Mercenaries of Metal Tour

The Mercenaries of Metal Tour was a 1988 concert tour by British heavy metal band Judas Priest, in support of their most recent release, Ram It Down. Unlike their other tours of the 1980s, no official Judas Priest release includes any live recordings from this tour. It was the final tour the band did with longtime drummer Dave Holland. The week before the tour started, the band visited Stockholm, Sweden for full production rehearsals at Hovet. Before the official tour start, the band played a few warm-up shows including one in a club in Amsterdam, Netherlands in early April 1988, where the footage for the Johnny B. Goode video was shot.

Mercenaries of Metal Tour

Tour by Judas Priest
Associated album	Ram It Down
Start date	7 May 1988
End date	23 October 1988
No. of shows	105
Judas Priest concert chronology

Setlist

The average setlist for the tour is as follows,[1] though it varied, such as the addition of "Johnny B. Goode" at several shows in Europe,[2] "Turbo Lover" at several shows in North America,[3] and "Beyond the Realms of Death" at various shows.[4][5] The setlist also saw the return of "Sinner", which had been a live staple since 1977, but had been dropped like all other pre-Killing Machine songs, except for "Victim of Changes", during the Fuel for Life Tour.[6]

1. "The Hellion / Electric Eye"
2. "Metal Gods"
3. "Sinner"
4. "Breaking the Law"
5. "Come and Get It"
6. "I'm a Rocker"
7. "The Sentinel"
8. "The Ripper"
9. "Beyond the Realms of Death"
10. "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll"
11. "Turbo Lover" (Added on July 20, 1988)
12. "Ram It Down"
13. "Heavy Metal"
14. "Victim of Changes"
15. "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)"
16. "Johnny B. Goode" (Dropped after May 26, 1988)
17. "Living After Midnight"
18. "Hell Bent for Leather"
19. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"

Tour dates

The venues and events for the tour were located in Europe and North America.[7][8] They were supported by Bonfire on the European and British legs, Cinderella on the British and North American legs and Slayer on the North American leg.[7]

