TIM 'RIPPER' OWENS On The State Of The Touring Industry: 'It's Tough All Over The World'

In a new interview with Sense Music Media, former JUDAS PRIEST and current KK'S PRIEST vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens, who is preparing to tour Australia with his solo band, was asked for his opinion on the touring industry at the moment, particularly as it relates to heavy metal bands. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's tough… I think one reason is there's a lot of people touring. I mean, in America it's just non-stop. Our KK'S PRIEST tours did pretty good in America, but it's expensive for big bands. We can't come to Australia — KK'S PRIEST. We tried. We're hopefully gonna do it. We tried to get there, but the guarantees and expenses, it wasn't adding up, so KK's not doing it. We're not a new band that goes and loses or breaks even or whatever.

"But it's tough out there," Owens repeated. "I mean, there's bands who cancel a lot now because of low ticket sales. I've seen 'em cancel coming to Australia. I think that JUDAS PRIEST girls tribute band was coming there and had to cancel. And it's because of the expense. I'm fortunate that my [solo] band's there, so I'm lucky. And that's how I tour a lot. I tour all over the world solo and I have bands that I have in different parts of the world so I can go tour. 'Cause I couldn't afford to tour on my own with my band here. But it's tough all over the world. It's pretty good in America right now, I think, but I think it's just the same as everywhere. But there's still a metal scene — it's still there — I think it's just saturated with a lot of stuff. I mean, when we toured with KK'S PRIEST this last time, IRON MAIDEN was touring on the West Coast when we were touring, JUDAS PRIEST was touring, MEGADETH was touring. JUDAS PRIEST, I think they might have made their tour just to play the next city when we were there on purpose, because we would play Canada, in Toronto, and then the next day they were playing in Niagara Falls, which is right down the street. But that's how it is. So I think it's really tough and it's expensive. So what happens is everybody spends their 300 dollars on an IRON MAIDEN ticket and 150 or whatever JUDAS PRIEST is in America — MAIDEN's probably 100 and something and PRIEST is probably 50 or something like that in America, I'm guessing — 50 or 60. But that becomes a lot of money. So it becomes expensive."

In a separate interview with Australia's Silver Tiger Media, Owens once again spoke about KK'S PRIEST's decision to not do meet-and-greets on its recent tours. Addressing the fact that KK'S PRIEST has yet to make it to Australia, he said: "We probably could have got more run on touring. I mean, the touring was so successful and the shows were so good. It's just very costly to tour nowadays.

"I think the problem with, what's gonna be hard with getting KK'S PRIEST to tour is we don't do VIP meet-and-greets, and to be honest, it's probably about impossible to do any touring nowadays without doing 'em," he continued. "And if you don't do 'em, you can't expect to tour. I know bands that have made hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars on just a meet-and-greet, which actually goes to expenses of the tour. Yngwie [Malmsteen] was just in Sydney. I heard he had about a hundred meet-and-greets, and over 200 was the cheapest meet-and-greet.

"I said to Ken [KK'S PRIEST guitarist and leader Kenneth 'K.K.' Downing], I said, 'Let's do a meet-and-greet with 10 people — that's it — after the show.' [We would charge] 200, which would be — you know, they get stuff, but they come back, 10 people. We have pizza and beer and soda and water and coffee, whatever, we have that sitting there. We all just sit around. We're right off the stage and we talk, 30 minutes or whatever, take the photo, sign stuff, eat pizza. But he's not game on it. And you just can't do it [without meet-and-greets]."

Owens added: "Bands can't afford to come to Australia unless you're doing meet-and-greets. I mean, IRON MAIDEN can. JUDAS PRIEST can. But JUDAS PRIEST does meet-and-greets and they charge four or five hundred dollars a person and they don't even meet the band half the time.

"What people realize is doing these [meet-and-greets] is how you tour. If you don't do 'em, you probably won't be able to tour. And I think that's our dilemma right now. I think that's why it might be hard to come to Australia or a lot of these places, because we don't do meet-and-greets. Which is fine — I can go tour solo — but that's how people do it nowadays."

Elaborating why Downing isn't interested in doing meet-and-greets at any of the KK'S PRIEST shows, Tim said: "Ken doesn't like 'em, and I understand that — he's old school — but I think what people have to realize is you're not going to meet Ken anyways [without meet-and-greets], so you're not going to meet him anywhere else. And you're putting it out there. People don't have to buy it. And that's why I had that idea of 10 people —that is it. And they just come right backstage and we have pizza and beer and you get a poster and laminate and I'll bring some eight-by-tens [photos] of me and whatever and a t-shirt or whatever. But I think that's the way to do it. Because, man, touring is expensive. Gosh."

Owens added: "It's funny. There's a couple things. And this is what's so great about [K.K.] and so great about this. He doesn't want to not bring the screens and not have the crew and the production we have on these small budgets that we're getting paid. He still wants to look good. 'Cause I said, 'Ken, you could just have backdrops back there.' I see bands — SAXON, all these bands, ACCEPT — with just backdrops, and they look great. It's fine. It's perfect He's, like, 'No. Nope. I gotta do the right show. It's gotta be the right show.' And I love it. I love everything he does and talks about. I love his passion. He has such passion. KK'S PRIEST is such a success and it sounds so good that he wants it all to be right. And maybe someday we will do the little meet-and-greet package so we can tour more. But with the cost of touring, I think it's gonna be pretty hard to do it without it."

KK'S PRIEST, which also includes guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE),bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX) and drummer Sean Elg (DEATHRIDERS, CAGE),and German/American metal legends ACCEPT recently completed a North American tour. The massive run began on August 31 in Los Angeles, California, visiting a slew of major cities in the USA and Canada — such as Toronto, Montreal, New York and Nashville — before coming to an end in San Francisco, California on October 7.

KK'S PRIEST's first-ever U.S. headlining tour, which featured support from L.A. GUNS and BURNING WITCHES, kicked off on March 7, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and concluded on March 24, 2024 at Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

KK'S PRIEST's sophomore album, "The Sinner Rides Again", came out in September 2023 via the Austrian label Napalm Records.

KK'S PRIEST made its live debut on July 6, 2023 at Downing's KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.

K.K. formed KK'S PRIEST after JUDAS PRIEST turned down his offer to rejoin the band for their 50th-anniversary tour. It followed a couple of celebrated stage appearances, first with former MANOWAR guitarist Ross The Boss in the summer of 2019, then with a one-off lineup that included former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and former PRIEST drummer Les Binks later that year.

KK'S PRIEST released its debut album, "Sermons Of The Sinner", in October 2021 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.

Downing spent four months writing and recording "Sermons Of The Sinner" and, along with new ideas, he even resurrected a few archived riffs from the 1980s.

Downing was reunited with JUDAS PRIEST for a performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in November 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at the event, which honored Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance. He was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior.

In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Glenn Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.