Being a tribute act is a difficult balance: the aim is always to be as close to your inspiration as possible, but many bands fail by playing it too safe. Attempting to put your own unique spin on classic music, and then hoping to win over fans of the originals by doing so, is a tall order, and most tribute acts are relegated to a novelty at best as a result. The task is far from impossible though, and the best tribute acts are fully capable of evoking the same excitement and enjoyment as the real thing, albeit on a much smaller scale. Such was the case at The Fleece in Bristol, with Priest Unleashed and Ed Force One bringing a healthy helping of classic metal to satisfy old and young fans alike.

From the off, no-one could deny that Priest Unleashed looked the part, filling the stage with classic pitchforks and light displays— miraculously, the band also (mostly) looked the part, really capturing the feeling of being at a Judas Priest concert. The group’s singer, adorned in the classic leather get-up, was a little more heavy-set than Rob Halford, but otherwise captured the metal god’s aesthetic perfectly. Similarly, the group’s two guitarists had KK Downing and Glen Tipton down to a tee, though the duo were actually playing the others’ parts! Though the rhythm section bore a much less striking resemblance to their Judas Priest counterparts, Unleashed did an overall great job of looking like the real thing, setting they set up to be a non-stop barrage of classic riffs and good ol’ fashioned metal shenanigans.

Across their 75-minute set, Priest Unleashed made sure to pull from the full extent of Judas Priest’s catalogue, packing the show with both beloved hits and underrated gems. ‘The Hellion/Electric Eye’ was an obvious opener for a reason, thrusting everyone into the groovy guitar riffs as fast as humanly possible— the group had the classic tones dialled in expertly, with the soaring twin guitar leads jumping off the speakers. Each instrumental performance came shockingly close to emulating the feel of the original, with even the solos managing to capture some of Tipton’s stylistically sloppy playing. The vocals weren’t quite as bombastic or electrifying as Halford’s own, though attempting to emulate the style of such a legendary singer would always be a challenge: he certainly had the range to pull of tracks like ‘Night Crawler,’ and we can’t deny that Priest Unleashed’s effort to sound as close to their inspiration as possible had paid off in spades. The crowd were undeniably loving every moment, screaming along to the anthemic choruses of ‘Breaking The Law’ and ‘Living After Midnight’ as they almost overpowered the band themselves. 

Much of the setlist was taken from Priest’s classic runs of albums throughout the 80s, with the group adapting to everything from the retro sounds of ‘Turbo Lover’ to the ambitious riffs of ‘Victim of Changes’ in style. It was also a pleasant surprise to see some newer material (relatively speaking) make the set, with the infectious grooves of ‘Deal with the Devil’ and the progressive leanings of ‘Prophecy’ finding their way into the middle of the show— deeper cuts like these were never going to get the same kind of crowd response as a tried-and-true hit like ‘Riding on the Wind,’ but their inclusion showed the group’s devotion to the full suite of Judas Priest music, and made for welcome additions to the show. The fact that so many incredible tracks went unplayed— ‘Painkiller’ was notably absent, possibly due to the incredibly difficult vocal style Halford employs on the original— is simply a testament to how extensive and consistent the Priest discography is. It’s wonderful to say that Priest Unleashed managed to do that legacy justice, delighting just about every classic metal fan in the place.

In stark contrast, it’s hard to argue that Ed Force One couldn’t have looked any less like their inspiration, with none of the group’s five members sharing any notable resemblance to Iron Maiden— make that double for the group’s singer, who couldn’t have looked less like Bruce Dickinson if he tried! Despite that, however, the band had Iron Maiden’s signature mannerisms down pat: whether it was the singer adopting Dickinson’s classic ‘Fear of the Dark’ outfit or the bassist delighting in showing off Steve Harris’ iconic bass manoeuvres, the group had chosen to make their show more of a celebration of the classic metal band, rather than an exact recreation of their live show (probably a wise choice, considering that the extravagant, theatrical antics of an Iron Maiden show wouldn’t have translated very well to the more cramped Fleece).

To mix our food metaphors, though the first bite may be with the eyes, the proof is really in the pudding: that is to say, though Ed Force One hardly looked like Iron Maiden, they sure as hell sounded like them. The classic gallops had been emulated perfectly, with the group’s enthusiastic bass playing cutting through the harmonised guitars perfectly, and it’s hardly hyperbolic to say that Iron Maiden’s live sound was as close to captured as you could ever ask for. The group’s singer, meanwhile, took on a decidedly different style from Dickinson’s classic recordings, maintaining the vibrato and forceful bellows while injecting a more pop-influenced timbre— though it may not have gone down so well with the purists in the crowd, we have to give credit to anyone attempting to cover someone like Bruce Dickinson, and this updated style worked wonders to breathe new life into each track.

In terms of the setlist, Ed Force One were playing it safe (to no-one’s complaint), with every song except the opening ‘The Wicker Man’ coming from the band’s classic run of albums in the 80s and early 90s. ‘Number of the Beast’ received a particularly strong focus, providing six songs for the set, though the band managed to pull at least one song from each album, surely delighting fans of each in the process. All the Iron Maiden mainstays were here in full force— really, how could you have a show like this without ‘The Trooper,’ ‘Wasted Years’ or ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’— while slightly more underrated cuts like ‘Revelations’ or ‘Powerslave’ settled in amongst the crowd-pleasers quite naturally. 

Rounding out the show with the iconic ‘Run To The Hills’ and the band’s self-titled track, Ed Force One created a celebration of Iron Maiden that no-one could dispute. Though they didn’t capture the group’s aesthetic with the precision of Priest Unleashed, their energy and enthusiasm was unmatched, having the crowd in a frenzy from start to finish. Were either of the two bands as good as the real thing? Perhaps not. Did they put on wonderful shows anyway? We’d have to give a solid thumbs up on that.