Date	City	Country	Venue
Warm-up gig
3 April 1988	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Roxy Club
European leg
7 May 1988	Stockholm	Sweden	Isstadion
8 May 1988	Gothenburg		Frölundaborg
9 May 1988	Oslo	Norway	Skedsmohallen
10 May 1988	Copenhagen	Denmark	K.B. Hallen
12 May 1988	Berlin	Germany	Deutschlandhalle
14 May 1988	Zwolle	Netherlands	IJsselhallen
15 May 1988	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National
16 May 1988	Paris	France	Le Zénith
18 May 1988	Toulouse		Palais des Sports de Toulouse
20 May 1988	Barcelona	Spain	Palau dels Esports de Barcelona
21 May 1988	San Sebastián		Velódromo de Anoeta
22 May 1988	Madrid		Auditorio de la Casa de Campo
23 May 1988
26 May 1988	Milan	Italy	Palatrussardi
27 May 1988	Florence		Palasport
29 May 1988	Lausanne	Switzerland	CIG de Malley
31 May 1988	Würzburg	Germany	Carl Diem Halle
1 June 1988	Ludwigshafen		Friedrich-Ebert-Halle
2 June 1988	Munich		Olympiahalle
4 June 1988	Jübek		Sandbahn-Stadion
5 June 1988	Oldenburg		Weser-Ems Halle
7 June 1988	Offenbach am Main		Stadthalle Offenbach
8 June 1988	Ulm		Halle 10
9 June 1988	Böblingen		Sporthalle
10 June 1988	Cologne		Sporthalle
12 June 1988	Birmingham	United Kingdom	Powerhouse
13 June 1988	London		Hammersmith Odeon
14 June 1988
16 June 1988	Leicester		De Montfort Hall
17 June 1988	Edinburgh		Edinburgh Playhouse
18 June 1988	Newcastle upon Tyne		Newcastle City Hall
19 June 1988	Manchester		Manchester Apollo
21 June 1988	Newport		Newport Centre
22 June 1988	Sheffield		Sheffield City Hall
North American leg
20 July 1988	Montreal	Canada	Montreal Forum
22 July 1988	Toronto		CNE Grandstand
24 July 1988	Ottawa, Ontario		Ottawa Civic Centre
26 July 1988	Worcester, Massachusetts	United States	Worcester Centrum
27 July 1988	Middletown, New York		Orange County Fairgrounds
28 July 1988	Uniondale, New York		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
29 July 1988	East Rutherford, New Jersey		Meadowlands Arena
30 July 1988	Uniondale, New York		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
31 July 1988	Providence, Rhode Island		Providence Civic Center
2 August 1988	Philadelphia		Spectrum
5 August 1988	Saratoga, New York		Saratoga Performing Arts Center[9]
6 August 1988	Rochester, New York		Rochester Community War Memorial
7 August 1988	New Haven, Connecticut		New Haven Coliseum
8 August 1988	Binghamton, New York		Broome County Arena
10 August 1988	Hershey, Pennsylvania		Hersheypark Stadium[9]
11 August 1988	Buffalo, New York		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
12 August 1988	Landover, Maryland		Capital Centre
13 August 1988
14 August 1988	Hampton, Virginia		Hampton Coliseum
15 August 1988	Columbus, Ohio		Ohio Center
16 August 1988	Dayton, Ohio		Hara Arena
17 August 1988	Richfield, Ohio		Richfield Coliseum
19 August 1988	Toledo, Ohio		Toledo Sports Arena
20 August 1988	Auburn Hills, Michigan		The Palace of Auburn Hills
21 August 1988	Charlevoix, Michigan		Castle Farms
23 August 1988	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
24 August 1988	Chicago		Rosemont Horizon
26 August 1988	Milwaukee		Mecca Arena
27 August 1988	Minneapolis		Met Center
28 August 1988	East Troy, Wisconsin		Alpine Valley Music Theatre
29 August 1988	Bonner Springs, Kansas		Sandstone Amphitheater[9]
30 August 1988	St. Louis, Missouri		Kiel Auditorium
3 September 1988	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania		Pittsburgh Civic Arena
8 September 1988	Greensboro, North Carolina		Greensboro Coliseum
9 September 1988	Charlotte, North Carolina		Charlotte Coliseum
10 September 1988	Nashville, Tennessee		Starwood Amphitheatre
11 September 1988	Birmingham, Alabama		Boutwell Auditorium
13 September 1988	Memphis, Tennessee		Mid-South Coliseum
14 September 1988	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum
16 September 1988	Jacksonville, Florida		Jacksonville Coliseum
17 September 1988	Lakeland, Florida		Lakeland Civic Center
18 September 1988	Pembroke Pines, Florida		Hollywood Sportatorium
20 September 1988	Shreveport, Louisiana		Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
21 September 1988	New Orleans		Lakefront Arena
23 September 1988	Houston		The Summit
24 September 1988	Dallas		Starplex Amphitheatre
25 September 1988	San Antonio		HemisFair Arena
27 September 1988	Austin, Texas		Frank Erwin Center
28 September 1988	Lubbock, Texas		Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
29 September 1988	El Paso, Texas		El Paso County Coliseum
30 September 1988	Reno, Nevada		Lawlor Events Center
1 October 1988	Salt Lake City		Salt Palace
2 October 1988	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena
4 October 1988	Albuquerque, New Mexico		Tingley Coliseum
6 October 1988	Chandler, Arizona		Compton Terrace
7 October 1988	San Francisco, California		Cow Palace
8 October 1988
9 October 1988	Sacramento, California		Cal Expo Amphitheater
10 October 1988	Mountain View, California		Shoreline Amphitheatre
11 October 1988	Fresno, California		Selland Arena
12 October 1988	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
13 October 1988	Los Angeles		The Forum
14 October 1988
15 October 1988	Laguna Hills, California		Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
16 October 1988
18[9] October 1988	Spokane, Washington		Spokane Coliseum
19 October 1988	Seattle		Seattle Center Coliseum
20 October 1988	Portland, Oregon	Portland Coliseum
22 October 1988	Vancouver	Canada	Pacific Coliseum

Personnel

• Rob Halford – lead vocals
• Glenn Tipton – guitar
• K. K. Downing – guitar
• Ian Hill – bass
• Dave Holland – drums
• Jim Silvia – tour manager

References

1. Judas Priest Average Setlists of tour: Mercenaries of Metal | setlist.fm Archived 19 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
2. Judas Priest Covered Songs and Artists – Mercenaries of Metal | setlist.fm Archived 19 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
3. "Judas Priest – Turbo Lover – Live in New Haven 1988" Archived 16 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. YouTube, 26 June 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
4. "Judas Priest – Beyond the Realms of Death, San Diego 1988" Archived 15 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. YouTube, 29 January 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
5. "Judas Priest – Beyond The Realms of Death Live Edinburgh 1988" Archived 27 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. YouTube, 1 September 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
6. Krannila, Ville. The Fuel of the Furnace Part 1 – Sinner Archived 3 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
7. Tourdates From The Past Archived 27 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine on jugulator.net. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
8. The French Metallian – 1988 tour dates Archived 2 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
9. chmetal bootlegs – Judas Priest Tour Dates 1988. 26 September 2008 (last updated). Retrieved 8 January 2012.