Judas Priest: Why Madison Square Banned Rob Halford & Company For Life (Defenders of the Faith)
Judas Priest: Why Rob Halford and company got banned from Madison Square Garden
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Stryper Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsUf78xcX8s&t=2s
Alice Cooper Riot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO6vklDwJ_A&t=11s
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I cite my sources and they may differ than other people’s accounts, so I don’t guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.
I had previously talked about concert riots or fans behaving badly at rock shows including the time Led Zeppelin fans got the group blacklisted from the city of boston or the time Alice Cooper fans rioted at a Canadian show after the shock rocker failed to turn up. The links to those videos are down below.. In today’s video we’re going to discuss the time heavy metal band Judas Priest received a life-time ban from one of the most prestigious venues in America.
Back in June of 1984 Judas Priest was on tour in support of their album Defenders of the faith. Kind of sounds like a stryper album, doesn’t it? BTW i’ve done a video on stryper link is down below. Part of the tour saw the band play one of the most prestigious venues in America, Madison Square Garden in New York City. Unfortunately the night didn’t go as planned. There’s been several versions of this story floating around. The official story I’ve read in many places claims that a local DJ named Perry Stone would take the stage before Judas Priest started their show and announced a list of upcoming concerts to the waiting audience. The largely accepted story goes that the announcement allegedly seemed to infuriate the crowd, maybe because the acts that Stone announced had nothing to do with metal. They included Neil Diamond and Helen Reddy.
Stone would recall “Naturally, the crowd of 20,000-plus booed me when I introduced myself,””but began to get truly unruly when I read that list of uncool acts.” Stone would then hurl insults at the crowd but then things got ugly pretty quickly He would recall. “The crowd,” he said, “proceeded to throw firecrackers, M-80s, Cherry Bombs and assorted beer bottles at me.” But a photographer who was working the pit that night named bob leafe would dispute Stone’s claims. He would claim Stone was exaggerating the importance of his announcement the night of the riot & things didn’t get out of control until Judas Priest hit the stage He would claim on his website he has no recollection of flying beer bottles, m80’s or firecrackers during Stone’s speech as the photographers would have raised a stink about it to the venue.
Judas Priest would end up taking the stage and playing through a roaring 20 song-set that was similar to other shows on the tour. Something was off that night though. Many fans snuck fireworks and other explosives into the venue and bootleg tapes of the concert, you could hear a barrage of explosions, none of which came from the band’s stage show, but rather the audience. I’ve read the reviews from several fans who attended the show who claimed they didn’t know how the show was allowed to continue given the amount of fireworks and m80’s going off in the crowd in addition to fist fights that broke out. All hell seemed to break loose when the band came back for their encore. One fan cut the foam out of his seat cushion and othe fans soon followed hurling their seat cushions on stage. In addition to that fist fights broke out into the crowd and chairs were damaged in the venue. The band’s encore consisted of “Living After Midnight”, Hell Bent for leather and you’ve got another thing coming.
To start the encore as he did every night frontman Rob Halford drove his harley davidson on stage for living after midnight and would recall in his book Confess: The Autobiography.
It was a great, regular gig until the encore….By the time I rode it onstage, it was like trying to motorbike through a floor-level soft-furnishings jumble sale. There were more seat cushions on the stage than in the arena. What the fuck? Two thoughts filled my head: a) This is fantastic! Our own riot! And b) They’re never gonna let us play this place again! ”Glenn, Ken [Downing] and Ian [Hill] were by n
Sources:
https://www.vintageheavymetal.com/article/judas-priest-madison-square-garden/
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/judas-priest-madison-square-garden-ban/
@Jules-l7g
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was at that show. Was sitting a section below the top. got free tickets from a radio show call in. I remember first the audience started flicking cigarettes and cherry bombs into the crowd almost hitting my head and then they started flinging seat cushions which just nicked my head. We left after that. Weird night. And it was on a Monday night, not sure why it was so rowdy. I don't buy it that the dude was listing non rock names that started it.
@VictorDellitalia
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
THE GREATEST SHOW EVER , I was there IT was an epic night.
@stevenmandl4920
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
was this the deejay Perry Stone, who would be here in milwaukee working on 93QFM a few years later
@frankferriolo9212
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was there. I did not rip my seat open. But thousands of others did.
By the way, Great White opened that night.
@chuckbarhorst3921
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I WAS THERE!!! AND THIS IS 1OO% TRUE!! SECTION 8 FLOOR CENTER STAGE 9TH ROW STARTED THE WHOLE THING!!!
@bigalb8935
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was there at the garden I was 13 years old the seat cushions started being ripped out and thrown during priest set lots of heavy fireworks being thrown blowing up right over the crowd it was absolutely crazy but the bands were great 😎
@maxinedavieds6104
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was there. I don’t remember M80’s,but the seat cushion thing was nuts! The way I remember it, Rob Halford riding the bike out first and inciting the audience to go crazy, Totally out of control,Wish there was video of it,
@64powershot
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was at this show. I remembered the cherry bombs exploding. I was not close enough to where the seats were destroyed. People were punching out the ceiling tiles near the entrance/exit to the section we were in at the end.
@josephzummo9685
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I'm from NY. I've been to many metal show of this era. 2 things, I never heard this story and I never heard of any DJ named Perry Stone. That's for sure. Sounds like bullshit to me
@chrisallen766
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was at that show. It was fantastic.
@ladyhonor822
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
❤❤ ICONS FOREVER ♾️😇
@jenniferl6290
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I just returned from an overnight with one of my oldest friends. We were present for the 1987 riot at the Meadowlands after Iron Maiden and I was present for the 1984 Judas Priest incident at the Garden with another friend. We were teenagers, not rattled by any of this and there was no such thing as a heavy metal concert in the 80s without M80s exploding a few seats down from you. I have an AARP card now, along with a mortgage, a job where I am overworked, and two bad knees, so frankly I am thrilled to say I experienced these events when I had no fear of them. Yeah I am that boring now. . .
