Bassist Ian Hill and guitarist Kenneth Keith Downing founded Judas Priest in 1969 Birmingham. In West Bromwich a few miles away, the now 72-year-old Flying V pilot shared big bang influences with the Beatles and Stones: “I would go see people like Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee,” he told the Chronicle in 2008. “And obviously the Kings all came over – Freddie, Albert, B.B.” While Priest rolls into the race track next month, the founding gunner now flies solo, but last year’s The Sinner Rides Again cranks, crunches, and lunges as classic as his old mates. Paired with German legacy act Accept, Downing recoils a rare metal gig at the Paramount.
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— Raoul Hernandez
