JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD On 'Invincible Shield' Tour: 'The New Set Is Absolutely Lethal'

During the March 2 "in conversation" event at Pryzm Kingston (with Banquet Records) in London, United Kingdom to promote their new studio album, "Invincible Shield", British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST discussed their upcoming world tour, which is scheduled to kick off tomorrow (Monday, March 11) in Glasgow.

PRIEST singer Rob Halford said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET; video courtesy of Tales From The PowerAge): "We've been banging away for two weeks in this rehearsal facility in Birmingham called Robannas. And I tell you, the new set is absolutely lethal."

Asked for some "clues" about the setlist for the "Invincible Shield", including which song they are opening the show with, Rob said: "No. We'll wait. We'll wait until the first show in Glasgow. Because when you're on a stage now, you're literally on the world stage, because there's already somebody holding their phone up and livestreaming. And that's great. That's absolutely great. But one of the joys about this band is we try and keep that little bit of mystery, because when we were in the early years of the music industry, you really only had limited information for your fans. And I think that added a little bit of kind of a mystery part to who you were. Now, of course, that's a whole different thing. Everybody wants to know what you had for breakfast. What kind of toilet paper did you use? So, we'll save that, we'll save that. But it's a killer show with a great new stage set. [We have a] wonderful team of people with us working again."

Halford also talked in general terms about the rush he and his bandmates still get from performing live. He said: "It's so hard to describe. It just becomes such an important part of who you are as a person. As much as it is to you guys, we know how much you love this band and you're part of the driving force that keeps all of that energy rolling and focus. I've said it a million times again, without your fans you've got nothing. You can't just play in a room together. You have to have a destination. And I also feel that you validate yourself completely as a band when you play your music live. It's one thing to make a great record and hear it coming through the speakers or your headphones or whatever, but that doesn't really become real until you're in front of the people that support you. So, that's all wrapped into wanting to get back on the road again.

"We've been around the world so many times — literally millions of miles we've traveled in thousands of shows, but there's still that feeling just before you're putting your kit on and then you're getting ready," he explained. "We're blasting some music backstage. And we still get dressed together. We're all in one dressing room. There's no, 'I want my dressing room over there. It needs to be 60 degrees Fahrenheit.' There's none of that. We're still a bunch of lads that have a great time being together as a band, and this whole experience of the band is on stage and off stage, but the getting together, you can really feel it in the room — the psyching up of going to work and going to do your best possible metal show. And that's never dissipated. For as long as I've been in this band, there's been a genuine love and need to get on that stage and be with our metal maniacs."

Rob also spoke about the multigenerational appeal of PRIEST's music, with dads, moms and kids all attending the band's concerts.

"There are some metal maniacs that have been with us from day one," the singer said. "And if that isn't love and passion and support, I don't know what is. What's equally exciting is, we're at this place now where you'll look out to all our fans and there's everybody from every kind of demographic. And that's just really something that you don't expect when you begin your work in this band. You don't expect personally to get this far. And then to see how far your music has reached.

"Each of us kind of owns this music," Halford added. "It's very, very personal. It means something very special and unique to each and every one of us. So there's that part of the story as well, but particularly when you see — you go on a stage anywhere in the world, and you see a young metal maniac early into their teens with somebody from my septuagenarian years, and they're banging their heads together and they're doing this [flashing devil's horns]. That's just remarkable. And I think that's pretty much exclusive to our world, to a degree. And that just makes part of this big picture and story of JUDAS PRIEST even more real."

"Invincible Shield" was released on Friday, March 8 via Sony Music.

The release date for PRIEST's follow-up to 2018's "Firepower" was announced last October during the band's performance at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California.

"Invincible Shield" marks PRIEST's first album since guitarist Richie Faulkner experienced a life-threatening heart emergency, while Halford quietly battled prostate cancer.

JUDAS PRIEST will hit the road in support of "Invincible Shield" on a headlining spring U.S. tour with special guests SABATON. The trek kicks off April 18 in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Video below courtesy of Tales From The PowerAge