers like Diamonds & Rust and The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown).
For a special part of the set on this tour, KK’s Priest perform the Judas Priest Sin After Sin classic, Sinner. The track, which is seen by most fans as a K.K. Downing signature song, has only featured live with KK’s Priest this year. Indeed, Ripper has claimed that he had to persuade KK to include it in their sets.
It goes down a storm. KK’s Priest return to the stage for a one-song encore, the original, Raise Your Fists.
When Accept and KK’s Priest teamed up for this tour, they created one of the best Metal tours of the year, bringing old-school Heavy Metal sounds to fill venues across the United States. This is one hell of a tour.