@theworldisavampire3346
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I WAS THERE 🥰
I was also there when they played the Nassau Coliseum when fans upturned cars & set them afire. I don't know why their fans were so charged. Rock & Roll
@zeenuf00
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was there man. I was there!!
@csepelcharlie8389
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
Just read about this in Rob's book.
@ElevenDollarCheese
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
My older brother was at that show. He had the top half of a red metal chair as a souvenir that kept popping up in our house throughout pretty much my whole childhood. He confirmed even back then that M80s were indeed being thrown from the cheap seats. But it was the 80s, no one really clutched pearls back then.
@wheelman1324
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I just love how the band is blamed for actions they didn’t do.
@McSorleyFan33
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
Hell yea Fuck New York and Madison square garden. Priest rules
@cherylmartinkat6581
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
My sister was there
@clownchaostime3024
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
All you people on here bragging about the riot and how great it was are criminals! I only hope the authorities finally track you vandalizers down and charge each one of you accordingly!
@ralphsmithmckenzie4391
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I attended that show, along with my girlfriend (now, wife). The show was one of the best I've seen by any band. The cushion problem did get out of control. I would pick one from the ground and save it as a souverner.
@edfalconi5022
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was there. 10th row center. It was absolute mayhem. You had to watch out for block busters while watching the band. It was an indoor fireworks show. It was so much fun. The seat cushion got ripped off during the encore and tossed up in the air. One or two. Then ten and twenty. Then hundreds. Seat cushions going in every direction. This while m80,block busters,Roman candles,bottle rockets being blown off. Then someone threw one at halford. Then everyone. He was standing there singing with his elbows out deflecting cushions with an ear to ear grin. Trudging knee deep in cushions across the stage. To this day I'll never forget that show. Best show I've ever seen to date.
@Xxrocknrollgod
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
My co worker said he was there and he got hit in the back of the head with an apple and a peanut butter sandwich. He said he hated it lol.
@rx7carl
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I can attest to everything Don Girovasi and others said in their comment below cause I was there too, 10th row floor center stage. That dj is just pumping up his importance, nobody paid any attention to him except to boo cause we wanted to see the band, not his lame ass. Fireworks? M-80s? That was a normal thing back then. Fistfights? No more than any other concert back then, and no riot police stormed the show, yes they arrested people outside, for what idk. Everything was normal, maybe a little more electric that night as Priest put on a great show and the energy was super high, along with most of us. Nothing happened tho till the encore. That's when I saw the first cushion go flying by, then another, and another etc. And within a few minutes the stage was knee deep in cushions, and by the time it was over, they were indeed to the top of the handlebars of Robs Harley, and more. It was fucking epic 🤟🤟
@rayfabris2512
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
perry stone was a dj in the bay area at ksjo until he went to far with a joke and was fired,btw his show was #1 in the morning and was fn funny.
@motorbreath7174
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was there. M-80s being thrown ftom upper levels down to the floor. I took the train down to the city, full of priest fans carrying cases of beer . Anarchy. The conductors stopped checking tickets. The last song , seats were piled on the stage. Pyrotechnics going off blowing the seats off the stage. Best concert of my life, but not because of the rioting.
@timnolan4407
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I went to see The Clash at the Glasgow Apollo in 78. Some fans set the first six rows of seats on fire. But the concert still went on
But the bouncers were fuckin animals. Yet at Dunfermline Kinema the stage was only about 3 feet high
What a great nigh
Myself and s few pals up on the stage. Singing Remote Control with Mick Jone and Joe Strummer. Nothing can beat that.Apat from getting backstage at a 1980 Iggy Pop gig and talking to him and drinking and Meeting Billy Raff from the Heartbreakers. Jim Kerr was slagging my Motorhead patch off. And Billy told the xxxxxx that Lemmy was his good friend. Haha Kerr.
@mariohnyc
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
Yeah, that wasn't the only concert in the 80s that turned crazy in NYC. Slayer was also banned from MSG due to some incidents during a concert at the Felt Forum around 2 or 3 years after that Priest show.
@WatermelonSoup222
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
New Haven Coliseum banned them as well….the fans tore up the seats and almost started a riot.
@joeymorvant161
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
Blaming the band for the riot is not right.
@corradopalmerini4076
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
Ill never forget for the on core. Halford bounced like a bunny rabbit on the foam that ended up on the stage. Classic! Proud to say.. I WAS THERE TO WITNESS IT ALL…
@corradopalmerini4076
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was there n it was insane. Think most Ferocious w M80s kabooming! Lmao it was insane! It snowed foam at the MSG. NEVER A MORE FEROCIOUS CONCERT IN MY LIFE!!!
@EyeShotThis
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
Did you see what that photographer just posted? https://iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com/?p=13466 He ripped that DJ a new one and added cool pictures from that night.
@johnd5790
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
Stryper and Priest in the same sentence? Blasphemy!
@toddwilson2818
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was @ that Show.Great White was the Opening band. That guy did get Booed when He was Announcing bad Concerts
@FreakBrotherFred369
April 22, 2026 at 11:29 am
I was at that show!!!
I still have a piece of my yellow vinyl seat cover and the foam cushion from the show!
I also have an awesome photograph of the band standing on the upper part of the stage, where the drum riser was, and down below, on the main stage, it's completely covered with cushions and all you can see, is the handlebars of Rob's Harley sticking up out of the cushions!
I found the photo at a flea market stand, a couple of years after the show!
I'll never forget that show! I was only 15 and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life!
LONG LIVE PRIEST!!!
THE METAL GODS!!!
🤘😆